§392.82 prohibits a CMV driver from using a hand-held mobile telephone while driving. "Use" means dialing, reaching for, or holding the phone. Hands-free use is permitted provided the phone is "in close proximity" and the driver is not reaching unsafely. Multiple violations within three years trigger §383.51 disqualification.
Severity weight + carrier penalties
Severity weight 10 in the Unsafe Driving BASIC — among the heaviest single-violation weights. The penalty structure also hits the carrier: §390.5 makes "allowing or requiring" a driver to violate §392.82 a separate offense at up to $19,246. Carriers with dispatch practices that effectively require phone contact while driving are exposed.
CDL impact
Two convictions in a separate three-year period: §383.51(b) "serious traffic violation" — 60-day CDL disqualification on second conviction, 120 days on third. The disqualification applies to all CMV operation.
How to prevent it
- Publish and acknowledge a written hand-held-phone policy. §391.51 retains the acknowledgment.
- Issue hands-free devices to every driver. Document the issuance.
- Don't require driver phone availability while moving. Pull-overs are dispatch-coordinated.
- Investigate every accident for phone use; phone-record subpoenas are common in CMV litigation.
How Roadworthy HQ helps
A hand-held phone conviction lands on the driver. Roadworthy HQ does not record individual violation codes, pull CSA or SMS scores, or track coaching. What it keeps is the driver file an auditor opens next: the annual MVR and the §391.25 annual review, each with reminders 60, 30, and 7 days out, and the qualification-file documents with their retention periods enforced. If the citation came from a roadside inspection, log that inspection on the vehicle (date, state, level, driver, number of violations, out-of-service or not). If a conviction disqualifies the driver, setting the driver's status to Disqualified sends a critical alert. It is a status and an alert; Roadworthy HQ has no dispatch system to block.