My Drug Testing Rant.

[Sheepdancer]

^&@*@#% Drivers! ( not directed to anyone in here, you are all fine people) I have had 9 drivers in orientation in the last two weeks and 5 of those drivers have failed the drug test.. @#$@$# morons! ( once again, no one in here....Im sure no one does drugs in here)
However whats the deal? Did I miss the announcement of some big trucker drug bash in the last few weeks? 5 out of 9 is OUTRAGEOUS!
Think about that next time you pass 9 trucks out on the road, 5 of those could drivers could be high.
It used to be about 2% failed the pee test. Now that we have gone to hair tests, it has been about 14%, Which is outrageous in itself. But lately its been WAY WAY over 14%! AGHHHHHHHHHHH !@%@$@!**&^!!!

Ok, thats the end of my rant. Back to normal.
But seriously, if you choose to do drugs, please get the hell out of this business.

[Twilight Flyer]

But seriously, if you choose to do drugs, please get the hell out of this business.

Most definitely.

[mapleleaf_1]

I agree with you Sheepdancer. Obviously these people don't get the concept. I've seen drivers drunk and also high at receivers and truckstops both. As much as I hate to rat on another driver I have and will in the future if it's going to endanger my life and other drivers. There's no place for people like that behind the wheel of a 4 wheeler let alone a tractor pulling a 53 ft. trailer loaded down. I have a job to do and I do it well and at the end of the run I want to go home to my family alive and well. Enough said. Drive safe everyone.

Same here I see ANYONE that is impared in ANYWAY I will dial 911 and give the dispatcher the plate number and if possible the truck number. Sorry I have to much to live for anymore with a 1 month old and the rest of my family. We are supposed to be professinals out here and hold ourselves to a HIGHER standard. We keep this up we are going to have the DUI switches on the trucks were we have to blow in tube so the trucks can see if we are drunk or high before it will start.

[Sheepdancer]

anyone that thinks a persons drug use doesnt affect anyone else. Hell, ever since we started hair testing drivers, my paychecks have dropped big time.
The family man and law abiding citizen in me says "Hell yeah" Every company should hair test along with the pee test. Perhaps we need stronger laws where it makes it ILLEGAL to fail a drug test. If you think about it. If the residual drugs are in your body for the tests to pick up, you are in possession of illegal drugs. I REALLY think we need something like that.

Now, on the other hand, as a recruiter who has seen his paycheck go down because of the hair testing....MAN THIS SUCKS

From a few of my friends at Wal-Mart they are having trouble getting people even because tehy can not even PASS their tests either. So do not feel to bad SD. Sooner or later people will realize that ding drugs screws them up and that it will hurt them in the end. Of course the easiest way to end the problem is to stop them from getting into the country but hard to do.

[Rev.Vassago]

In all fairness, you'd have to be high to drive for JB Hunt. :P :wink:

[Orangetxguy]

So...were all those positive tests, people whom are currently employed by other trucking companies?

[Uturn2001]

The problem is not just in the transportation biz.

Years ago when I worked as as a manager in the retail biz over 80% of those applicants I would send in for a drug test would fail.

Talked to a HR manager at a large, well paying factory in the area and she told me the percentage rate for failed drug tests was the same.

What is so amazing is that these people know they will be taking a drug test and that they do drugs and still apply and take the test.

[Sheepdancer]

So...were all those positive tests, people whom are currently employed by other trucking companies?

Most of the drivers I hire are employed when i talk them into coming over here. Some of them might have just left a job recently. If they have too much unemployment, i cant hire them.
Another thing that is amazing is lots of drivers go to orientation and when they are about to be tested, they find out we do a hair test and a pee test. They freak out and leave orientation and then get a refusal to drug test on their DAC. They would have been better off just doing the test in hopes that they squeeze by. I guess drugs dont make you smart.

