2/16/2022 0 Comments Truck driver fails“There needs to be the ability to test for real-time impairment and not just recent or long-term past use of marijuana,” Scott Duvall, director of safety and compliance for TransForce Group, which runs truck driving schools and rents out drivers, said in an email.Īnother employer who asked not to be identified estimates that he rejects up to 15 percent of his truck driver job applicants because of drug violations. (Amphetamine and methamphetamine violations account for 18 percent, while cocaine and various opioids account for 15 percent and 4 percent, respectively.) Some argue that because marijuana can stay in the body for up to 30 days, testing does not accurately reflect whether a person is driving while under the influence. The biggest number of clearinghouse violations by far - 56 percent - are for marijuana use, according to federal data. #Truck driver fails driver#Truck driver fails driversMany drivers suspended because of drug tests are in no hurry to start the process needed to get behind the wheel again. Some executives also are fretting over the disconnect between federal and state laws regarding marijuana, which is legal in 18 states for recreational use but considered an illegal substance by the US government. Drivers who land on the registry can get off the list if they complete a “return to duty” program, but so far the vast majority, 54,495 violators, have not started the program - and likely will not, experts say. The number of job applicants Pappas has been forced to turn away because of a drug violation “is a big enough number that it hurts,” he said, declining to be more specific.Īlso concerning is the number of drivers who don’t try to rehabilitate their records. A drop in the number of young people interested in pursuing trucking careers has added to the shortage. His Bronx-based company, which distributes food to high-end restaurants across the country, is still short about 1,000 drivers. “We do have a certain number of candidates that we’d like to hire but they can’t pass our drug tests,” Chef’s Warehouse CEO Chris Pappas told The Post. The registry’s tough new rules went into effect just three months before COVID-19 began to pummel logistics companies across the US, and have helped fuel higher prices for everything from toys to lumber to groceries. ![]() Meanwhile, however, the resulting driver shortages have further crippled the nation’s supply chains. The clearinghouse has stopped that from happening.” “They wouldn’t report their previous employer, so a carrier wouldn’t pick up on the positive test. Getty Images/iStockphotoīefore the clearinghouse, “there were situations when drivers were testing positive and were job-hopping,” said Steve Keppler, co-director of Scopelitis Transportation Consulting. The overwhelming number of truckers who failed their Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse tests did so because of marijuana. They are also required to contribute data to the list when their employees fail a random drug test. It’s a list that employers are required to consult before hiring a driver to avoid putting dangerous drivers on the highway. Getty ImagesĮmployers see the clearinghouse, which is enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, as positive and necessary but also a source of concern. Across the US, goods are ready and customers are eager to buy them - but there simply aren’t enough truckers to deliver them. “It’s a staggering number of drivers we have lost” because of the new drug-testing rules, Jeremy Reymer, chief executive of industry recruiter DriverReach, told The Post. That’s a big number, considering that the American Trucking Association - which also blames the pandemic and a lack of younger drivers, among other factors - recently pegged the industry’s overall driver shortfall at 80,000, up from 60,800 in 2018 and 50,700 in 2017. ![]() More than 72,000 truck drivers have been taken off US roads since January 2020 because they have failed drug tests that are now required by the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, a 22-month-old registry established to increase safety on US highways, according to government data. Lockdowns weren’t worth it and other commentaryįacebook removes ‘Freedom Convoy’ page of truckers against vax mandatesĪ dire truck driver shortage that’s wreaking havoc on the US economy is getting worse - and it’s being fueled partly by tough federal drug-testing restrictions that were imposed nationwide last year, industry officials told The Post. ![]() GoFundMe severs ties with Canadian anti-vax trucker rally, withholds $10M in donations Elon Musk: GoFundMe ‘professional thieves’ for withholding $10M from anti-vax rally
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