One year may sound bad, but it can possibly be much worse than that. If your blood alcohol was higher than .170, and you are convicted in court or lose the DMV hearing, then you will be unable to reinstate your commercial driving privileges until at least two years and once month have passed since your hearing, because you must wait until you have completed both the one month of no driving following suspension -and- the two years of required interlock device.
If you are charged with a second drinking and driving offense, and your prior offense occurred subsequent to October 1, 2005, you face a permanent loss of your CDL.
Because of the very serious consequences a drinking and driving conviction can have on a CDL holder, it is of the utmost importance that anyone with a CDL retain a DUI defense attorney, even on a seemingly minor first offense.