I guess I just post information about our hair tests to keep people from going to orientation if they are going to fail. They use approx an inch and a half of hair. Which means it basically goes back 90 days. Its not like if you have really long hair it will go back many years. Even with long hair they will just use the most recent inch in a half. You ARE NOT GOING TO BEAT A HAIR TEST. If you have used drugs in the last 90 days, it WILL SHOW. Strange enough the one exception to the hair test is that If you used in the last few days before orientation, that wont show in your hair that quick. Thats why we do a hair test and a pee test. If you dont have an inch in a half of hair, they will shave your legs. If you are shaved all over your body, they will take from the eyebrow. If you are a freak with no body hair whatsoever, they can scrape your fingernails. Hair folicle tests are very very accurate. You arent going to able to use any of the classic excuses. Example: I was just around it at a party, I must of breathed some of it.....BUZZZZZZ WRONG!.......I must have had a poppyseed bagel......BUZZZZZ WRONG!

[golfhobo]

This last post SHOULD provide "some" answer to Fozzy's question about WHAT personal liberties we've lost in just the last year or so.

Sheep: You DO realize that a person could wake up one day, decide to be a trucker, QUIT using what "minimal" drugs he might have been doing, go through an entire CDL mill, get hired on, go through a month of training, and STILL have "evidence" of dong drugs 89 days ago? (with time OFF even! )

Why don't you just find a way to tell if anyone has EVER "experimented" with drugs...(maybe a polygraph?) and then exclude them from this business that is SO "safety sensitive?"

I got news for ya. The guys in the Missile silos, flying attack aircraft, and making National Policy decisions, don't have to suffer such scrutiny.

Y'all need to get OVER yourselves!

[Orangetxguy]

:shock: :shock: Sooooooooo..when did JB start going to such extremes to test for drugs? When my brother-in-law drove for them, out of the Southgate Terminal, in 1987, they barely did a wizz test.

BP, Chevron, Ashland, TSMT and a few other companies I can think of, that hire drivers for HazMat hauling, all do just the wizzer test. Yes..they do run it through the spectro-analysis machine, but it is still only a whizzer test. And....TSMT is the primary carrier for nuclear materials, for the Gov. If anyone was gonna do the "Hair Test", don't you think they would?

:twisted: :twisted: LOL...JB needs to do the testing for Major League Sports teams !!!! :twisted: :twisted:

[Sheepdancer]

We have been doing hair tests along with pee tests for random drug tests for about a year and a half and for prehire at some locations for about a year. Not everyone gets a orientation hair test, just most of the hires. Really depends on the job and the orientation location. However I think it would be safe to say if someone is coming to orientation, you should assume you are going to be hairtested.

Why go to hair tests? They have become cheaper. Before hair tests cost about 4 times as much as a pee test. Now they are about equal in cost. Its all about safety, the powers above dont want druggies driving for us.

[Sheepdancer]

Sheep: You DO realize that a person could wake up one day, decide to be a trucker, QUIT using what "minimal" drugs he might have been doing, go through an entire CDL mill, get hired on, go through a month of training, and STILL have "evidence" of dong drugs 89 days ago? (with time OFF even!

Sure I realize that.......why should that bother me? That guy caused his own problem.....he chose to do drugs no matter how long ago it was. If he never chose to do drugs, he wouldnt have ever had that problem.
Personally, I use examples like this to teach my kids that the choices you make when you are young and dumb can still come back and haunt you later in life. Everytime I turn down a driver because they got busted for a little weed 20 years ago, it is a subject of conversation at the dinner table.

[COLT]

Sheep, what drug are these people failing the test for ? Pot ? Or hard drugs ? Alcohol ?

[Malaki86]

Wow - we're getting limited here...

Can't buy fuel at WalMart on the 15th
Can't do drugs or drink until after you've passed the pre-employment drug screen
Can't drive over 40mph for fuel economy
Can't find a place to park
Can't follow a GPS
etc etc etc

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BTW - this entire post is a joke

[Hat Rak]

The other day I was just curious to see what Nashville's Finest had to do to qualify for an entry-level position as a boy in blue.

