CDL disqualification after an OWI in Michigan

In Michigan, a CDL holder convicted of any OWI-type offense, or found to have refused a chemical test, loses all commercial driving privileges for 1 year, even if the offense happened in a personal car. A second such violation from a separate incident means revocation of the CDL for life, with possible reissue after at least 10 years.^[1][3][7]

This guide covers the license side: the disqualification periods, how a personal-vehicle offense counts, refusals, the commercial alcohol limits and the lack of any hardship CDL. Employer notice and the federal drug and alcohol clearinghouse are covered in CDL holders arrested for OWI and OWI and commercial driving careers.

The disqualification periods

Michigan's CDL statute, MCL 257.319b, sets these periods for the alcohol and drug offenses. Federal rule 49 CFR 383.51 uses the same 1-year, 3-year and lifetime structure.^[1][2][3][8]

Situation	Effect on CDL privileges
First conviction of OWI, OWVI, high BAC, under-21, child endangerment, Schedule 1 drug, injury or death offense, or the 0.04 commercial offense, in any vehicle	Suspension of all vehicle group designations for 1 year, consecutive to other CDL actions[1]
First chemical-test refusal, in any vehicle	Suspension for 1 year[1]
Offense in a commercial vehicle carrying placarded hazardous material	Suspension for 3 years[2]
Two violations from separate incidents (two OWIs, two refusals, or one of each)	Revocation for life; reissue possible after at least 10 years with Secretary of State approval[3]
A disqualifying conviction after a reissue	Revocation for life with no further reissue[3]

The lifetime rule has no 7-year or 10-year look-back. The Secretary of State counts only violations that occurred after 1 January 1990.^[3] Under the federal rule, a state may reinstate a driver disqualified for life after 10 years if the driver has completed an approved rehabilitation program, and a later disqualifying offense bars reinstatement.^[8]

Personal-vehicle offenses count

A common belief is that an OWI in a personal car leaves the CDL alone. Michigan law says a conviction in a noncommercial vehicle counts against a CDL holder the same as if the driver had been in a commercial vehicle. Off-road recreational vehicles are the only listed exclusion.^[7]

The same is true under federal rules: a CDL or CLP holder is subject to disqualification whether driving a commercial vehicle or not.^[9] For CDL holders, Michigan's definition of "conviction" also takes in the federal definition.^[10]

The regular license is handled separately. A personal-vehicle OWI also brings the ordinary suspension or revocation under sections 319 or 303, and those rules are covered in what an OWI does to your driver's license.^[11][12]

Refusals and CDL holders

A chemical-test refusal brings the 1-year CDL suspension even when the driver was in a personal vehicle.^[1] If the refusal happened while the driver was operating a commercial vehicle, section 625f adds its own CDL sanctions: loss of all vehicle group designations for 1 year for a first refusal, and revocation for at least 10 years for a second refusal in a separate incident within 10 years. If the driver was arrested for an implied-consent offense in a commercial vehicle, the regular 1-year or 2-year license suspension also applies.^[13]

Refusing the roadside preliminary breath test is a civil infraction for most drivers, but for a commercial-vehicle driver it is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days and/or $100.^[14] The implied consent hearing that can contest a refusal suspension is explained in the implied consent hearing, and the refusal itself in refusing a breath or blood test.

The commercial alcohol limits

It is a crime to operate a commercial motor vehicle in Michigan with an alcohol content of 0.04 or more but less than 0.08. A first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days and/or $300.^[15] That offense carries no points, but it brings a 90-day suspension of the regular license and the 1-year CDL suspension.^[16][17][1]

Lower levels also matter. Under Michigan law, an officer with reasonable cause to believe a commercial driver had an alcohol content of 0.015 or more must order the driver out of service for 24 hours, and the same applies when the driver refuses a preliminary or chemical test. Driving a commercial vehicle during that period is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days and/or $100.^[18] Federal rules bar alcohol use within 4 hours before duty and any detected alcohol while on duty, with an immediate 24-hour out-of-service order for a violation.^[19] The criminal offense is explained in OWI in a commercial vehicle.

No hardship CDL

Each of Michigan's restricted-license provisions limits commercial driving after an OWI-type offense:^[20]

• a restricted license issued after a section 319 OWI suspension may not permit driving a commercial motor vehicle;^[4]
• the Secretary of State may not issue any restricted license to drive a commercial vehicle that requires a group designation;^[20]
• a court-ordered restricted license after a first refusal cannot cover a vehicle that requires a group designation;^[5]
• a hearing officer's restricted license after a revocation cannot cover a commercial vehicle hauling hazardous material;^[21]
• the specialty-court restricted license allows work driving only if the job does not require a CDL.^[22]

The general rules for restricted licenses are covered in the restricted license.

No masking, deferral or set-aside

Federal rules forbid a state to mask, defer imposition of judgment on, or divert a CDL or CLP holder's conviction for any traffic-law violation in any type of vehicle, other than parking, weight or defect violations, so that it does not appear on the federal CDLIS driver record.^[6] Michigan separately bars any court from taking a reportable driving offense under advisement or masking it, for every driver.^[23]

Under Michigan's set-aside law, a traffic offense committed by a CDL holder while driving the commercial vehicle, or that is otherwise a commercial motor vehicle violation, cannot be set aside.^[24] See setting aside an OWI conviction.

Who sees the record

On request, the Secretary of State must provide driving-record information to other states, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, the driver, and a current or prospective motor-carrier employer, but only after the driver is first notified of the employer's request.^[25] The Secretary of State may also check the National Driver Register and the Commercial Driver's License Information System before renewing a license.^[26]