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

(Stacker) - Delayed packages, naked grocery retailer shelves, and inflated prices have turn out to be the norm for American shoppers over the past two years. Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst, there are other challenges inflicting provide chain points, together with 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 scarcity had risen to an all-time excessive of 80,000, partly due to the aging population 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. Nevertheless, that received’t impact another hurdle: disparate marijuana legal guidelines throughout the U.S. that are contributing to an increase in violations. In 2022, a growing variety of truckers are being taken off the job, which may quickly worsen the already struggling provide chain.

As extra states legalize recreational marijuana—4 of which did so previously 12 months and three more 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 tested optimistic for marijuana use. By the same time in 2021, there had been 7,750 violations. That’s a 32.6% increase 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 purposes. But even when a driver used marijuana or hemp-based products like CBD whereas off responsibility in a state the place these substances are legal, they could still be faced with a violation due to the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) zero-tolerance policy on the federal degree.

“While states could permit medical use of marijuana, federal legal guidelines and coverage do not acknowledge any legit medical use of marijuana,” a DOT handbook for business automobile drivers reads. “Even if a state allows the usage of marijuana, DOT regulations treat its use as the same as the use of any other illicit drug.”

Stacker checked out what’s causing 1000's of truckers to be faraway from their jobs, and the looming domino effect of the continued supply chain disruptions.

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

At worst, if a driver fails just one drug take a look at, that can be grounds for termination underneath DOT regulations. At greatest, they're temporarily taken off the road 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 also required to record industrial drivers who fail a drug take a look at within the FMCSA’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. These violations remain searchable for five years. Potential employers are also required to test the Clearinghouse to see if a industrial driver had any earlier violations, which would prevent them from being employed.

Lately, extra states have legalized both leisure and medical marijuana, making it more broadly available and used. However, marijuana use is still prohibited for commercial truck drivers, state laws and medical prescriptions aside. In response to the FMCSA, “a driver could not use marijuana even when [it] is really useful 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 applying of U.S. Department of Transportation drug testing laws.”

A business driver might use marijuana while off-duty, not driving, and in a state where marijuana is legal, but still check constructive 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 that use the substance lower than two times per week—it can present up in their urine for as much as three days. Someone who makes use of marijuana several instances every week can take a look at optimistic for as much as three weeks, and those that use marijuana even more often can “check positive for a month or longer.”

Shortages, manufacturing facility closures, and items waiting to be unloaded at ports are simply among the current issues affecting the supply chain across America. Trucking transports 72% of products inside the U.S., according to a report from the White Home, but a growing variety of industrial drivers are sidelined for marijuana use.

The return-to-duty process that industrial automobile drivers must endure once faced with a marijuana violation can maintain them from returning to work at all. In response to the FMCSA’s month-to-month report, 89,650 industrial drivers are at the moment in prohibited standing as of April 1, 2022, however 67,368 of them have not begun the RTD process. 

If violations continue at the current price, the truck driver scarcity will additional disrupt the availability chain, which implies larger costs not just for commodities however the price of residing at massive.

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