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

(Stacker) - Delayed packages, bare grocery store shelves, and inflated prices have turn into the norm for American customers over the past two years. Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst, there are different challenges inflicting provide chain issues, including an absence of truck drivers to transport goods from one place to another. In late 2021, the American Trucking Associations reported that the driver scarcity had risen to an all-time excessive of 80,000, partly due to the growing old 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 business licenses. Nonetheless, that won’t have an effect on another hurdle: disparate marijuana legal guidelines across the U.S. that are contributing to an increase in violations. In 2022, a rising number of truckers are being taken off the job, which might soon worsen the already struggling provide chain.

As extra states legalize recreational marijuana—four of which did so in the past yr and three more are expected to by the top of 2022—more truck drivers have tested 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 12 months over year.

Truck drivers who journey 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 merchandise like CBD whereas off duty in a state where those substances are authorized, they may nonetheless be confronted with a violation due to the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) zero-tolerance coverage at the federal degree.

“While states could permit medical use of marijuana, federal laws and coverage do not acknowledge any respectable medical use of marijuana,” a DOT handbook for commercial vehicle drivers reads. “Even if a state permits using marijuana, DOT laws deal with its use as the identical as the usage of some other illicit drug.”

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

Below 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, in addition to after accidents. In January 2020, the DOT’s Federal Motor Provider Security Administration additionally upped the random drug testing charge from 25% of the average variety of driver positions to 50%. Truck drivers are mainly screened for drug use via urinalysis, but there are now new saliva assessments being proposed as well.

At worst, if a driver fails only one drug take a look at, that can be grounds for termination under DOT regulations. At greatest, they're temporarily taken off the street and required to finish an evaluation with a substance misuse skilled who determines their rehabilitation course of, which can typically 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 test the Clearinghouse to see if a industrial driver had any earlier violations, which might stop them from being hired.

Lately, more states have legalized both leisure and medical marijuana, making it extra extensively accessible and used. Nonetheless, marijuana use remains to be prohibited for industrial truck drivers, state legal guidelines and medical prescriptions aside. In line 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 become legalized, saying, “Legalization of marijuana use by States and other jurisdictions also has not modified the appliance of U.S. Department of Transportation drug testing rules.”

A industrial driver could use marijuana while off-duty, not driving, and in a state where marijuana is authorized, but still test 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 customers—that means those who use the substance less than two occasions per week—it may possibly show up of their urine for up to three days. Someone who uses marijuana several times per week can take a look at positive for up to three weeks, and people who use marijuana much more continuously can “test constructive for a month or longer.”

Shortages, manufacturing unit closures, and items ready to be unloaded at ports are simply among the present issues affecting the availability chain throughout America. Trucking transports 72% of merchandise inside the U.S., in response to a report from the White House, but a rising variety of business drivers are sidelined for marijuana use.

The return-to-duty process that commercial car drivers should endure once confronted with a marijuana violation can maintain them from returning to work at all. In line with the FMCSA’s month-to-month report, 89,650 industrial drivers are presently in prohibited status as of April 1, 2022, however 67,368 of them haven't begun the RTD course of. 

If violations continue at the present rate, the truck driver shortage will additional disrupt the provision chain, which implies larger prices not only for commodities but the price of living at large.

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