I tend to agree with you Q.
You're all right. They didn't cancel anything.
I did a little work on this but unfortunately none of it worked. Maybe I have a chance to win this case in court? This is what I wrote to them:
Request for conference.
Please pay attention to the facts that were left unaddressed.
Regarding the documents requested by the officer. I did not keep ELD records and
therefore could not provide such records. Believing at the time that I was transporting
my own property in a rented car, I was not a carrier, I did not install company signs
on the rented car. However, in the end, despite many mutual objections regarding my
failure to provide the officer with the remaining documents requested by the officer, it
is impossible to agree. Moreover, I cannot agree that I refuse to cooperate with the
officer because all the documents I have were provided to the DOT employee, and
no other demands were made other than to show the documents. I showed the
inspector photos of the medical board on my mobile phone. I also showed the
paperwork and insurance for my rental car on the Turo app on my phone, as well as
the paperwork for the trailer and pickup truck I was hauling on the trailer. I personally
handed over my phone with open images of the above documents and it cannot be
said that I did not provide these documents to the officer. In my previous complaint,
video 4, a recording was made of the moment where I offered the officer to look at
my medical examination.
Company signs were visible on the driver's and passenger's doors of my pickup
truck, which I was transporting on my trailer when the officer searched me. As can
be seen in video 4 of the previous complaint, the officer confirmed in his own words
that he saw these signs on the pickup truck that I was transporting at that moment
and therefore the officer came to the conclusion that my trip was commercial.
However, company insignia on the doors of a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 does not make
the vehicle company property and cannot allow the vehicle to be considered a
commercial vehicle for that reason.
Answering the question What is the difference between commercial and
non-commercial vehicles?
Commercial vehicles are used for business purposes and must be registered with
the DMV. Personal vehicles, on the other hand, are used for personal, non-business
purposes and do not have to be registered with the DMV. There are some important
distinctions between these two types of vehicles.
After the accident, my company stopped using this vehicle and trailer and,
accordingly, this vehicle and trailer were no longer considered commercial.
FMCSA regulations require CMV operators to record their hours of operation and
service status in addition to other relevant data and to make these records available
for inspections upon request of the police or other authorized person. I did not
maintain such ELD records. However, the preventive measure applied to me does
not correspond to the conditions and circumstances of applying such a measure to
me and depriving me of the opportunity to continue driving for 10 hours.
The 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 I am transporting belongs to me personally by right of
ownership, as evidenced by the title provided to the officer. Also towed by the 2021
F150 rental. The 2019 Appalachian trailer is my personal trailer. The above 2003
Dodge Ram 2500 and 2019 Appalachian trailer are my personal property and do not
belong to any company. The 2021 F150 is also private property but belongs to
another person from whom I leased this vehicle.
The only thing that could indicate a commercial company on that trip was myself, as
the owner of the company ROMTON LLC. However, if I own a company and drive a
vehicle that is not owned by my company and transport any my personal property,
that does not make me a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver. For example, if I
operate my personal or rental motor home or mobile home, or transport a personal
boat or other personal property weighing more than 10,000 pounds, I am not
required by law to maintain an EID record or company signs.
The very statement that the transportation of personal property in a rented vehicle
can be considered commercial goes beyond common sense. Even if my trip on a
rented vehicle for the transportation of personal property is considered commercial, it
is not required by law to take into account working hours. The Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration (FMCSA) allows commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers to
transport their own property while off duty.
FMCSA provides examples of appropriate off-duty use of CMVs for Personal
Conveyance. 6. Time spent transporting personal property during free time.
The FMCSA defines what Personal Conveyance is. Personal transportation is the
movement of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) for personal use during
non-working hours. A driver may count time while operating a CMV for a personal
vehicle as time off work only if the driver is released from work and all responsibility
for performing the work of the motor carrier. A CMV can be used for Personal
Conveyance even if it is loaded, since at that time the cargo is not being transported
for the commercial benefit of the motor carrier.
Initially, when I leased the 2021 F150, I did not pursue any of the company’s
interests. The only purpose of this trip was to bring my own property and did not
imply any direct or indirect motives in the interests of the company, much less from
the point of view of any commercial benefit in the interests of the carrier. According
to the FMCSA, Personal Conveyance is “the movement of a commercial motor
vehicle (CMV) for personal, off-duty use that does not provide financial benefit to the
company.”
Determining whether you use Personal Conveyance.
Knowing if you use CMV for personal transportation should be easy.
An easy way to determine if you're a Personal Conveyance operator is to ask
yourself these questions, as suggested by FMCSA Director of Compliance and
Compliance Joe DeLorenzo.
Am I off duty?
Am I doing some work for myself and not at the request of the trucking company?
Is the primary purpose of moving the vehicle personal?
Is this being done for non-business purposes?
If the driver can answer yes to all of the above questions, then he works with
Personal Conveyance.
After the accident, the company lost all interest in this vehicle, just like in the trailer,
only my personal interest remained. Since the vehicle and trailer were transported
after an accident, the trip clearly cannot be considered commercial.
The FMSA also explains on its website under "Hours of Operation" its internal rules
regarding the timing and distance Personal Conveyance use. FMSA explains the
House Rules section of its website. Opening hours. Personal Conveyance:
frequently asked questions. 5. How is Personal Conveyance time calculated in the
working time rules?
Time spent in Personal Conveyance is off duty time.
7. Are there any maximum time or distance restrictions for using Personal
Conveyance?
No. However, it is important to note that the provision of FMCSR §392.3 prohibiting
the operation of commercial motor vehicles while fatigued continues to apply.
Therefore, the driver must get enough rest before returning to driving. The law does
not calculate the time of Personal Conveyance in any way in the rules for recording
working hours of the ELD. That is, according to the law, from the moment I left to
pick up my property until I returned home with my property during my trip within the
framework of this case, I should not have taken into account driving time, time on
duty while driving, or sleep or rest time.
The 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the people from
unreasonable government interference with their legitimate expectations of privacy
(People v Quackenbush, 88 NY2d 534, 541 [1996], (Los Angeles v Patel, 576 US
409, 419 [2015] , citing Arizona v Gant, 556 US 332, 338 [2009]; see People v
Weaver, 12 NY3d 433, 444 [2009].) This warrant requirement includes administrative
inspections aimed at ensuring compliance with the regulatory scheme (Kamara v
Municipal Court of the City and County of San Francisco, 387 US 523, 534 [1967];
see Quackenbush, 88 NY2d at 541-542; People v Keta, 79 NY2d 474, 498 [1992]).
Such an administrative inspection, aimed at ensuring compliance with the regulatory
scheme, can be considered an officer's inspection of the vehicle I was driving, my
documents and my property in Cleveland Ohio.