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

(Stacker) - Delayed packages, bare grocery retailer cabinets, and inflated prices have change into the norm for American customers over the past two years. While the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst, there are other challenges inflicting supply 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 motive force shortage had risen to an all-time excessive of 80,000, partly because of the growing older population 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 commercial licenses. Nevertheless, that received’t impact another hurdle: disparate marijuana laws throughout the U.S. which are contributing to an increase in violations. In 2022, a growing number of truckers are being taken off the job, which might soon worsen the already struggling provide chain.

As more states legalize leisure marijuana—4 of which did so up to now year and three more are expected to by the end of 2022—extra truck drivers have examined optimistic for the substance. As of April 1, 2022, 10,276 business 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% increase yr over yr.

Truck drivers who journey cross-country face inconsistent state laws as 19 states have legalized recreational marijuana and 37 states allow it for medicinal purposes. But even if a driver used marijuana or hemp-based merchandise like CBD while off responsibility in a state the place those substances are legal, they may still be confronted with a violation because of the Division of Transportation’s (DOT) zero-tolerance policy at the federal level.

“Whereas states could enable medical use of marijuana, federal laws and policy don't acknowledge any authentic medical use of marijuana,” a DOT handbook for industrial vehicle drivers reads. “Even if a state permits the usage of marijuana, DOT rules treat its use as the identical as the use of another illicit drug.”

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

Underneath rules set forth by the DOT, truck drivers are examined for drug use—together with marijuana—prior to beginning a new job. They will also be examined at random, in addition to after accidents. In January 2020, the DOT’s Federal Motor Provider Safety Administration additionally upped the random drug testing fee from 25% of the typical number of driver positions to 50%. Truck drivers are mainly screened for drug use by way of urinalysis, but there at the moment are new saliva assessments being proposed as nicely.

At worst, if a driver fails just one drug take a look at, that can be grounds for termination beneath DOT rules. At finest, they are quickly taken off the road and required to finish an evaluation with a substance misuse professional who determines their rehabilitation course of, which might sometimes take months.

As of January 2020, employers are also required to record business drivers who fail a drug test in the FMCSA’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. These violations stay searchable for five years. Potential employers are also required to verify the Clearinghouse to see if a industrial driver had any previous violations, which would stop them from being employed.

Lately, more states have legalized each recreational and medical marijuana, making it extra broadly available and used. Nevertheless, marijuana use remains to be prohibited for industrial truck drivers, state laws and medical prescriptions aside. In accordance with the FMCSA, “a driver may 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 become legalized, saying, “Legalization of marijuana use by States and other jurisdictions additionally has not modified the applying of U.S. Department of Transportation drug testing laws.”

A business driver might use marijuana while off-duty, not driving, and in a state where marijuana is legal, but nonetheless take a look at optimistic for the substance for up to a month later and be taken off the highway. The American Dependancy Centers says for rare marijuana customers—that means those that use the substance less than two instances per week—it could actually present up in their urine for as much as three days. Someone who makes use of marijuana a number of instances every week can check optimistic for as much as three weeks, and those that use marijuana much more often can “test positive for a month or longer.”

Shortages, manufacturing facility closures, and goods ready to be unloaded at ports are simply some of the present issues affecting the availability chain throughout America. Trucking transports 72% of products within the U.S., in response to a report from the White Home, but a rising variety of business drivers are sidelined for marijuana use.

The return-to-duty course of that business automobile drivers should bear as soon as faced with a marijuana violation can hold them from returning to work in any respect. In accordance with the FMCSA’s monthly report, 89,650 commercial drivers are currently in prohibited standing as of April 1, 2022, however 67,368 of them have not begun the RTD course of. 

If violations continue at the present rate, the truck driver shortage will additional disrupt the supply chain, which implies greater prices not only for commodities however the cost of dwelling at large.

Copyright 2022 Stacker through Grey Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.