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

(Stacker) - Delayed packages, bare grocery store shelves, and inflated prices have grow to be the norm for American customers over the previous two years. While the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst, there are different challenges causing provide chain issues, together with a scarcity of truck drivers to transport goods from one place to a different. In late 2021, the American Trucking Associations reported that the driving force shortage had risen to an all-time excessive of 80,000, partly as a result of growing older population and shrinking wages.

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

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

Truck drivers who journey cross-country face inconsistent state rules as 19 states have legalized recreational marijuana and 37 states allow it for medicinal functions. But even if a driver used marijuana or hemp-based products like CBD while off responsibility in a state the place those substances are legal, they may nonetheless be faced with a violation as a result of Division of Transportation’s (DOT) zero-tolerance coverage on the federal level.

“Whereas states could enable medical use of marijuana, federal legal guidelines and coverage don't acknowledge any reputable medical use of marijuana,” a DOT handbook for industrial car drivers reads. “Even when a state allows using marijuana, DOT rules treat its use as the identical as using another illicit drug.”

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

Beneath laws set forth by the DOT, truck drivers are examined for drug use—together with marijuana—prior to starting a new job. They may also be examined at random, as well as after accidents. In January 2020, the DOT’s Federal Motor Provider Safety Administration additionally upped the random drug testing price from 25% of the typical variety of driver positions to 50%. Truck drivers are mainly screened for drug use by way of urinalysis, however there are now new saliva checks being proposed as nicely.

At worst, if a driver fails only one drug take a look at, that may be grounds for termination underneath DOT regulations. At greatest, they are temporarily taken off the highway and required to complete an analysis with a substance misuse skilled who determines their rehabilitation course of, which might generally take months.

As of January 2020, employers are additionally required to list business drivers who fail a drug test in the FMCSA’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. These violations remain searchable for 5 years. Potential employers are also required to test the Clearinghouse to see if a industrial driver had any previous violations, which would forestall them from being hired.

In recent times, more states have legalized each recreational and medical marijuana, making it extra widely available and used. Nonetheless, marijuana use remains to be prohibited for business truck drivers, state laws and medical prescriptions apart. In line with the FMCSA, “a driver could not use marijuana even when [it] is recommended by a licensed medical practitioner.” The DOT has maintained its zero-tolerance stance for marijuana use even as it’s turn out to be legalized, saying, “Legalization of marijuana use by States and other jurisdictions additionally has not modified the applying of U.S. Division of Transportation drug testing rules.”

A business driver could use marijuana while off-duty, not driving, and in a state where marijuana is authorized, however still check constructive for the substance for as much as a month later and be taken off the road. The American Dependancy Centers says for rare marijuana users—which means those who use the substance lower than two instances a week—it could possibly present up in their urine for as much as three days. Someone who uses marijuana several occasions a week can test optimistic for up to three weeks, and those who use marijuana even more frequently can “check optimistic for a month or longer.”

Shortages, manufacturing facility closures, and items ready to be unloaded at ports are simply a few of the present points affecting the availability chain across America. Trucking transports 72% of products throughout the U.S., based on a report from the White Home, however a rising number of business drivers are sidelined for marijuana use.

The return-to-duty course of that industrial vehicle drivers must undergo as soon as confronted with a marijuana violation can hold them from returning to work at all. Based on the FMCSA’s month-to-month report, 89,650 commercial drivers are at present in prohibited status as of April 1, 2022, however 67,368 of them have not begun the RTD course of. 

If violations proceed on the current price, the truck driver scarcity will further disrupt the supply chain, which implies higher costs not only for commodities but the price of living at massive.

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