Marijuana violations have taken over 10,000 truck drivers off the street this year, adding extra supply chain disruptions

(Stacker) - Delayed packages, bare grocery store cabinets, and inflated prices have turn into the norm for American customers over the previous two years. While the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst, there are different challenges causing supply chain issues, together with a scarcity of truck drivers to move items from one place to another. In late 2021, the American Trucking Associations reported that the driver scarcity had risen to an all-time high of 80,000, partly because of the growing older inhabitants and shrinking wages.

In response, the Biden administration vowed in December to get more truck drivers on the street by boosting recruitment efforts and expediting the issuing of economic licenses. Nonetheless, that gained’t have an effect on one other hurdle: disparate marijuana legal guidelines throughout the U.S. that are contributing to a rise in violations. In 2022, a growing number of truckers are being taken off the job, which could soon worsen the already suffering supply chain.

As more states legalize leisure marijuana—4 of which did so previously year and three extra are anticipated to by the end of 2022—more truck drivers have examined constructive for the substance. As of April 1, 2022, 10,276 commercial car drivers have tested constructive for marijuana use. By the identical time in 2021, there had been 7,750 violations. That’s a 32.6% improve 12 months over year.

Truck drivers who journey cross-country face inconsistent state regulations as 19 states have legalized recreational marijuana and 37 states allow it for medicinal purposes. However even when a driver used marijuana or hemp-based merchandise like CBD while off duty in a state where those substances are authorized, they could nonetheless be faced with a violation due to the Division of Transportation’s (DOT) zero-tolerance coverage on the federal level.

“Whereas states might permit medical use of marijuana, federal legal guidelines and policy don't recognize any official medical use of marijuana,” a DOT handbook for business automobile drivers reads. “Even if a state permits using marijuana, DOT laws treat its use as the same as the usage of any other illicit drug.”

Stacker checked out what’s causing thousands of truckers to be faraway from their jobs, and the looming domino effect of the continued provide chain disruptions.

Under laws set forth by the DOT, truck drivers are tested for drug use—together with marijuana—previous to beginning a brand new job. They can also be tested at random, as well as after accidents. In January 2020, the DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration additionally upped the random drug testing fee from 25% of the common number of driver positions to 50%. Truck drivers are mainly screened for drug use by way of urinalysis, however there are now new saliva exams being proposed as well.

At worst, if a driver fails only one drug test, that may be grounds for termination beneath DOT regulations. At best, they're temporarily taken off the street and required to complete an analysis with a substance misuse professional who determines their rehabilitation process, which may sometimes take months.

As of January 2020, employers are also required to record industrial drivers who fail a drug test within the FMCSA’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. These violations remain searchable for five years. Potential employers are additionally required to examine the Clearinghouse to see if a industrial driver had any previous violations, which would stop them from being employed.

In recent times, extra states have legalized both recreational and medical marijuana, making it more broadly obtainable and used. However, marijuana use remains to be prohibited for commercial truck drivers, state legal guidelines and medical prescriptions aside. In accordance with the FMCSA, “a driver may not use marijuana even when [it] is really helpful by a licensed medical practitioner.” The DOT has maintained its zero-tolerance stance for marijuana use even because it’s turn out to be legalized, saying, “Legalization of marijuana use by States and different jurisdictions also has not modified the appliance of U.S. Division of Transportation drug testing laws.”

A business driver might use marijuana while off-duty, not driving, and in a state the place marijuana is authorized, but nonetheless take a look at optimistic for the substance for up to a month later and be taken off the highway. The American Dependancy Facilities says for rare marijuana users—meaning those who use the substance less than two occasions per week—it may show up in their urine for up to three days. Someone who makes use of marijuana several instances every week can take a look at optimistic for up to three weeks, and those that use marijuana much more steadily can “check optimistic for a month or longer.”

Shortages, manufacturing unit closures, and goods waiting to be unloaded at ports are just a number of the current issues affecting the supply chain across America. Trucking transports 72% of merchandise inside the U.S., based on a report from the White Home, however a rising variety of business drivers are sidelined for marijuana use.

The return-to-duty course of that commercial car drivers should bear once faced with a marijuana violation can preserve them from returning to work at all. According to the FMCSA’s month-to-month report, 89,650 industrial drivers are at present in prohibited standing as of April 1, 2022, however 67,368 of them haven't begun the RTD course of. 

If violations proceed at the current fee, the truck driver scarcity will further disrupt the availability chain, which implies higher prices not just for commodities however the cost of dwelling at large.

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