What if I get a Nevada DUI and I have a commercial license?

If you are a truck or bus driver in Nevada, you face commercial DUI charges for driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.04% to less than 0.08%. As a commercial driver, you are held to stricter drunk driving standards than non-commercial drivers, who may operate motor vehicles with any BAC lower than 0.08% as long as they are not impaired.

A first offense commercial DUI in Nevada is a misdemeanor. The punishment includes 2 days to 6 months in jail or 48 hours to 96 hours of community service, $400 to $1,000 in fines, a victim impact panel, DUI School, a one-year CDL suspension, and a 185-day regular driver’s license suspension.

In this article, our Las Vegas DUI lawyers will explain:

• 1. What is a commercial DUI in Nevada?
• 2. What are commercial vehicles?
• 3. What are the penalties under NRS 484C.120?
• 4. Will I lose my CDL?
• 5. Will I lose my regular driver’s license?
• 6. Can I beat the charges?
• Additional Resources

1. What is a commercial DUI in Nevada?

Under NRS 484C.120, a commercial driver DUI in Nevada is when you have a BAC of 0.04% to less than 0.08% and are “in actual physical control of a commercial motor vehicle on a highway or on premises to which the public has access.”¹ Commercial drivers typically comprise:

• Bus drivers (including party buses);
• Truck drivers (including Big Rigs and semi-trailer trucks); and
• Shuttle drivers.

The 0.04% limit for commercial drivers is half the 0.08% limit for non-commercial drivers.² Therefore, if you are a commercial driver, you can be arrested for drunk driving with a 0.07% BAC when a non-commercial driver with the identical BAC would likely go free.

Note that if you have a BAC of lower than 0.04%, you could still get arrested for commercial DUI as long as you appear impaired by alcohol or controlled substances.³ In cases where you are not under the influence but do have some alcohol in your system under the 0.04% legal limit, a law enforcement officer may issue you a 24-hour order to stay off the road.

Note that you are prohibited from driving a commercial motor vehicle if there is any trace of drugs in your blood, even if you are unimpaired.⁴

NRS 484C.120 makes it a misdemeanor to drive a commercial vehicle with a BAC of 0.04% to less than 0.08%.

2. What are commercial vehicles?

Commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in Nevada comprise most trucks, buses and shuttles. Specifically, a CMV is any motor vehicle used in commerce to transport passengers or property if the vehicle:

• has a gross combination weight rating of 26,001 or more lbs. (includes a towed unit with a gross vehicle weight rating of over 10,000 lbs.);
• has a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 or more lbs.;
• is designed to transport 16 or more passengers including the driver; or
• is used in the transportation of hazardous materials⁵

3. What are the penalties under NRS 484C.120?

Penalties may be as much as doubled if the incident took place in a work zone.⁸

4. Will I lose my CDL?

In Nevada, a first-time commercial DUI carries a one-year CDL suspension. Though if you were transporting hazardous materials at the time, the suspension period lasts for three years.

Meanwhile, a second-time commercial DUI causes your CDL to be revoked for life. There is no chance for a license reinstatement. If you are a career truck driver, this would cause you to lose your livelihood.

Note that you face the same suspensions described above even if:

• you get arrested for a non-commercial DUI in a non-commercial vehicle, and/or
• you refuse to submit to a chemical test of your breath or blood following any DUI arrest.⁹

Contesting a Driver’s License Suspension

The only way to avoid a CDL suspension is to win both the criminal DUI case and the administrative DMV case, which are totally separate proceedings. The DMV case consists of a DMV hearing, which is like a mini-trial where you (or your attorney) fight the license suspension.

In practice, DMV hearings are difficult to win: Whereas criminal trials require prosecutors to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to get a conviction, the DMV can revoke your license based on hardly any evidence. Still, DMV trials are worth doing since they serve as a “dry run” for the criminal case.

A first-time commercial DUI conviction triggers a 1-year CDL suspension.

5. Will I lose my regular license?

If you get your CDL suspended in Nevada, you also have your non-commercial driver’s license suspended as well.

Note that you may be able to resume driving on your non-commercial license right away if you install an ignition interlock device in your vehicles.¹⁰

As discussed in the prior section, you may keep both your CDL and non-commercial licenses if you win both the criminal case as well as the DMV hearing.

6. Can I beat the charges?

Ten common defenses that Nevada drunk driving attorneys use to fight commercial DUI charges are:

1. You were not intoxicated but rather exhausted from driving. Plus your tiredness mimicked symptoms of being inebriated or high.
2. The automobile was not actually a commercial vehicle.
3. You were experiencing a medical episode that resembled being drunk, such as a seizure or diabetic coma.
4. You had dental work such as a bridge that may have caused mouth alcohol to pool, causing an inaccurately high breath test result.
5. You suffered from acid reflux, auto-brewery syndrome, or another medical condition that caused your breath sample to register high blood alcohol concentration levels.
6. The police lacked reasonable suspicion to make the initial traffic stop.¹¹
7. The police failed to give proper instructions for the field sobriety tests.
8. The police had no probable cause to make the arrest.
9. The police did not administer the breathalyzer test correctly, or the device was defective.
10. Your blood test samples became contaminated.

Another potential defense is that fumes from the truck or bus seeped into the vehicle, causing you to become impaired without your knowledge. If your defense attorney can show that this was due to a defect of the vehicle that you had no control over, the prosecutor may be willing to reduce or dismiss the charge.

Plea Bargains

If the state refuses to dismiss the commercial DUI charge, it may be willing to reduce it to reckless driving (NRS 484B.653) as part of a plea deal. Reckless driving carries only a two-month CDL suspension of driving privileges for a first offense.¹²

Learn more about how to reduce a DUI to reckless driving in Nevada.

Additional Resources

For more information, refer to the following:

• Commercial Driving Licensing – Nevada DMV overview of commercial licenses and how to get one.
• CDL Self Certification and License Classes – Nevada DMV article on prerequisites to get a CDL.
• Nevada Trucking Association – A non-profit organization that represents and advocates for the interests of the trucking industry in Nevada.
• American Trucking Associations (ATA) – A national trade association that represents and advocates for the interests of the trucking industry in the United States.
• Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) – A national trade organization that represents the interests of independent owner-operators and professional truck drivers in the United States.

Legal References