Trucking Regulations

Part 383--Commercial Driver's License Standards; Requirements & Penalties

[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 49, Volume 4]

[Revised as of October 1, 2002]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 49CFR383.5]

[Page 874-877]

TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION

CHAPTER III--FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION,

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

PART 383--COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE STANDARDS; REQUIREMENTS AND PENALTIES--Table of Contents

Subpart A--General

Sec. 383.5 Definitions.

As used in this part:

Administrator means the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator,

the chief executive of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,

an agency within the Department of Transportation.

Alcohol or alcoholic beverage means: (a) Beer as defined in 26

U.S.C. 5052(a), of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, (b) wine of not

less than one-half of one per centum of alcohol by volume, or (c)

distilled spirits as defined in section 5002(a)(8), of such Code.

Alcohol concentration (AC) means the concentration of alcohol in a

person's blood or breath. When expressed as a percentage it means grams

of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or grams of alcohol per 210

liters of breath.

Commerce means (a) any trade, traffic or transportation within the

jurisdiction of the United States between a place in a State and a place

outside of such State, including a place outside of the United States

and (b) trade, traffic, and transportation in the United States which

affects any trade, traffic, and transportation described in paragraph

(a) of this definition.

Commercial driver's license (CDL) means a license issued by a State

or other jurisdiction, in accordance with the standards contained in 49

CFR part 383, to an individual which authorizes the individual to

operate a class of a commercial motor vehicle.

Commercial driver's license information system (CDLIS) means the

CDLIS established by FMCSA pursuant to section

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12007 of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986.

Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) means a motor vehicle or combination

of motor vehicles used in commerce to transport passengers or property

if the motor vehicle--

(a) Has a gross combination weight rating of 11,794 kilograms or

more (26,001 pounds or more) inclusive of a towed unit with a gross

vehicle weight rating of more than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds); or

(b) Has a gross vehicle weight rating of 11,794 or more kilograms

(26,001 pounds or more); or

(c) Is designed to transport 16 or more passengers, including the

driver; or

(d) Is of any size and is used in the transportation of materials

found to be hazardous for the purposes of the Hazardous Materials

Transportation Act and which require the motor vehicle to be placarded

under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR part 172, subpart F).

Controlled substance has the meaning such term has under 21 U.S.C.

802(6) and includes all substances listed on schedules I through V of 21

CFR 1308 (Secs. 1308.11 through 1308.15), as they may be amended by the

United States Department of Justice.

Conviction means an unvacated adjudication of guilt, or a

determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the

law in a court of original jurisdiction or by an authorized

administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral

deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, a plea of guilty

or nolo contendere accepted by the court, the payment of a fine or court

cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of

whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated.''

Disqualification means any of the following three actions:

(a) The suspension, revocation, or cancellation of a CDL by the

State or jurisdiction of issuance.

(b) Any withdrawal of a person's privileges to drive a CMV by a

State or other jurisdiction as the result of a violation of State or

local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control (other than parking,

vehicle weight or vehicle defect violations).

(c) A determination by the FMCSA that a person is not qualified to

operate a commercial motor vehicle under part 391 of this chapter.

Driver applicant means an individual who applies to a State to

obtain, transfer, upgrade, or renew a CDL.

Driver's license means a license issued by a State or other

jurisdiction, to an individual which authorizes the individual to

operate a motor vehicle on the highways.

Driving a commercial motor vehicle while under the influence of

alcohol means committing any one or more of the following acts in a CMV-

-

(a) Driving a CMV while the person's alcohol concentration is 0.04

or more;

(b) Driving under the influence of alcohol, as prescribed by State

law; or

(c) Refusal to undergo such testing as is required by any State or

jurisdiction in the enforcement of Sec. 383.51(b) or Sec. 392.5(a)(2) of

this subchapter.

Eligible unit of local government means a city, town, borough,

county, parish, district, or other public body created by or pursuant to

State law which has a total population of 3,000 individuals or less.

Employee means any operator of a commercial motor vehicle, including

full time, regularly employed drivers; casual, intermittent or

occasional drivers; leased drivers and independent, owner-operator

contractors (while in the course of operating a commercial motor

vehicle) who are either directly employed by or under lease to an

employer.

Employer means any person (including the United States, a State,

District of Columbia or a political subdivision of a State) who owns or

leases a commercial motor vehicle or assigns employees to operate such a

vehicle.

