The increasing number of full queries made into the federal Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse is evidence that the database is taking drug abusers off the road as intended, according to a trucking regulatory expert.
According to the latest monthly statistics released Monday by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, full queries into the clearinghouse increased 33% to 13,785 between October and November, which followed a 61% increase between September and October. Full queries are conducted by employers on current drivers after receiving a “hit” on those drivers through a limited query.
A major motivation for the FMCSA’s clearinghouse, which opened on Jan. 6, was to close a loophole that had allowed drivers with drug or alcohol violations to get hired by trucking companies by lying about test failures.
“Drivers with violations are getting caught in the clearinghouse net, as intended,” David Osiecki, president and CEO of Scopelitis Transportation Consulting, told FreightWaves.
Also of note in the latest statistics, Osiecki said, was a 54% month-over-month increase in the number of limited queries into the database. “This is a clear sign employers are complying with the annual query requirement for their current drivers,” he said.
Employers — including owner-operators operating under their own authority — are required to run at least one query of their employees per year. The requirement can be met by conducting either a full or limited query. Employers have until Jan. 5 to perform their first annual query.
Osiecki pointed out one concerning trend throughout the 11 months that the clearinghouse has been up and running: the low percentage of drivers with violations who have been treated and cleared for return to duty, which affects overall driver retention in the trucking industry.
While that percentage has increased from roughly 5% earlier in the year to 11% in November, the number is “still stubbornly low,” he said, and “bears close watching going forward.”
Meanwhile, the number of drivers failing drug tests fell 12.7% in November compared to the previous month. As of Dec. 1, marijuana has been by far the No. 1 substance identified in 50,627 positive drug tests submitted since the clearinghouse began operating in January, at 53%. Cocaine was next at 14.3%, followed by methamphetamines at 9%.
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Ramon Baptist
The issues at hand are that there are professional Drivers that are driving with impairing substances in their systems, the testing isn’t in my opinion trying to take jobs from people but to SAVE LIVES. As a truck driver I realize that I have a thousand things that could possibly go wrong on these highways I’m not going to assist them, or CONTRIBUTE to the possibility of having an accident bc my judgment was impaired….THE CHOICE IS EITHER WE WANT OUR STREETS TO BE SAFE OR NOT……in my humble opinion.
Ted wright
Then if we’re held to a higher standard than everyone else we should get paid more than ANYONE!!! else. Hell even brain surgeons get to imbibe.
Suckit
Wrong. Thc remains in your system long after you were “impaired”
Raymond T Jackson
How about a procedure for a driver to RTD process that allows for rehabilitation and a way back to work that doesn’t cost hundreds of dollars and can be made a driver can pay in installments upon returning to duty.
Bojak
Bunch of bs .I do drugs but, why is it ok to for the people who make drivers do these test not have to do them themselves. I could care less what you do on your off time.Yhay should be your choice as long as your not high when behind the wheel
Matt Eads
Or, get a job that doesn’t require drug tests. It is made pretty clear when you get a CDL that you are subject to random testing.
Keith Lindsay
What about drivers who test positive for THC taking CBD OIL 0%THC WHO LOOSE THEIR JOB OF 20 YEARS?
Andy Ray Anderson
Its the sign of the times people fmca is ran by the government who also does drugs they what a perfect world in which that will never happen in are time everyone smokes and drinks its they right to even if you have a day job the government and the fmca are nothing but a joke scientists do drugs doctors do drugs governors do drugs senators do drugs why are do they job get my point
Michael
I ruffled the feathers of a Karen, who demonstrated all the vitriolic qualities of a Karen, by gleefully placing me as a refusal. Now I’m a pariah in the industry, having completed the SAP program. No positive result. I can’t get a job driving an ice cream truck. Merry Christmas Karen.
Lorenzo S
Yes that is the FLAW IN THIS SYSTEM….NOBODY WANTS TO HIRE YOU EVEN AFTER YOU DO THE RETURN TO DUTY PROGRAM
JAYSON P CANCELLI
$500 is the cost where I live. How can I pay that when I need to look for a job? Wait. I cant work because my license is scarred. It’s unfair. They put no thought into it
Jeff Honolka
I was tested three times in 2020. I do not do drugs nor drink alcohol. Seems like the program has found a way to make those in compliance suffer a bit more than the guilty. I can understand having to take one a year, but three is ridiculous
Kris
It’s really the FMCSA’s fault for the national driver shortages. Let me explain why… It’s so much easier and less expensive to hire new drivers, then send the “failures” to treatment. So, in an ironic and f’ed up twist, those who get canned for a drug test, commonly have nobody to explain a RTD procedure. Sure, the FMCSA got it right with the National Clearinghouse, but Absolutely failed in establishing a common RTD for those who failed, and lost their jobs. And with no job, how do they pay for reinstatement, and how much does it cost?
Lorenzo S
This clearinghouse is great but DRIVERS WHO DO THE RETURN TO WORK PROGRAM CANT GET A JOB BECAUSE TRUCKING COMPANIES WONT HIRE THEM BECAUSE THEY DID FAIL A DRUG TEST