Is marijuana really the drug most commonly used by truck drivers? National Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse statistics say it is by far, but hair-testing advocates cite new research finding that truck drivers abuse cocaine more than cannabis.
UCA researchers concluded that Trucking Alliance drivers are less likely to use illegal drugs than the national truck driver population. They passed their urine drug tests 269% more frequently than drivers in the Clearinghouse.
Marijuana was the most commonly identified substance in positive urine tests from both the Clearinghouse and the Trucking Alliance carriers data.
However, among Trucking Alliance drivers who were disqualified for failing their hair test, cocaine was identified 16% more frequently and opioids were identified 14% more frequently than in the federally required urine tests.
Researchers found statistical evidence that while urine testing is effective at detecting marijuana, hair testing detects not only marijuana, but also a higher percentage of harder drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, and opioids, than a urine test. Hair testing, they said, detects drugs 8.26 time (826%) more frequently than urine testing.
The research analyzed test data from U.S. Express, Cargo Transporters, Dupre, J.B. Hunt, KLLM, Knight/Swift, Maverick USA, and Schneider, all members of the Alliance. Each carrier provided hair and urine drug test data for 2019 and 2020.
“Federal law prohibits truck drivers from using illegal drugs, yet thousands are escaping detection,” said Lane Kidd, managing director of the Trucking Alliance, in the news release.
“Drug-impaired truck drivers are a critical public safety issue, but employing these drivers can be a considerable liability risk.”
In the most recent Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse report, showing data through November 2021, 56% of the positive urine-testing reports were for marijuana metabolite, and only 15% for the second-most-common drug, cocaine. (More than one substance can appear in a positive drug test.)
HDT has reached out to FMCSA for comment.
Why Doesn’t the Clearinghouse Include Hair Testing?
Because of problems with drivers being able to cheat urine testing, or simply wait until drugs have passed out of their systems, some motor carriers use more stringent hair drug tests, which can detect drug use over a longer period of time. Advocates of hair-testing say it does a better job of catching “lifestyle” users of illegal drugs. In 2020, a study issued by the Alliance comparing urine- and hair-testing results found that almost 300,000 truck drivers would fail a hair test for drug use.
In 2015, Congress directed the Secretary of Transportation to “use hair testing as an acceptable alternative to urine testing” for pre-employment and random testing of commercial truck drivers. But the federal government has yet to issue guidelines.
DOT has said it must wait for guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services, or more specifically the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The proposed hair-testing rule, issued by SAMHSA in 2020, was widely panned, in part because it required the less-stringent urine testing as a “back-up” test to corroborate the results. The final deadline for comments on the proposal was well over a year ago. HDT has reached out to HHS for an update.
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