Marijuana violations have taken over 10,000 truck drivers off the highway this year, including extra provide chain disruptions

(Stacker) - Delayed packages, naked grocery retailer cabinets, and inflated costs have change into the norm for American shoppers over the past two years. Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst, there are other challenges causing provide chain issues, including a scarcity of truck drivers to transport items from one place to another. In late 2021, the American Trucking Associations reported that the driver shortage had risen to an all-time excessive of 80,000, partly because of the growing old inhabitants and shrinking wages.

In response, the Biden administration vowed in December to get extra truck drivers on the street by boosting recruitment efforts and expediting the issuing of economic licenses. Nevertheless, that received’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 rising number of truckers are being taken off the job, which may soon worsen the already struggling provide chain.

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

Truck drivers who travel cross-country face inconsistent state rules as 19 states have legalized recreational marijuana and 37 states permit it for medicinal functions. But even if a driver used marijuana or hemp-based products like CBD while off duty in a state the place those substances are authorized, they might still be confronted with a violation because of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) zero-tolerance coverage at the federal degree.

“Whereas states could permit medical use of marijuana, federal legal guidelines and coverage do not acknowledge any authentic medical use of marijuana,” a DOT handbook for commercial car drivers reads. “Even when a state permits the use of marijuana, DOT laws treat its use as the identical as using another illicit drug.”

Stacker looked at what’s causing 1000's of truckers to be faraway from their jobs, and the looming domino impact of the continued provide chain disruptions.

Below rules set forth by the DOT, truck drivers are examined for drug use—including marijuana—prior to starting a brand new job. They may also be tested at random, in addition to after accidents. In January 2020, the DOT’s Federal Motor Provider Security Administration also upped the random drug testing price from 25% of the typical variety of driver positions to 50%. Truck drivers are primarily screened for drug use by way of urinalysis, but there at the moment are new saliva checks being proposed as effectively.

At worst, if a driver fails just one drug check, that can be grounds for termination underneath DOT laws. At best, they are temporarily taken off the road and required to finish an analysis with a substance misuse skilled who determines their rehabilitation process, which may sometimes take months.

As of January 2020, employers are also required to list business drivers who fail a drug take a look at within the FMCSA’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. These violations stay searchable for five years. Potential employers are also required to examine the Clearinghouse to see if a commercial driver had any previous violations, which might forestall them from being employed.

In recent times, more states have legalized both recreational and medical marijuana, making it extra extensively out there and used. Nevertheless, marijuana use remains to be prohibited for business truck drivers, state legal guidelines and medical prescriptions apart. In response to the FMCSA, “a driver may not use marijuana even if [it] is really helpful by a licensed medical practitioner.” The DOT has maintained its zero-tolerance stance for marijuana use even as it’s change into legalized, saying, “Legalization of marijuana use by States and other jurisdictions also has not modified the application of U.S. Division of Transportation drug testing rules.”

A commercial driver might use marijuana whereas off-duty, not driving, and in a state the place marijuana is authorized, however still check positive for the substance for as much as a month later and be taken off the street. The American Habit Centers says for rare marijuana users—meaning those who use the substance less than two times a week—it could possibly show up in their urine for as much as three days. Somebody who uses marijuana several instances a week can test constructive for as much as three weeks, and people who use marijuana even more frequently can “take a look at constructive for a month or longer.”

Shortages, factory closures, and goods waiting to be unloaded at ports are simply among the current points affecting the supply chain across America. Trucking transports 72% of merchandise within the U.S., according to a report from the White Home, but a growing number of commercial drivers are sidelined for marijuana use.

The return-to-duty course of that commercial automobile drivers should endure as soon as confronted with a marijuana violation can keep them from returning to work at all. According to the FMCSA’s monthly report, 89,650 industrial drivers are at the moment in prohibited standing as of April 1, 2022, however 67,368 of them haven't begun the RTD course of. 

If violations continue at the present charge, the truck driver scarcity will additional disrupt the availability chain, which means increased prices not only for commodities but the cost of dwelling at giant.

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