DUI defense for commercial drivers

Federal rules bar a driver from reporting for or staying on duty for safety-sensitive functions with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more, and bar employers from allowing it (49 C.F.R. § 382.201). Driving a commercial motor vehicle at 0.04 or more is also a disqualifying offense under 49 C.F.R. § 383.51.

Both states build the same line into their own law. In Rhode Island, driving a commercial vehicle at 0.04 or more is DUI under R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-10.3-31(a), with the fines and penalties of § 31-27-2. In Massachusetts, a 0.04 or higher result in a commercial vehicle leads to a CDL disqualification under M.G.L. c. 90F §§ 9 and 11.

Any detectable alcohol while driving a commercial vehicle means 24 hours out of service under 49 C.F.R. § 392.5, R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-10.3-31(b) and (h), and M.G.L. c. 90F § 10.

These periods come from 49 C.F.R. § 383.51, and both states apply them.

The federal rule applies to CDL holders convicted in a commercial vehicle or a non-commercial one. A DUI or refusal in your personal car or pickup brings the same one-year disqualification, and a second brings the lifetime one. Massachusetts says so expressly in c. 90F § 9, and Rhode Island adopts the federal table in § 31-10.3-31(n).

Both states also require a CDL holder to notify their employer in writing within 30 days of a traffic conviction other than parking, and to report a suspension or disqualification by the end of the next business day.

Federal law forbids states from masking a CDL holder's conviction, deferring judgment, or using a diversion program that would keep a traffic conviction, in any type of vehicle, off the national driver record (49 C.F.R. § 384.226). "Conviction" is defined broadly and includes a nolo contendere plea accepted by the court and the payment of a fine or court cost.

In Massachusetts, an OUI can be continued without a finding only through a § 24D disposition. In Tirado v. Board of Appeal, 472 Mass. 333 (2015), the Supreme Judicial Court held that an admission to sufficient facts followed by a continuance without a finding is a conviction under the CDL law, c. 90F. So a 24D outcome that limits the regular license suspension still generally brings the CDL disqualification. The RMV is also barred from masking CDL convictions by c. 90F § 13.

Rhode Island says the same thing directly. R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-10.3-37 bars the District Court and the Traffic Tribunal from using a filing under § 12-10-12, a nolo plea with probation under § 12-18-3, or any other program to keep a CDL driver's conviction off the driving record.

Rhode Island's Uniform Commercial Driver's License Act, chapter 31-10.3, requires a suspension of at least one year for a first commercial-vehicle DUI, 0.04 violation, or refusal, at least three years if hauling placarded hazardous materials, and a lifetime revocation for a second, which can be reduced to no less than 10 years by regulation.

Massachusetts' law, M.G.L. c. 90F, disqualifies a driver for at least one year for a first OUI in any vehicle, a 0.04 violation, or a refusal, three years with placarded hazmat, and for life after two. In a commercial vehicle, an officer's sworn report of a refusal or a 0.04 result leads the RMV to disqualify you, and the hearing on that is limited to probable cause and whether you refused.

Talk to a lawyer before you enter any plea, admission, or agreement, including a 24D or a filing, because the CDL result can be very different from the result for your regular license. We look at the stop, the testing, and whether the vehicle and license rules apply to you, and we plan the case around your job.