Commercial drivers (CDL) and DUI

A commercial driver's license is a credential governed by the law of the state that issued it, and that law decides whether conduct away from work counts against it. Because DUI and commercial licensing are matters of state law, the clearest way to explain the idea is through a specific statute rather than a general rule.

Ohio's commercial driver disqualification statute, for example, provides that convictions for disqualifying offenses committed in a noncommercial motor vehicle are included when either of the conditions listed in that part of the statute applies. One listed condition is that the offense occurred after the person obtained a commercial driver's license or commercial driver's license temporary instruction permit.

The same Ohio statute also provides that any conviction for an offense that would lead to disqualification, whether committed in a commercial motor vehicle or a vehicle other than a commercial motor vehicle, is counted when determining the number of violations and the disqualification that applies. The Ohio text, in other words, does not limit counted convictions to offenses committed at the wheel of a commercial vehicle.

In Ohio, the commercial license consequence comes from the registrar of motor vehicles, not from the criminal court. The disqualification statute directs the registrar to disqualify any holder of a commercial driver's license or temporary instruction permit, or any operator of a commercial motor vehicle for which such a license or permit is required, from operating a commercial motor vehicle.

The triggers are written as cross-references. The statute lists convictions under specified divisions of another section of the Ohio Revised Code, or a similar law of another state or a foreign jurisdiction, and it separately lists suspensions imposed under another named section of the Revised Code or a similar law elsewhere. Those cross-referenced sections are separate authorities that are not reproduced in the material behind this guide, so their contents are not described here. Because a listed suspension is itself a trigger, the Ohio text does not make a criminal conviction the only path to disqualification. The statute escalates the consequence for repeat triggers arising from separate incidents and sets a heavier consequence for a qualifying conviction while transporting hazardous materials.

The statute also provides that a qualifying conviction includes one under a substantially similar municipal ordinance. It may be shown by a court judgment entry from Ohio or another state, an administrative order of a state agency with statutory jurisdiction over commercial drivers, or a computer record obtained through the commercial driver's license information system or such an agency.

Ohio's disqualification statute directs the registrar to immediately notify a driver who is finally convicted of an offense described in the cross-referenced section, or in certain other listed divisions, and who is thereby subject to disqualification. The notice is to state the offense or offenses involved, the length of the disqualification, and that the driver may request a hearing, within a deadline measured from the mailing of the notice, to show cause against being disqualified from operating a commercial motor vehicle. That division describes notice for a driver who is finally convicted; it does not, in that passage, describe notice for a disqualification triggered by a listed suspension.

If no hearing is requested within that deadline, the statute makes the disqualification order final. The registrar may designate hearing examiners who, after reasonable notice to all parties, conduct a hearing to determine whether the order is supported by reliable evidence, and the registrar is directed to adopt rules implementing the procedure.

The statute also addresses ordinary driving. A person disqualified from operating a commercial motor vehicle may apply to the registrar for a license to operate a vehicle other than a commercial motor vehicle, provided the person's commercial license is not otherwise suspended. Whether that provision reaches a particular person is a question for a lawyer in Ohio.

Michigan's chemical-test refusal statute shows a license proceeding triggered by a refusal rather than a conviction. It applies to a person who refuses a chemical test under a cross-referenced Michigan section, and the license sanctions are imposed by the Michigan secretary of state.

If the person does not request a hearing within the deadline the statute sets after notice, the sanctions differ by vehicle. For a person operating a vehicle other than a commercial motor vehicle, the statute provides for suspension or denial of the operator's or chauffeur's license or permit. For a person operating a commercial motor vehicle, it provides for suspension of all vehicle group designations and, for a repeat refusal in a separate incident within a lookback window, revocation of those designations until the person is approved for issuance of a vehicle group designation. A commercial driver arrested for certain enumerated offenses faces both the noncommercial and the commercial sanction. The excerpt ties vehicle group sanctions to a person operating a commercial motor vehicle and does not itself say how a refusal in a personal vehicle affects those designations.

A requested hearing is limited to reasonable grounds, arrest, whether a refusal was reasonable, and whether the person was advised of statutory rights. Review is available by petition in the circuit court of the county of arrest.

The North Carolina statutes discussed here address who may hold and use a commercial license rather than a disqualification hearing. North Carolina's commercial drivers license qualification statute provides that a commercial drivers license or learner's permit shall not be issued while the person is subject to a disqualification from driving a commercial motor vehicle, or while the person's drivers license is suspended, revoked, or cancelled in any state.

North Carolina's statute requiring a commercial drivers license applies the out-of-service criteria referred to in federal regulations to a person who drives a commercial motor vehicle, and it bars driving a commercial motor vehicle on the state's highways in violation of an out-of-service order. It permits a nonresident holding a commercial license from the home state to drive a commercial motor vehicle in North Carolina without further examination only when, among other conditions, the person's privilege to drive any motor vehicle is not suspended, revoked, or cancelled and the person has not been disqualified. That condition refers to the privilege to drive any motor vehicle, not only commercial ones.

The qualification statute also allows the Division to waive the skills test for a qualified military applicant who certifies, among other things, that within a lookback window the statute sets the applicant has not refused a chemical test when charged with an implied consent offense.

The criminal DUI case is a separate proceeding in court. The statutes discussed in this guide do not include any state's criminal DUI offense, so charges and penalties are not described here. What these statutes do show is where the two tracks meet. In Ohio, a conviction under the cross-referenced provisions is a listed trigger for registrar disqualification, and the disqualification statute states that its disqualifications are in addition to any other penalty imposed by the Revised Code.

Ohio law also creates a separate offense tied to license status. Ohio's statute on conditions for driving a commercial motor vehicle bars driving one on an Ohio highway unless, among other conditions, the person holds a valid commercial license that is not suspended, revoked, or canceled, is not disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle, and is not subject to an out-of-service order. The statute makes a violation a misdemeanor and designates these offenses as strict liability offenses.

A lawyer in the reader's state can answer questions such as whether a particular charge falls within a disqualification trigger, how the license-side action and the court case interact, and which deadlines govern a hearing request.

Deadlines, limits and penalty ranges are set by each state’s statutes, so this page does not state them. Each state page shows them with the official source and the date they were verified — or says plainly that a figure has not been confirmed yet.