Endorsement means an authorization to an individual's CDL required

to permit the individual to operate certain types of commercial motor

vehicles.

Fatality means the death of a person as a result of a motor vehicle

accident.

Felony means an offense under State or Federal law that is

punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year.

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Foreign means outside the fifty United States and the District of

Columbia.

Gross combination weight rating (GCWR) means the value specified by

the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a combination (articulated)

vehicle. In the absence of a value specified by the manufacturer, GCWR

will be determined by adding the GVWR of the power unit and the total

weight of the towed unit and any load thereon.

Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) means the value specified by the

manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single vehicle.

Hazardous materials has the meaning such term has under section 103

of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act.

Imminent hazard means the existence of a condition that presents a

substantial likelihood that death, serious illness, severe personal

injury, or a substantial endangerment to health, property, or the

environment may occur before the reasonably foreseeable completion date

of a formal proceeding begun to lessen the risk of that death, illness,

injury or endangerment.

Motor vehicle means a vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or

semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power used on highways,

except that such term does not include a vehicle, machine, tractor,

trailer, semitrailer operated exclusively on a rail.

Nonresident CDL means a CDL issued by a State under either of the

following two conditions:

(a) To an individual domiciled in a foreign country meeting the

requirements of Sec. 383.23(b)(1).

(b) To an individual domiciled in another State meeting the

requirements of Sec. 383.23(b)(2).

Non-CMV means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles not

defined by the term ``commercial motor vehicle (CMV)'' in this section.

Out-of-service order means a declaration by an authorized

enforcement officer of a Federal, State, Canadian, Mexican, or local

jurisdiction that a driver, a commercial motor vehicle, or a motor

carrier operation, is out-of-service pursuant to Secs. 386.72, 392.5,

395.13, 396.9, or compatible laws, or the North American Uniform Out-of-

Service Criteria.

Representative vehicle means a motor vehicle which represents the

type of motor vehicle that a driver applicant operates or expects to

operate.

School bus means a CMV used to transport pre-primary, primary, or

secondary school students from home to school, from school to home, or

to and from school-sponsored events. School bus does not include a bus

used as a common carrier.

Serious traffic violation means conviction of any of the following

offenses when operating a CMV, except weight, defect and parking

violations:

(a) Excessive speeding, involving any single offense for any speed

of 15 miles per hour or more above the posted speed limit;

(b) Reckless driving, as defined by State or local law or

regulation, including but not limited to offenses of driving a CMV in

willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property;

(c) Improper or erratic traffic lane changes;

(d) Following the vehicle ahead too closely;

(e) A violation, arising in connection with a fatal accident, of

State or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control;

(f) Driving a CMV without obtaining a CDL;

(g) Driving a CMV without a CDL in the driver's possession. Any

individual who provides proof to the enforcement authority that issued

the citation, by the date the individual must appear in court or pay any

fine for such a violation, that the individual held a valid CDL on the

date the citation was issued, shall not be guilty of this offense; or

(h) Driving a CMV without the proper class of CDL and/or

endorsements for the specific vehicle group being operated or for the

passengers or type of cargo being transported.

State means a State of the United States and the District of

Columbia.

State of domicile means that State where a person has his/her true,

fixed,

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and permanent home and principal residence and to which he/she has the

intention of returning whenever he/she is absent.

Tank vehicle means any commercial motor vehicle that is designed to

transport any liquid or gaseous materials within a tank that is either

permanently or temporarily attached to the vehicle or the chassis. Such

vehicles include, but are not limited to, cargo tanks and portable

tanks, as defined in part 171 of this title. However, this definition

does not include portable tanks having a rated capacity under 1,000

gallons.

United States the term United States means the 50 States and the

District of Columbia.

Vehicle means a motor vehicle unless otherwise specified.

Vehicle group means a class or type of vehicle with certain

operating characteristics.

[52 FR 20587, June 1, 1987, as amended at 53 FR 27648, July 21, 1988; 53

FR 39050, Oct. 4, 1988; 54 FR 40787, Oct. 3, 1989; 59 FR 26028, May 18,

1994; 61 FR 9566, Mar. 8, 1996; 61 FR 14679, Apr. 3, 1996; 62 FR 37151,

July 11, 1997; 67 FR 49756, July 31, 2002]