Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/619701
ers put up with any alcohol charges even if they are not fi led. Why you might ask? Here is a simple discovery question from a plaintiff attorney to a safety director after that driver was involved in an accident with personal and property damages: "Are you aware of this driver ever receiving a citation for an accident, involved in a drug or alcohol related event, or ever having his truck towed while he worked for this company?" Knowing the liability of any driver with an alcohol related charge it would be hard for the carrier to keep this driver working. If nothing else, the insurance carrier would be working to get the driver terminated to protect themselves. Now we can discuss the CSA and how it will impact your job. Remember the trooper is the person in charge of impacting your CDL and CSA points. The CSA points are added to your score when there is an inspection involved, as of today but that could change in the future and not require an inspection. Any inspection would put the driver at risk for CSA points and CSA points are applied to the driver and the carrier on the government website. Did I forget to mention the State will have an administrative hearing about the DWI charge separate and apart from the court hearing and the CSA points? The State usually allows any- where from 10 to 30 days to contest the administrative hearing before the driver's license is suspended. This all happens before the court hearing and the CSA DataQ challenge. From one DWI charge the driver now faces three separate places that will either suspend not only his CDL but his state driver's license, put points on his CDL or his CSA and could put him in jail plus large fi nes. Then the driver will be fi ghting for his job with his carrier. Plus this DWI will follow him the rest of his life and impact his driving career as well as his ability to enter into Canada. Is a DWI a big deal? Yes it is. Best advice I can give you is never, never, never enter a Commercial Vehicle with any alcohol in your hand or in your body at any time. You will probably lose your job and maybe your CDL as well. It's just not worth it, ever. You never know what the trooper, the prosecutor or the jury will decide to do, so the best thing for you is never give them the chance to ruin your career. ◆ Jim C. Klepper is president of Interstate Trucker Ltd., a law fi rm entirely dedicated to legal defense of the nation's commer- cial drivers. Interstate Trucker represents truck drivers throughout the forty-eight (48) states on both moving and non-moving violations. Jim is also president of Drivers Legal Plan, which allows member drivers access to his fi rm's services at greatly dis- counted rates. Jim, a former prosecutor, is also a registered pharmacist with consider- able experience in alcohol and drug related cases. He is a lawyer that has focused on transportation law and the trucking industry in particular. He works to answer your legal questions about trucking and life over- the-road and has his Commercial Drivers License. 22 www.studentdriverplacement.com January '16 Trucking Law