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

(Stacker) - Delayed packages, bare grocery retailer shelves, and inflated costs have become the norm for American customers over the past two years. While the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst, there are other 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 motive force scarcity had risen to an all-time excessive of 80,000, partly as a result of growing old inhabitants and shrinking wages.

In response, the Biden administration vowed in December to get extra truck drivers on the road by boosting recruitment efforts and expediting the issuing of business licenses. However, that won’t impact one other hurdle: disparate marijuana legal guidelines throughout the U.S. which might be contributing to an increase in violations. In 2022, a rising variety of truckers are being taken off the job, which may quickly worsen the already struggling supply chain.

As more states legalize recreational marijuana—4 of which did so in the past 12 months and three extra are expected to by the end of 2022—more truck drivers have examined constructive for the substance. As of April 1, 2022, 10,276 business vehicle drivers have tested positive for marijuana use. By the same time in 2021, there had been 7,750 violations. That’s a 32.6% enhance yr over year.

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

“While states could permit medical use of marijuana, federal laws and policy don't recognize any respectable medical use of marijuana,” a DOT handbook for industrial car drivers reads. “Even if a state allows the usage of marijuana, DOT rules treat its use as the identical as the use of another illicit drug.”

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

Under regulations set forth by the DOT, truck drivers are tested for drug use—together with marijuana—previous to starting a brand new job. They may also be examined at random, as well as after accidents. In January 2020, the DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also upped the random drug testing charge from 25% of the average number of driver positions to 50%. Truck drivers are mainly screened for drug use by way of urinalysis, however there are actually new saliva checks being proposed as nicely.

At worst, if a driver fails only one drug check, that may be grounds for termination underneath DOT regulations. At finest, they are temporarily taken off the street and required to complete an evaluation with a substance misuse professional who determines their rehabilitation process, which might generally take months.

As of January 2020, employers are also required to listing industrial drivers who fail a drug check in 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 earlier violations, which might prevent them from being hired.

Lately, extra states have legalized each leisure and medical marijuana, making it extra widely obtainable and used. Nevertheless, marijuana use is still prohibited for commercial truck drivers, state legal guidelines and medical prescriptions aside. In line with 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 grow to be legalized, saying, “Legalization of marijuana use by States and other jurisdictions additionally has not modified the application of U.S. Department of Transportation drug testing regulations.”

A industrial driver might use marijuana whereas off-duty, not driving, and in a state the place marijuana is authorized, but still test constructive for the substance for as much as a month later and be taken off the road. The American Addiction Centers says for rare marijuana users—meaning those who use the substance lower than two occasions a week—it may well present up in their urine for as much as three days. Somebody who uses marijuana a number of occasions every week can check positive for up to three weeks, and those that use marijuana even more continuously can “take a look at positive for a month or longer.”

Shortages, factory closures, and items ready to be unloaded at ports are simply some of the current points affecting the availability chain across America. Trucking transports 72% of products inside the U.S., in keeping with a report from the White House, however a growing number of business drivers are sidelined for marijuana use.

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

If violations continue on the present rate, the truck driver shortage will further disrupt the supply chain, which means increased prices not just for commodities but the price of dwelling at large.

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