While the rules may be complex, the actions are easy. Keep booze in any amount out of your truck and out of yourself when you are in the truck.
Diane and I are home now and have both the truck and ourselves out of service so we know we will not be flagged for a random test (though, technically, FedEx could still call us in for a drug screen). We sat down for lunch. While we never drink when we are out on the road, a chilled glass of cold beer goes down real smooth when I am home.
Knowing I might drive the truck the next day to take it in for an oil change, I called our safety department for rules clarification. I wanted to know if we were still insured if we drive the truck while both the truck and its drivers were out of service. The answer was yes.
I then told the safety official of my plan to have a beer with lunch. We drove a car to the restaurant. The truck was parked at home. And I told her of my plan to drive the truck the next day.
She said one 12 oz beer will raise the blood alchohol limit to .02 in a 150 lbs man. She also said that if the truck was in an accident and I was driving, a drug/alchohol screen would quickly follow. If I was found to have .02 or higher in my system and was driving the truck, I would probably be TERMINATED.
I gave the car keys to Diane, had two beers with lunch and scheduled the truck appointment for a couple days later.
We can talk all we want about the state and federal rules. In our case, our carrier's rules are more strict. "TERMINATED" she said, and she was not kidding.
Say you were out on the road and parked for the night at a Wal-Mart, with the manager's permission. You are predispatched on Friday for a Monday pickup. You do not plan to move the truck until Sunday. You walk across the street for a nice steak dinner and have a couple beers with it. Two hours after you return to the truck and are asleep in bed, a car load of roudy kids comes speeding through the lot and the young driver crashes into your truck. I cannot say what rules would kick in at that point or what your prospects would be.
I can say with absolute certainty that no glass or two of beer, no matter how good it tastes, how sober you feel you will be after having them with a meal, and how long it will be before the truck moves, is worth the risk of being terminated by our carrier. On the road, I drink Pepsi with meals.
We can talk around and around about being in the sleeper vs. behind the wheel and any number of other factors. The bottom line is my carreer is far more important to me than my "right" to drink responsibly. It's not about drinking. It's about being a professional driver in good standing with my carrier of choice.
