What happens when a driver tests positive for drugs

Drug testing rules cover the same drivers as the alcohol testing rules. The type of tests required are: pre-employment, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, random, return-to-duty, and follow up. You can see where your drug test, as a pre-employment test, was a valid request to test.

By JIM C. KLEPPER
ITJ

6/23/2008

“Mr. Klepper: I read your articles in the justice sections of trucker magazines and was hoping to get some information. I went to a refresher-training course with large carrier to go back on the road after 10 years to raise my sons. I took my physical and drug test at the motel where they put us up at and went through the training not thinking I had anything to worry about. I graduated the classroom part scoring a 95 on one test and a 100 on the other, received my dot physical card, which was signed off by the physician and started my driving part. I told them in class that I didn’t want to go into their lease- to-own program, wanted to be a company driver, and wouldn’t consider it until I had time with the company to see if it went well and we fit together. Some of the other students saw the mentality and did likewise.

Halfway through my first day on the road, which was going very well, I was called into the office and informed my urine had tested positive for marijuana. I told them there must be some mistake; I did stuff like that when younger but am 50 years old and clean. Then I was questioned as to what medications I was on that could have given a false reading or was I around people who smoked pot. I told them on the bus trip up there people where smoking pot in the back of the bus but thought that was a wives tale about second-hand smoke. The medications I use are 800 milligrams of ibuprofen, Flexerill and over-the-counter sinus medicine and airborne immune booster for the trip. The medications are for back pain from previous injuries and I only take them occasionally when in pain. They threw me out of the school and I had to borrow money to get back to Florida, as I was unemployed when I went up there. They said it was going on my DOT record and I would have to go through a Substance Abuse Program (SAP) that would cost about $1,000, but would not be eligible to be employed by them anyway.

Is this going to ruin my chances of getting a job driving with some other company?

Why was I issued a signed DOT physical card before my sample was tested and if I was positive for marijuana why were they asking about medications that could have given a false reading?

I am afraid that whatever went wrong is going to ruin my chances at driving and cannot understand how I could have tested positive in the first place. If you can please let me know any recourse or information about what I can do. I spent 10 years in the Navy and never heard of anything like this before. The last time I took a urine analysis was about three years ago for a worker’s comp injury. Please can you help?”

Thank You,
John E.,
Florida.

John, as they say in the Deep South, “You’re in a heap of trouble boy.” Your positive drug test showed you had at least 50 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) of marijuana in your urine. The carrier cannot allow you to drive with a positive drug test, which is why they pulled you out of the truck. They are correct in letting you know that completion of a SAP is required before they would even be able to hire you back. However, most carriers have a zero tolerance for positive drug tests, which will make your job search more difficult.

Testing occurs in two stages. First is the initial test. If it is positive for one or more of the drugs on the DOT list, then a confirmation test is performed for each drug identified to rule out any over-the-counter medications.

The 49 CFR Part 40, § 40.85 lists the drugs laboratories test for. §40.87 describes what concentrations the laboratories test for the following drug and metabolites (what the drug becomes when it breaks down in the body) of marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates (codeine and morphine) and phencyclidine (PCP). The laboratories test the urine for drugs in the following concentrations for the initial test and confirmation test: marijuana at 50 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) for the initial test and 15 ng/mL for the confirmation test, cocaine at 300 & 150 ng/mL, phencyclidine at 25 & 25 ng/mL, amphetamines at 1000 & 500ng/mL, and opiates at 2000 & 2000 ng/mL.

The initial drug test reports any concentration below the cutoff as negative and any concentration above the cutoff as positive. The confirmation test reports any concentration above the lower amount as a positive test. The cutoff for a positive becomes lower than the initial test. As an example, view the cutoff for marijuana at 50 vs. 15 for a confirmation test.

Once a driver tests positive for drugs, they must be removed from all safety-sensitive duties. The removal cannot take place until the medical review officer (MRO) has interviewed the driver and determined the positive drug test resulted from the unauthorized use of a controlled substance. A driver cannot be returned to a safety-sensitive duty status until they have been evaluated by a substance abuse professional, complied with recommended rehabilitation and had a negative test result on a return to duty drug test. A follow up test is also required.

If the laboratory reports a positive result to the MRO, the MRO contacts the driver directly in person or by telephone and conducts an interview to decide if there is a legitimate medical explanation for the drugs found in the driver’s urine. If the driver is able to provide appropriate documentation and the MRO determines that it is a legitimate medical use of the prohibited drug, the drug test report is reported as negative. An example would be if a driver took codeine tablets for a toothache yesterday, had opiate metabolites in the urine, and had a legitimate prescription for the codeine tablet, the MRO could rule the test negative.

Your drug test is confidential. Driver drug test results and records are required to be maintained under strict confidentiality by the employer, the drug-testing laboratory and the MRO. They CANNOT release your test results to others without your written consent. There are exceptions to the rule, one is a decision maker in arbitration, litigation or administrative proceedings arising from a positive drug test.

There is no national drug database for the DOT that will contain your name as testing positive for a drug test, at this time. However, in a hearing before the House Transportation Committee’s highways subcommittee on November 1, 2007, the American Trucking Associatios urged Congress to establish a centralized clearinghouse for positive drug and alcohol test results. There is no central database today that will make your positive drug test known.

Listen to Attorney Jim C. Klepper discuss trucking legal issues every Tuesday morning at 7:00 Central Time on Sirius Radio Channel 147. Join Host Mark Willis as drivers call in with legal questions. You can be part of that live question and answer program by calling (888) 782-5966.

Klepper is president of Interstate Trucker Ltd., a law firm entirely dedicated to legal defense of the nation's commercial drivers. Interstate Trucker represents truck d