The Federal Government has cracked down on professional drivers, primarily long distance or over the road truck drivers, who obtained licenses in different states to spread point violations around and avoid losing their license to drive in any one state. There is now a nationwide Commercial Driver's License (CDL) system which limits a professional driver to one state license and makes sure that any CDL violations received in one state are transferred to the state in which that driver is licensed. Perhaps the federal government went overboard in that now the restrictions for professional drivers are more stringent than they are for other drivers. A truck driver can now lose his license for 60 days as a result of receiving two traffic convictions within 36 months. Subsequent traffic convictions within a certain time period can result in even a longer loss of a CDL which may permanently take that driver off the road.
Trucking companies, like insurance companies, often ask a prospective driver about his citation history which may influence hiring and compensation. If a commercial driver loses the ability to drive he has lost his livelihood, the ability to earn income and support himself and his family. Our defense of traffic citations began by representing professional drivers who were afraid of losing their license and needed our help to defend themselves, primarily because they were not local. They may live in a different county or even a different state from the one in which they receive a ticket. As a result, we have a long history of handling traffic citations in counties which issue a high volume of tickets such as those which have an interstate or major highway running through them. We have also become quite familiar with the CDL rules and regulations, contrary to other attorneys that do not have a large number of truck drivers as clients.
We know what plea bargain will keep you on the road and whether or not we have a chance of obtaining it. We have been very successful in reducing speeding citations below 15 MPH over the posted speed limit. This is the magic number that often keeps drivers on the road. Our knowledge and experience has helped thousands of professional drivers keep their license and jobs. Unfortunately, courts and prosecutors often take a hard stance with professional drivers. While our fees for a professional driver may be slightly higher than for the non-professional, our knowledge and experience certainly justify those fees when the drivers ability to stay on the road is considered.
We also realize that professional drivers, particularly long haul or over the road truckers, will be hard to contact and consequently we have computerized our traffic citation defense files so that they can be easily accessed when you call. And a traffic paralegal will always be available during office hours to advise you of the status of your case and answer any questions you may have. We do everything we can to make the defense of your traffic citation as easy and painless as possible for you, but in turn we need your cooperation to efficiently handle the matter or we lose the prosecutor's trust and hence the ability to obtain favorable plea bargains for you and others in the future.