Can law enforcement enter the truck during inspection?

Law Enforcement Officers have a million things they rather do than beat on the side of a trucker's door to get their attention for mundane crap. I personally know some cops, most now retired and a few still doing the job. One told me once about doing a welfare check on a trucker in the now-closed Georgia rest area I-85 northbound just north of the I-985-I-85 intersection. The man's wife was worried about him and had just about every cop in North East Georgia looking for him. Another cop told me of waking a driver because he saw smoke coming from his truck, yes it was on fire. Unless it is an emergency OR the driver is improperly parked the cops really don't care, heck sometimes even if the driver is improperly parked they don't care. This leaves the last myth about being forced to move an illegally or improperly parked truck during the 10-hour break or when out of available hours. I once parked in the closed Alabama chicken coop about 6 months after it opened on I 20 just across the Georgia line. I had available hours but was dead tired. I got out of the truck and moved the cones and drove up and went to sleep about 2AM. Shortly afterward I was woke up by what I remember to be a State Trooper. I told him I was tired and would be dangerous to drive. He told me you know I can have you towed out of here, but respect the fact you did pull over. I finally woke up and (yes illegally) drove to the truck stops up the road a bit finished out my 10 and got some breakfast. If an Officer tells you to move and you refuse regardless of the reason, there is a good chance the cop will have you towed. Me personally I don't want to be the one explaining to my company why I need several hundred bucks to get my rig released by a tow truck operator.

 

My understanding was that commercial vehicles don’t have the same kind of constitutional protection that you would have in your personal vehicle. You consent to this when obtaining your CDL and operating a commercial vehicle.

This is why they can just stop you and do an inspection vs in your personal vehicle you’d have to have committed a traffic violation or have suspicion of a crime to justify the stop.

 

Lets go 1 step further
A L/O, O/O, or company drivers truck is parked on the companies yard while on home time.
The safety critter takes the spare keys that are required to be left at the yard and goes and inspects the truck.

On another note did deregulation have any effect on search of a commercial or ''regulated'' vehicle?

 

And you understand wrong.

The ONLY difference between a CMV and non CMV as far as your rights are concerned is that in a CMV they can pull you over for no reason to conduct a vehicle inspection. This inspection is to be limited in scope and detail to the items listed in the FMCSA drivers handbook. Nothing more, nothing less.

THAT IS IT. YOU DO NOT FORFEIT YOUR RIGHTS BECAUSE YOU DRIVE A CMV.

 

Required to be left at yard? (Company driver yes, lease.... gets squirrley, o/o, absolutely not

Theyre leased to the wrong spot

Dont get me wrong, Id let the guy i drive under go through anything he wants, through and including take the truck for a ride. but its my vehicle, im not required to give you any access without me there, and Id never sign a contract that includes that.

But to your point, if theres a reasonable need for them to have the keys. Ostensibly its to move the vehicle if in the way (small lot)/need to plow that line (in winter) ? That does not entitle them to go through your stuff, but knowing humans, id expect it to happen if i didnt know everyone involved


Edit. Missed the company driver bit

 

This wouldn’t bother me for a number of reasons. 1. I have nothing to hide. And I also am aware that it is the companies equipment and they can check it and do whatever they want with it anytime they want. I totally respect that. 2. I don’t leave much on the truck when I come home. I’m typically out around three weeks at a time and so about 80% of all my gear comes off the truck and goes home with me and I always clean the truck out vacuum everything and wipe everything down so if they want to inspect it, it’s gonna be nice and clean and not much to look at.

The whole point I think to this thread is are we giving up our rights as American citizens by being a CMV driver. And the answer is no we’re not. If you wanna let a law enforcement officer blindly search your CMV without probable cause, that’s your choice. If you ask them for probable cause, that’s also your choice. To each their own.

another thing I’ve noticed, is regular police officers, who patrol a town, not DOT and not state troopers really don’t know anything about truck driving. I found they typically stay away from us and leave us alone. Which is a good thing. Now if you go tearing through their town 20 mph over the speed limit of course they’ll pull you over. I’ve talked to many law-enforcement officers that are just regular police officers and I’m amazed at how little they know about truck driving in the different rules and regulations. Most of them know little to nothing. I met one the other day that didn’t even understand the 10 hour break rule. Made no sense to him. Lol. I tried to explain it, and he just kept saying “well why wouldn’t they? Just let you stop when you feel tired and rest and when you’re not let you drive all you want”. And I was like yeah that’s how it should be but you know how the government is.

 

When @High Stepper was a jackbooted motorcycle cop for California department of natural resources he would enter whenever he wanted. It’s a little known fact that the game wardens can go where they please and don’t need a warrant. He once stopped an exotic animal smuggling ring at the T/A in Ontario. The driver had barricaded himself inside the truck. He called in the warden service’s swat team. They punched a hole in the door and stuffed that driver in the back of the cruiser. They then took him to Catalina island for interrogation. They used tactics learned from the cia and busted that case wide open.

 

That guidance is not from CVSA it's from FMCSA which is part of the DOT, and THEY say that. It's not legal. That's why they have the policy. If they do it they better have a #### good reason and you can file a complaint with the FMCSA when they do.

You didn't even cite your source, you just posted some random quote. I have the source. Really funny you attack my source when you have none.

 

Well, apparently this forum does have a truckstop attorney. In the future we can direct our questions to Mr KnowItAll.