DUI in Georgia With a CDL

If you are convicted of driving under the influence or refuse a state administered test, the Department of Driver Services will disqualify you from operating a commercial vehicle for a period of one year. A CDL holder can be convicted of DUI - less safe or DUI - per se (adult limit of .08) just like any other driver. In addition, if you are driving or in actual physical control of a commercial vehicle with a blood or breath alcohol level of .04 or more, a CDL holder can be convicted. If the holder of a commercial driver’s license refuses to take a chemical test while driving or in actual physical control of any vehicle, all driving privileges will be suspended for one year.

Your CDL will be suspended if you are convicted of driving or being in actual physical control of any moving vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or any other intoxicating substances or combination thereof. Unless you were administratively suspended for refusing the state administered chemical test, you may have a class C operator’s license reinstated after 120 days if this is your first offense within five years. In the meantime, you may have a limited permit, which is not valid for any commercial vehicle. If your license was administratively suspended for refusal, you will not have any driving privileges for one year unless you obtain a non-DUI disposition of the underlying criminal charge.

If you are driving a commercial vehicle which requires a placard for hazardous material and your CDL is suspended for the reasons outlined in the previous two paragraphs, the suspension period is increased to three years. A second conviction for DUI, a second refusal to submit to testing, or a combination of the two arising from two or more separate incidents will in most circumstances result in a lifetime CDL disqualification. Some states, pursuant to Federal regulations, will consider re-issuance of a CDL after ten years of a lifetime disqualification. However, Georgia has opted to interpret the lifetime disqualification literally. Georgia does not allow any kind of “limited permit” or “work permit” for a CDL. If you are convicted of DUI and have a CDL, you will not be able to work driving a commercial vehicle for one year if it is your first offense and for the remainder of your natural life if it is a second offense. Even one conviction means that you will probably have a great deal of difficulty getting a job because the insurance costs will be astronomical.

Call Allen Trapp, DUI attorney in Carrollton, to protect your CDL and your job today.