Here's the link http://www.police.nashville.org/get_...nt/officer.htm , I'll just give you the gems.

• Have a C average over 2 years of college,
  no worse than 20/100 vision,

ok here's the real gem:

Marijuana use will be viewed in the context of the applicant’s age at the time of use, the recency of use, and the frequency of use. No marijuana use will be allowed within 2 years of the date of the application.
No other illegal drug use within 7 years of application. Combined use of other drugs besides marijuana must not exceed 5 times.
No sale of any drugs.
Could have permanent disqualification for use of heroin, LSD, PCP, crack cocaine, and methamphetamine or similar substances.
Any prior drug use, admitted or discovered, will be evaluated in determining employment eligibility.
No pattern of abuse of legal or legend drugs (including steroids).
Must pass polygraph or CVSA concerning use.

So who cares if you pass the drug test, if you lie about your previous drug use, it's see ya later, alligator.

Now isn't that interesting... Nashville's Finest doesn't care if you're a half-witted, cross-eyed Tennessean but they'll scrutinize your chemical use up to the last 7 years of your past.

[Karnajj]

This last post SHOULD provide "some" answer to Fozzy's question about WHAT personal liberties we've lost in just the last year or so.

Sheep: You DO realize that a person could wake up one day, decide to be a trucker, QUIT using what "minimal" drugs he might have been doing, go through an entire CDL mill, get hired on, go through a month of training, and STILL have "evidence" of dong drugs 89 days ago? (with time OFF even! )

Why don't you just find a way to tell if anyone has EVER "experimented" with drugs...(maybe a polygraph?) and then exclude them from this business that is SO "safety sensitive?"

I got news for ya. The guys in the Missile silos, flying attack aircraft, and making National Policy decisions, don't have to suffer such scrutiny.

Y'all need to get OVER yourselves!

The odds of someone who just recently quit using drugs going back on them is much higher than it is for someone who quit a long time ago. Personally I find it quite laughable that you would find this to be an example of a loss in personal liberties.

[trux]

Sheep: You DO realize that a person could wake up one day, decide to be a trucker, QUIT using what "minimal" drugs he might have been doing, go through an entire CDL mill, get hired on, go through a month of training, and STILL have "evidence" of dong drugs 89 days ago? (with time OFF even!

Sure I realize that.......why should that bother me? That guy caused his own problem.....he chose to do drugs no matter how long ago it was. If he never chose to do drugs, he wouldnt have ever had that problem.
Personally, I use examples like this to teach my kids that the choices you make when you are young and dumb can still come back and haunt you later in life. Everytime I turn down a driver because they got busted for a little weed 20 years ago, it is a subject of conversation at the dinner table.

Once a friend of mine and I were discussing his kid getting into some sort of trouble. I told him "if a kid never does anything wrong, never pushes the envelope, never gets into trouble, there's something wrong with that kid."

[Karnajj]

Sheep: You DO realize that a person could wake up one day, decide to be a trucker, QUIT using what "minimal" drugs he might have been doing, go through an entire CDL mill, get hired on, go through a month of training, and STILL have "evidence" of dong drugs 89 days ago? (with time OFF even!

Sure I realize that.......why should that bother me? That guy caused his own problem.....he chose to do drugs no matter how long ago it was. If he never chose to do drugs, he wouldnt have ever had that problem.
Personally, I use examples like this to teach my kids that the choices you make when you are young and dumb can still come back and haunt you later in life. Everytime I turn down a driver because they got busted for a little weed 20 years ago, it is a subject of conversation at the dinner table.

Once a friend of mine and I were discussing his kid getting into some sort of trouble. I told him "if a kid never does anything wrong, never pushes the envelope, never gets into trouble, there's something wrong with that kid."

So you are saying that they should turn to drugs? That's the only possible interpretation to your statement, which makes it ridiculous in the extreme.
There are plenty of legal ways to "push the envelope" without resorting to illegal behavior.