What 392.2-SLLUP means in plain language
This citation is issued when an officer determines that your ability to safely operate a commercial motor vehicle is impaired — whether from fatigue, illness, or any other condition that makes it unsafe for you to be behind the wheel. It doesn't require a crash or a near-miss. If the officer observes signs that your alertness or physical condition puts the CMV at risk, that's enough.
The word "impaired" here is broader than most drivers expect. It isn't limited to drowsiness from a long shift. A bad flu, a migraine, medication side effects, or any condition that noticeably degrades your reaction time or judgment can all be the basis for this citation. The officer is making a judgment call about your fitness to continue driving at that moment.
What this code does not do is put you out of service automatically. We'll cover that in detail below, but the citation still carries a CSA severity weight of 8 — high enough that it will move your Safety Measurement System score and can affect your carrier's standings.
What our enforcement data actually shows
Across our database of 13 million+ inspections, 392.2-SLLUP has accumulated 8,791 all-time citations. Of those, zero resulted in an out-of-service order — an OOS rate of exactly 0.0%. For context, the all-FMCSR average OOS rate sits at 31.4%, so this code runs dramatically below the norm. Officers are issuing the citation and sending drivers on their way, not pulling the truck.
That said, enforcement volume is not small and is growing fast. Our inspection records show 6,307 citations in the last 12 months alone, with 1,267 citations in just the last 90 days. Looking at the monthly trend data, citations climbed from 465 in May 2025 to a peak of 659 in September 2025 before settling into a range of 482–651 per month through early 2026. This is an actively enforced code, not a rarely-used statute.
The CSA severity weight of 8 is the number that should concern you most. Even without an OOS order, a weight-8 violation in the Unsafe Driving BASIC will push your percentile in one of the categories FMCSA and shippers watch most closely. A single citation here counts more toward your SMS score than many equipment violations that actually take trucks off the road.
Who gets cited most
Looking at the last 180 days in our database, Louisiana leads all states with 516 citations, followed by Pennsylvania at 392 and Nebraska at 390. Arizona (228), Massachusetts (227), and Michigan (219) round out the next tier. Every one of these states shows a 0.0% OOS rate, consistent with the national pattern — officers in high-enforcement states are writing citations without ordering drivers off the road.
The OOS-rate variation across the top states is zero, so there is no meaningful difference in how aggressively officers escalate this citation from state to state. The risk is the citation itself, not a roadside shutdown.
At the carrier level, our data shows fleets such as NEW PRIME INC (USDOT 3706) with 91 citations all-time and WESTERN EXPRESS INC (USDOT 511412) with 42 citations all-time appearing at the top of the volume list. High citation counts at large carriers reflect fleet size and miles driven; our data does not indicate any safety program failure at these companies.
How severe is this compared to similar codes
392.2-SLLUP sits within a cluster of codes that all address operating a CMV while ill or fatigued, and the volume differences are stark. The parent code 392.2 — also labeled "Operating a CMV while ill or fatigued" — has 1,208,164 all-time citations and a 0.8% OOS rate, making it one of the most-cited codes in the entire FMCSR system. By comparison, 392.2-SLLUP's 8,791 citations represent a much narrower enforcement scenario — inspectors are applying a specific sub-code rather than the broad parent.
Looking at a closer peer, 392.2-SLLSR carries 191,232 all-time citations with a 0.1% OOS rate, and 392.2-SLLTCD shows 85,391 citations at a 0.0% OOS rate. Both of those codes are cited far more frequently than 392.2-SLLUP, which ranks #243 out of 3,036 FMCSR codes by total citation volume. You're not at the absolute top of the enforcement target list, but at #243 with citation volume accelerating, this is not a code that officers overlook.
One peer worth noting is 392.2-SLLEQP, which carries a 2.4% OOS rate on 72,352 citations — the highest OOS rate in this peer group. The equipment-related fatigue variant is the version most likely to result in a roadside shutdown.
How to avoid it
Our inspection records show that 392.2-SLLUP frequently appears on the same inspection report as emergency warning device violations — specifically 392.22A-D (167 shared inspections in 90 days) and 392.22B-DFPWD (154 shared inspections). This pattern suggests many of these citations originate from breakdown or crash scenes where the officer observed the driver's condition directly. Hours-of-service codes also co-occur frequently: 395.8A1-HOSP appeared on 41 shared inspections and 395.8E-HOSPD on 35. That's a clear signal that fatigue-related citations often come bundled with recordkeeping problems.
- Before you start the engine, honestly assess your condition. If you are sick, running a fever, or took any medication with a drowsiness warning in the last several hours, document it and contact dispatch before driving. A call to your safety department is recoverable; a weight-8 Unsafe Driving citation is not.
- Keep your warning devices ready and correctly staged. The co-occurrence data shows that emergency warning device violations travel with this citation. A missing or improperly placed triangle or flare at a breakdown scene draws the officer's attention to everything about your condition.
- Keep your logs and ELD data clean before departure. HOS recordkeeping violations — including false records and missing shipping document numbers — appear alongside this citation repeatedly. An officer reviewing your ELD after a stop and finding discrepancies is more likely to scrutinize your fitness to drive.
- Know your vehicle. Freightliner variants (FREIGHTLIN and FRHT combined account for 3,453 all-time citations under this code) and Volvo equipment (763 VOLV plus 632 VOLVO) top the vehicle make list. These are high-mileage long-haul platforms where driver fatigue is a documented factor. If you operate this equipment on long corridors, build in scheduled break windows rather than waiting until you feel tired.
- Use your 30-minute break before you need it. By the time you feel fatigued enough that an officer would notice, you are already behind. Pre-trip planning that identifies rest stops along your route — especially on high-enforcement corridors in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Nebraska — is the most practical single action you can take.