All drivers who violate motor vehicle laws in the State of Pennsylvania face costly fines and penalties. However, these types of penalties may vary in severity, based on the type of license an individual has.
If you have a standard driver’s license, you are at risk of facing costly fines, a License Suspension, or points on your license in the event that you commit a Traffic Violation. If you have a Commercial Driver’s License you are at risk of facing more serious consequences.
CDL holders typically have jobs tied to their licenses, therefore if their license gets suspended it means that they can no longer work.
If you receive a ticket as a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) holder, then you need to fight the ticket in court. Any offense for a CDL holder will be serious with respect to their career; employers are disinclined to hire those with points on their license because they cost more to insure.
In many respects, CDL holders are held to a higher standard than the rest of society when on the road. Consequently, even minor offenses typically carry more weight, while more significant offenses may carry penalties as significant as a lifetime suspension of your CDL.
How Can I Challenge a Lifetime CDL Revocation?
A lifetime CDL revocation is typically the result of either committing two “major offenses” or the lone offense of “using a vehicle in the commission of a felony involving manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing a controlled substance.”
Your only avenue of challenging a lifetime CDL revocation will be to contest the charges in court.
When Can You Appeal a Suspended CDL?
You cannot request an administrative hearing in order to appeal a Suspended/disqualified CDL. You may only appeal PennDOT decisions regarding your eligibility for a restricted license.
However, you may request a hearing with PennDOT for the purposes of: requesting a credit for suspension/disqualification time served, requesting a credit for an ignition interlock order, and requesting a review/update of your driving record.