Rich, just to set the record straight:
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§392.5 Alcohol prohibition.
(a) No driver shall--
(a)(1) Use alcohol, as defined in 382.107 of this subchapter, or be under the influence of alcohol, within 4 hours before going on duty or operating, or having physical control of, a commercial motor vehicle; or
(a)(2) Use alcohol, be under the influence of alcohol, or have any measured alcohol concentration or detected presence of alcohol, while on duty, or operating, or in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle; or
(a)(3) Be on duty or operate a commercial motor vehicle while the driver possesses wine of not less than one-half of one per centum of alcohol by volume, beer as defined in 26 U.S.C. 5052(a), of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and distilled spirits as defined in section 5002(a)(8), of such Code. However, this does not apply to possession of wine, beer, or distilled spirits which are:
(a)(3)(i) Manifested and transported as part of a shipment; or
(a)(3)(ii) Possessed or used by bus passengers.
(b) No motor carrier shall require or permit a driver to--
(b)(1) Violate any provision of paragraph (a) of this section; or
(b)(2) Be on duty or operate a commercial motor vehicle if, by the driver's general appearance or conduct or by other substantiating evidence, the driver appears to have used alcohol within the preceding 4 hours.
(c) Any driver who is found to be in violation of the provisions of paragraph (a) or (b) of this section shall be placed out-of-service immediately for a period of 24 hours.
(c)(1) The 24-hour out-of-service period will commence upon issuance of an out-of-service order.
(c)(2) No driver shall violate the terms of an out-of-service order issued under this section.
(d) Any driver who is issued an out-of-service order under this section shall:
(d)(1) Report such issuance to his/her employer within 24 hours; and
(d)(2) Report such issuance to a State official, designated by the State which issued his/her driver's license, within 30 days unless the driver chooses to request a review of the order. In this case, the driver shall report the order to the State official within 30 days of an affirmation of the order by either the Regional Director of Motor Carriers for the Region or the Associate Administrator.
(e) Any driver who is subject to an out-of-service order under this section may petition for review of that order by submitting a petition for review in writing within 10 days of the issuance of the order to the Regional Director of Motor Carriers for the Region in which the order was issued. The Regional Director of Motor Carriers may affirm or reverse the order. Any driver adversely affected by such order of the Regional Director of Motor Carriers may petition the Associate Administrator for review in accordance with 49 CFR 386.13.
(49 U.S.C. 304, 1655; 49 CFR 1.48(b) and 301.60)
[47 FR 47837, Oct. 28, 1982, as amended at 52 FR 27201, July 20, 1987; 59 FR 7515, Feb. 15, 1994].
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In other words, folks, you could go into a bar and throw back a few cold ones, as long as you do NOT operate your vehicle for at least 4 hours. Some companies up that time frame to 8 hours, while others demand that you not drink ANYWHERE while you're out.
Unless you have a Bill Of Lading, you can NOT transport ANY alcoholic beverages in your truck, whether you're on duty, deadheading home, empty, etc. In fact, there's a 'horror story' about the couple that got stopped, out-of-serviced, their truck was impounded, and they ended up being fired -- all because they were carrying a WRAPPED bottle of champagne, back in the box/trailer, to give to someone as a present...
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Godspeed to all of you out there on the highways and byways!
