Prepaid Legal Plans For CDL Holders?

So what do you experienced drivers think about the prepaid legal plans and what are some of the better ones?

Yes, sadly I had to hire a lawyer in Ohio a few weeks ago and it wasn't cheap. All to defend myself against a no court appearance, just pay the fine citation that I should have never received when a car hit ME, trying to squeeze between me and the car on my left. There was a prior accident on I75 and local township law enforcement was there directing all traffic to merge right. I was going maybe 3 mph with blinker on as the car next to me was also going right when this fool decides to try to gas on it and squeeze between us. The offending car did not stop until after more that 1/2 mile away and after I had already parked on shoulder and reported it. The officers let the other car go immediately before they ever spoke to me, so it wasn't available for pictures. They also never gave me any information whatsoever on the other vehicle, but wrote me a citation for "reasonable control" lol.. whatever that is supposed to be and kept on and on about how no appearance is required and I could just send the fine to such and such address. I nicely told the officer that I would be contesting the citation and he said i could certainly do that too.. but was huge on "just mail in the fine". I dont freaking think so. My company has been real cool with the whole thing and routed me to our home terminal a week later to have a minor bumper adjustment from where they scraped the passenger side of my bumper skirt and slightly bent the support bracket (the bumper is plastic). I figured they'd have me in the safety office to discuss it, but the guys in our shop said it was obvious that I was hit and not the other way around lol, and I reported it immediately so they've not had me meet with safety. As soon as the shop did their thing I was immediately dispatched out doing my typical southeastern runs I've been doing with the occasional St. Louis loads.

What a mess.. $750 to defend a $130 citation that my company says was improperly issued and should have never been issued. The company said they would defend me but I'm not so naive to think they would look out for me first, so I hired my own attorney.

I now know I should have insisted they send a state trooper instead of the local yocal who did not even know what my permit book and insurance information was when I tried to show it to him. He was nice, but obviously had no clue regarding commercial vehicles and I had no experience dealing with situations like that so yeah it was a mess.

I have subscribed to a plan offered by US legal of Jacksonville, FL. They say they will cover all attorney's fees fighting any citation and you are responsible for court costs. The monthly cost is $34.99.

They did help me find an Ohio transportation attorney, Michael Yemc to defend me. Apparently that "little" misdemeanor is worth 2 points. I'm not taking it without a fight lol.

I love that our company's csa scores are so good I typically get the green light or occasionally a bypass lane. I've driven across a scale one time since I began driving.

I have subscribed to a plan offered by US legal of Jacksonville, FL. They say they will cover all attorney's fees fighting any citation and you are responsible for court costs. The monthly cost is $34.99.

They did help me find an Ohio transportation attorney, Michael Yemc to defend me. Apparently that "little" misdemeanor is worth 2 points. I'm not taking it without a fight lol.

I love that our company's csa scores are so good I typically get the green light or occasionally a bypass lane. I've driven across a scale one time since I began driving.

US Legal is the same service Swift offers their drivers. I signed up in orientation and if I remember right it's $7.50 a week for me. Thankfully I haven't had to use them for myself at this point, but what's cool is that they cover your spouse too. And they do more than just traffic court--other stuff is just at a discounted rate than if yoy didn't have the service. My wife got a citation in UT on a road trip with her parents for having a suspended license. She apparently forgot to mail in all the required paperwork for an accident she had without registration over a year ago. (If you haven't guessed yet, she's not a truck driver! Lol) It was a frustrating mess and they were going to charge her $750 or she had to appear in UT (we live in CO). Either way it was gonna cost a bunch of money. We called up US Legal and they assigned her an attorney and had the whole thing taken care of in a couple days. For some reason we only had a discounted rate for that incident so it still cost us, but the whole fine was dismissed and she didn't even have to appear in court. Not a bad deal!

I'm a little confused and I am not questioning anyone's judgment here. I just am curious about the prepaids.

1. As a company driver, if the company is going to defend you (and I understand your skepticism), is there a need for a separate prepaid legal service? I understand it may come in handy if you are ever at fault, but in circumstances like this...

2. While I understand the frustration of $750 for an attorney, you'll pay about that after two years of monthly subscription fees. Again, unless you're in situations where you're at fault, will the service ever get utilized?

Again, just curious. I've always been skeptical of the subscription legal services just because they seem to me more like just another insurance policy. As long as I know that's all they are, fine. But seems like over the years it's a lot of money that could be put into a savings account for just such situations.

Thanks!

That's exactly what it is.. a form of insurance. I certainly wish I'd had it before this little fiasco but I didn't. My other half who has driven for 20 years advised me to subscribe to such a plan, especially as a new driver. So I found these people and called them about my little problem in ohio. Although that was preexisting and not covered I did get a discount.

He entered my not guilty plea yesterday so they will call me as soon as they have more information. I talked to them today.

Steve imagines:

1. As a company driver, if the company is going to defend you (and I understand your skepticism),

Steve, the company will rarely step in and defend you. You are e captain of your ship, so you are the one to go down with it.

I also give the $7 bucks out if every paycheck to USLegal. Like other insurance, I don't want it to pay off, but ...

You get a summons in Battle Mountain, Nevada, and you are heading for Kansas City. Do you want to arrange to go back on the court date?

Also, the lawyer will do what lawyers do, and defend their client. Would you prefer the court dismisses your case? Or at least reduce the fines and penalties?

Yes, it's a personal decision.

Sue...

Could you keep us up to date on how your driving situation was resolved? Good or bad.

Good luck.

Steve M.

Well I absolutely expected my company to route me through the main terminal for a meeting with safety, but that never happened. Incidentally when I had reported the incident, our safety manager said the whole thing sounded like a attempt to scam money. In his own words "that sounds like a bogus ticket".

I did go through Cedar Rapids only to have my bumper adjusted and get my truck serviced.. routine maintenance. The shop said there was no doubt that I was hit and certainly didn't hit anything as the paint scrapes were going the wrong way... and on the side (not the front). Basically they caught my bumper and popped it loose slightly when they attempted to squeeze through. The bumper is plastic.

To date, nobody at my company has asked anything at all regarding this so yesterday I updated my driver manager , gave her the name of my attorney, and inforned her of the current status.

My attorney filed a not guilty plea on April 14th. I was not required to be there. According to his office, my attorney will be negotiating with the judge, and depending on that, a hearing where i have to be present, may or may not be required. When/if they receive a court date, they'll let me know. Otherwise, I've just moved on for now and despite being as upset as I was, I rarely think about it.

I guess eventually I'll have some kind of resolution. Will certainly keep you updated. Oh also the citation, had I have just paid it was worth 2 points lol.