Shorewood DUI for CDL Holders and Work Drivers

The rules for a CDL

Illinois disqualifies a commercial driver on grounds that go beyond a regular suspension (625 ILCS 5/6-514). A first violation brings a disqualification of at least 12 months for any of these:

• Refusing or failing to complete a chemical test while driving a commercial vehicle, or, for a CDL or permit holder, while driving a non-commercial vehicle.
• Operating a commercial vehicle at an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more.
• Driving a non-commercial vehicle while holding a CDL, above the legal limit, as shown by the officer's sworn report.
• A conviction for DUI in a commercial vehicle, or in a personal vehicle if you hold a CDL.

If hazardous material that must be placarded was involved, the period is at least 3 years. A second conviction of those offenses, from separate incidents, is a lifetime disqualification (6-514(b)).

The warnings are different

At the station, a CDL holder must be told that a refusal leads to disqualification, in addition to the suspension warning every driver gets (625 ILCS 5/11-501.1(c)). The sworn report to the Secretary of State and the court is a second report for CDL holders. Also, the privacy given to a first offender's suspension report does not apply to a CDL holder, so the suspension is not kept private (11-501.1(e)).

The permit does not cover a truck

A monitoring device driving permit never allows driving a commercial motor vehicle (625 ILCS 5/6-206.1(a-1)). A driver who relies on a CDL for pay therefore cannot use the permit to keep working, though a permit for a personal vehicle may be possible. See the interlock device page for the rules. If the license is lost, the reinstatement page covers the steps.

Two licenses at risk at once

For a commercial driver, the ordinary summary suspension and the commercial disqualification are separate penalties from the same sworn report. The Secretary of State enters the suspension for the period set in section 6-208.1, and the disqualification for the period set in section 6-514 (625 ILCS 5/11-501.1(e)). So a CDL holder can be looking at a 6 or 12 month suspension and a separate 12 month disqualification, and the two do not have to line up.

Documents to bring

Bring the medical card or DOT card if you carry one, the notice of suspension, the ticket, and the name of the company you drive for. If the stop involved a company vehicle, add the vehicle number and the trip sheet for that day. These are the papers Jeff uses to separate the personal license issues from the commercial ones.

A work week plan

If your job depends on the CDL, treat the first week as logistics as much as law. Get the paperwork together, look at your work schedule against day 46 and day 90, and ask your dispatcher or employer what internal reporting rule applies to you, if any. Write down the answer. Jeff takes the dates and the employer rule into account together, since a work reassignment may be easier to arrange before a date than after it.

What Jeff asks first

• Were you in a commercial vehicle or a personal one?
• Did you take a test, and what was the result?
• Were hazardous materials aboard?
• Who is your employer, and have you told them?

Those answers decide which part of the statute applies. The CDL DUI page covers the rules in detail, the breath test refusal page explains refusal consequences, and the first offense DUI page covers the court case.

Where it is heard

The Shorewood Police Department covers the village, which is in Will County. A DUI is heard at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet. See also Areas We Serve: Shorewood.

Reviewed by Jeff McCarthy, Attorney, Inspired Law Group, 136 E 9th St, Lockport, IL 60441.