What 392.2LC means in plain language
This regulation targets a specific danger: getting behind the wheel of a commercial motor vehicle when your physical or mental condition is so degraded—whether from exhaustion, illness, or any other impairing factor—that it is simply not safe for you to drive. The rule applies before you start moving and while you are already on the road.
The key phrase enforcement officers focus on is impaired ability or alertness. That's a broad standard. It doesn't require a medical diagnosis or a positive drug test. An officer who observes erratic lane control, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, or other signs that you are not fit to operate a CMV has grounds to write this citation. Your own admission that you haven't slept can be enough.
What this means practically: the regulation puts the responsibility squarely on you. If you know you shouldn't be driving, the rule says you shouldn't be. That judgment call doesn't belong only to dispatch or the DOT officer at the scale—it belongs to you first.
What our enforcement data actually shows
Across our 13 million+ inspection records, 392.2LC has generated 2,699 all-time citations, placing it at #470 out of 3,036 FMCSR codes by citation volume. That puts it solidly in the top 16% of all cited regulations—not an obscure edge case.
Enforcement activity has accelerated sharply in recent months. Our inspection records show 1,596 citations issued in the last 12 months alone, and 344 in just the last 90 days. To put that in context, roughly 59% of the code's entire all-time citation history has occurred in the past year. Officers are clearly writing this violation with increasing frequency.
Here's what drivers often misread about this citation: it carries a CSA severity weight of 8, which is near the top of the severity scale. Every citation lands in your Unsafe Driving BASIC and begins affecting your CSA score the moment it is recorded. However, the out-of-service rate for 392.2LC is strikingly low. Out of 2,699 all-time citations, only 8 drivers were placed out of service—a 0.3% OOS rate. The all-FMCSR average OOS rate across all codes is 31.4%, which means 392.2LC puts drivers out of service at a rate roughly 100 times lower than the federal average. You are very unlikely to be sidelined at the scale, but you will carry that severity-8 hit on your record.
Looking at the most recent monthly trend in our database, citations ranged from 118 to 174 per month across the trailing 12-month window, with the highest single-month count being 174 citations in September 2025. There is no strong seasonal trough—this violation is being written year-round.
Who gets cited most
Looking at the last 180 days in our inspection records, Illinois dominates the citation map with 558 citations and a 0.5% OOS rate. Texas is a distant second at 114 citations and a 0.0% OOS rate. Iowa comes in third at 51 citations, also with a 0.0% OOS rate. The gap between Illinois and every other state is not a rounding difference—Illinois accounts for the overwhelming majority of recent activity, suggesting concentrated enforcement campaigns or scale practices specific to that state.
The OOS-rate spread between Illinois (0.5%) and Texas and Iowa (0.0% each) is less than 5 percentage points, so it isn't material enough to change your risk calculation depending on where you're running. Wherever you get cited, the fine and the CSA weight follow you the same way.
On the carrier side, our data shows fleets such as J B HUNT TRANSPORT INC (USDOT 80806) with 24 all-time citations and FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION (USDOT 86876) with 19 citations appearing at the top of the volume list. These are among the largest fleets in the country, and their citation counts simply reflect the scale of their operations in our inspection database.
How severe is this compared to similar codes
The broader 392.2 family of Unsafe Driving codes gives useful context. The base code 392.2 (Operating a CMV while ill or fatigued) has accumulated 1,208,164 all-time citations in our database—roughly 448 times more citations than 392.2LC—with a 0.8% OOS rate. That tells you the parent code is the workhorse of this category, but 392.2LC is a distinct sub-code targeting a specific enforcement scenario.
The code 392.2RG carries 96,652 all-time citations and a 0.1% OOS rate, which is actually lower than the all-FMCSR average of 31.4% by an even wider margin. Notably, 392.2RG appeared as a co-occurring violation in 29 shared inspections with 392.2LC in just the last 90 days, meaning officers are sometimes writing both codes on the same stop.
The code 392.2-SLLEQP stands out in this peer group with 72,352 citations and a 2.4% OOS rate—the highest OOS rate in the comparison set and still well below the 31.4% all-FMCSR average. Across this entire category of Unsafe Driving codes, OOS placements are rare, but CSA severity weights are consistently high. That's the real cost: your score, not your immediate movement.
How to avoid it
The co-occurring violation pattern in our data points to something important: 392.2LC doesn't get written in a vacuum. In the last 90 days, the inspections that produced 392.2LC citations also produced violations like speeding 1–5 mph over the limit (32 shared inspections), inoperable required lamps (24 shared inspections), no proof of periodic inspection (22 shared inspections), and texting while driving (14 shared inspections). An officer who stops you for a lamp out or a speeding observation is already watching your behavior closely. Here's what you can do before the wheels roll:
- Sleep before you drive, not instead of logging. If your HOS log shows legal hours but your body isn't rested, you're still at risk. An officer's observation of fatigue signs overrides your paper compliance.
- Do a complete lamp check at every pre-trip. Inoperable required lamps appeared in 24 shared inspections with this code. A burned-out marker light gives an officer a reason to approach the cab and look at you.
- Carry and present your periodic inspection documentation. No proof of periodic inspection appeared in 22 shared inspections. Missing paperwork extends a stop and increases the scrutiny you're under.
- Put the phone down completely. Texting while driving appeared in 14 shared inspections. A phone in your hand signals inattention and invites a deeper look at your overall fitness to drive.
- Know your vehicle's condition before Illinois runs. Illinois generated 558 citations in the last 180 days. Freightliner (FRHT) and Volvo (VOLV) cabs appear most frequently in our citation records for this code. A thorough cab inspection—mirrors, windshield, seating—reduces the observable indicators officers use to make a fitness call.
- Tell dispatch before you tell the officer. If you are genuinely too fatigued or ill to drive safely, reporting that internally before you're stopped is the only move that protects both your safety and your record.