Educate your drivers about the federal drug testing pitfalls!

by Sandra Brakstad, CEO
Midwest Compliance Inc.

Our industry has been testing drivers for controlled substances nearly seventeen years and carriers are still telling us “it’s not really a positive because the driver only took a couple of their spouses pain pills for a sore back…or the driver only took a spoonful of his son’s prescription cough syrup because they both have the same cold symptoms.”

Sorry, but in the above examples the test result will be deemed a positive test because the prescription drug ingested by the driver was not prescribed to the driver.

As you know, a positive result can set off a long chain of events;
1) The carrier must now direct the driver to a Substance Abuse Professional, (SAP), for an evaluation - usually at the driver’s expense.
2) Once evaluated, the driver may be directed to enroll in some type of therapy or at the very least an educational class, once again at his expense.
3) The therapy/education may take several weeks during which time the driver is not permitted to work in the capacity of performing a ‘safety-sensitive’ job. See 49CFR Part 382.107 for the definition of safety-sensitive function.
4) Once class time is completed, the driver must pass a return-to-duty drug/alcohol test, at his expense.
5) And if the carrier’s policy allows the driver to return to work or requires the driver to find another carrier to hire him; now the employing carrier must conduct the follow-up program prescribed by the SAP, which could run out over a 60 month period, and most likely the driver will have to pay for each follow-up test.

We live in a noisy, busy world and many of us do not want to take time from work for a doctor’s visit for an annoying back ache, or head cold. That’s understandable, but if you are enrolled in a controlled substance testing program, do not take someone else’s prescribed drugs! You might also suggest to your drivers they weigh the consequences of getting ‘caught’ and the time and money it will cost vs. a visit to the doctor ~ just saying.

As carriers, whether you are private or for-hire, most of you are required to have a federal testing program. You are also required to have a controlled substance testing policy written to the federal regs. (If you do not have one, visit www.midwestcompliance.com and customize your own policy.) You must ensure that each of your applicable drivers has read and signed an acknowledgment of understanding of this policy. The problem, as I see it, is many drivers do not read the policy and fail to understand the consequences of a simple act of medicating their symptoms with a family member’s prescript. To take it a step further, many of the people involved in qualifying / orienting their drivers have not read the companies policy either; or if they have, they fail to communicate the controlled substance no-no’s to the drivers.

Making certain your drivers are familiar with what constitutes a positive test result can save your company and your driver’s time and money. Below are the most common situations that will result in a positive test or be of a type that will carry the same consequences as a positive result:
• controlled substances in their system, not prescribed to them
• leaving the testing site before completion of the collection process once the process has begun
• obstructing the testing process in any way, (failing to cooperate)
• failing to appear for any test (except a pre-employment test) within a reasonable time period
• failing to permit a directly observed or monitored collection, when required
• failing to provide a sufficient amount of urine, when it has been determined through a medical evaluation that there was no medical explanation for the failure
• declining to take an additional drug test the employer or collector has directed
• possessing or wearing a prosthetic or other device that could be used to interfere with the collection
• adulterating or substituting the specimen

If you have questions, or would like additional information, give us a call we’d be happy to set up a consultation for you. Until next month….take it one load at a time!