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

(Stacker) - Delayed packages, bare grocery store cabinets, and inflated prices have become the norm for American shoppers over the previous two years. Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst, there are different challenges inflicting provide chain issues, together with a lack of truck drivers to transport items 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 commercial licenses. Nonetheless, that won’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 soon worsen the already struggling provide chain.

As extra states legalize recreational marijuana—four of which did so in the past year and three extra are expected to by the tip of 2022—extra truck drivers have tested constructive for the substance. As of April 1, 2022, 10,276 commercial automobile drivers have tested optimistic for marijuana use. By the identical time in 2021, there had been 7,750 violations. That’s a 32.6% improve year over yr.

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. However even when a driver used marijuana or hemp-based merchandise like CBD while off responsibility in a state where these substances are authorized, they could still be faced with a violation as a result of Division of Transportation’s (DOT) zero-tolerance policy at the federal stage.

“While states might enable medical use of marijuana, federal laws and coverage do not recognize any legit medical use of marijuana,” a DOT handbook for commercial automobile drivers reads. “Even if a state permits the usage of marijuana, DOT rules deal with its use as the identical as the usage of any other illicit drug.”

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

Below laws set forth by the DOT, truck drivers are tested for drug use—including marijuana—previous 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 Security Administration also upped the random drug testing rate from 25% of the average variety of driver positions to 50%. Truck drivers are primarily screened for drug use via urinalysis, but there are now new saliva assessments being proposed as effectively.

At worst, if a driver fails only one drug check, that may be grounds for termination beneath DOT laws. At greatest, they're temporarily taken off the street 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 listing industrial drivers who fail a drug check within the FMCSA’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. These violations remain searchable for 5 years. Potential employers are additionally required to check the Clearinghouse to see if a commercial driver had any earlier violations, which might prevent them from being employed.

Lately, extra states have legalized each leisure and medical marijuana, making it more widely obtainable and used. However, marijuana use remains to be prohibited for industrial truck drivers, state legal guidelines and medical prescriptions apart. In line with the FMCSA, “a driver could not use marijuana even when [it] is beneficial by a licensed medical practitioner.” The DOT has maintained its zero-tolerance stance for marijuana use even as it’s turn into legalized, saying, “Legalization of marijuana use by States and different jurisdictions additionally has not modified the applying of U.S. Department of Transportation drug testing rules.”

A business driver could use marijuana while off-duty, not driving, and in a state where marijuana is authorized, but still take a look at positive for the substance for up to a month later and be taken off the road. The American Dependancy Centers says for infrequent marijuana customers—meaning those that use the substance less than two times a week—it could show up in their urine for up to three days. Someone who uses marijuana a number of instances a week can test positive for as much as three weeks, and people who use marijuana even more ceaselessly can “test positive for a month or longer.”

Shortages, factory closures, and goods waiting to be unloaded at ports are simply a number of the present issues affecting the supply chain across America. Trucking transports 72% of products within the U.S., based on a report from the White Home, however a growing number of commercial drivers are sidelined for marijuana use.

The return-to-duty process that business car drivers should endure once faced with a marijuana violation can maintain them from returning to work in any respect. According to the FMCSA’s month-to-month report, 89,650 industrial drivers are currently in prohibited standing as of April 1, 2022, but 67,368 of them have not begun the RTD course of. 

If violations continue at the present charge, the truck driver scarcity will further disrupt the provision chain, which implies larger prices not only for commodities however the price of living at massive.

Copyright 2022 Stacker via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.