Marijuana violations have taken over 10,000 truck drivers off the highway this 12 months, adding extra provide chain disruptions

(Stacker) - Delayed packages, naked grocery store shelves, and inflated costs have become the norm for American customers over the past two years. Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst, there are other challenges causing provide chain points, including a scarcity of truck drivers to move goods from one place to a different. In late 2021, the American Trucking Associations reported that the motive force shortage had risen to an all-time excessive of 80,000, partly due to the getting older inhabitants and shrinking wages.

In response, the Biden administration vowed in December to get more truck drivers on the road by boosting recruitment efforts and expediting the issuing of business licenses. Nevertheless, that received’t affect one other hurdle: disparate marijuana legal guidelines throughout the U.S. which are contributing to a rise in violations. In 2022, a rising variety of truckers are being taken off the job, which may soon worsen the already struggling provide chain.

As extra states legalize leisure marijuana—four of which did so up to now 12 months and three extra are anticipated to by the end of 2022—more truck drivers have tested optimistic for the substance. As of April 1, 2022, 10,276 business automobile drivers have examined positive for marijuana use. By the identical time in 2021, there had been 7,750 violations. That’s a 32.6% improve year over 12 months.

Truck drivers who travel cross-country face inconsistent state regulations as 19 states have legalized recreational marijuana and 37 states permit it for medicinal functions. However even if a driver used marijuana or hemp-based products like CBD whereas off responsibility in a state where those substances are legal, they could nonetheless be faced with a violation due to the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) zero-tolerance coverage on the federal degree.

“Whereas states may allow medical use of marijuana, federal legal guidelines and coverage do not recognize any respectable medical use of marijuana,” a DOT handbook for industrial car drivers reads. “Even when a state allows the use of marijuana, DOT rules treat its use as the same as the use of every other illicit drug.”

Stacker looked at what’s inflicting hundreds of truckers to be faraway from their jobs, and the looming domino impact of the continued supply chain disruptions.

Under regulations set forth by the DOT, truck drivers are examined for drug use—including marijuana—previous to starting a new job. They will also be tested at random, as well as after accidents. In January 2020, the DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also upped the random drug testing fee from 25% of the average number of driver positions to 50%. Truck drivers are mainly screened for drug use via urinalysis, but there are actually new saliva checks being proposed as well.

At worst, if a driver fails just one drug check, that can be grounds for termination under DOT rules. At best, they're quickly taken off the street and required to finish an analysis with a substance misuse skilled who determines their rehabilitation course of, which may typically take months.

As of January 2020, employers are additionally required to listing business drivers who fail a drug check within the FMCSA’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. These violations stay searchable for five years. Potential employers are additionally required to examine the Clearinghouse to see if a commercial driver had any earlier violations, which might stop them from being employed.

In recent years, extra states have legalized both leisure and medical marijuana, making it extra broadly available and used. However, marijuana use continues to be prohibited for business truck drivers, state legal guidelines and medical prescriptions aside. In line with the FMCSA, “a driver may not use marijuana even when [it] is advisable by a licensed medical practitioner.” The DOT has maintained its zero-tolerance stance for marijuana use even because it’s develop into legalized, saying, “Legalization of marijuana use by States and different jurisdictions additionally has not modified the applying of U.S. Division of Transportation drug testing regulations.”

A commercial driver might use marijuana whereas off-duty, not driving, and in a state the place marijuana is authorized, however nonetheless check positive for the substance for as much as a month later and be taken off the road. The American Habit Centers says for infrequent marijuana users—which means those that use the substance less than two times a week—it may possibly present up of their urine for up to three days. Somebody who uses marijuana several instances a week can take a look at constructive for up to three weeks, and people who use marijuana even more ceaselessly can “take a look at positive for a month or longer.”

Shortages, manufacturing facility closures, and items waiting to be unloaded at ports are simply a few of the current points affecting the availability chain across America. Trucking transports 72% of products throughout the U.S., in line with a report from the White Home, however a growing number of industrial drivers are sidelined for marijuana use.

The return-to-duty process that commercial automobile drivers must bear once confronted with a marijuana violation can maintain them from returning to work in any respect. According to the FMCSA’s monthly report, 89,650 industrial drivers are at present in prohibited standing as of April 1, 2022, but 67,368 of them have not begun the RTD course of. 

If violations continue at the current rate, the truck driver shortage will additional disrupt the supply chain, which implies larger costs not just for commodities however the cost of dwelling at large.

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