I thank you for the information this has helped me a great deal and gives me something to go on I appreciate your time and your advice, again thank you. jerezxp7

how often do you have to take drug tests as an OTR company driver?

As often as you are directed to. Your employer or any official can call for you to have a random test. The regulations do require carriers to use a random choice system to make sure that everyone has an even chance for selection in the annual random testing cycle. In other words carriers are not suppose to just select the same few every time they call for random tests. However, a carrier or properly authorized government official can call for a test under reasonable suspicion of drug or alchohol use.

I do not recall if the DOT or FMCSA have required minimum intervals for everyone or not. You can research the FMCSA regulations, Part 40, here:

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I had an outpatient surgury the week before I went to school and was still on pain meds. I took the prescriptions with me when I got tested, along with a letter from my doctor verifying my use of the drugs as well as how long these particular drugs would remain in my system. They documented this along with with my results. I then took two more drug tests before starting with the company, as required. I would have taken the test, sick or not, and provided documentation of my medicine. Wouldn't that be better than a refusal?

Guys nobody is perfect, exspecially me. I have a situation where I was out of trucking for 6 years by my own choice (leg disability causing problem). With employment problems I decided to go back to driving, after finding very few companies to chose from I went to Swift orientation. Unfortunutly I have a lot slower metabalisism than most and tested positive to Marijuania 35 days after stopping.
I was not given any paperwork as to this being Pre employment or not, it was the first thing done at orientation.
My question is does this put me in the Sustance Abuse evaluation situation before any shot at driving again, does it show on a Dac report, what about Class B trucks, or any company being able to hire me at this point?
I would appreciate any info you could give on this. Thanks

drug tests can vary in what they are looking for. as I understand it from the annual samples that I have to give and take for the army,( the Army makes us take classes to give and take samples), I never knew that going in a cup was so detailed till I had to sit in one of these classes; and the quarterly samples that grad drivers are supposed to give for my company.

the samples are randomly sampled for different drugs. so while sample A given by Driver B is tested for opiates, Sample B given by Driver C is tested for THC. with only 1 in 10 samples going through the whole gambant of tests. this saves money for the company/government.

so basically each company is required by the government to give a certin amount of samples per quarter. its supposed to be totally random throughout their fleet, but I have yet to see the randomness of it in a fleet.

jerezxp7's original issue was a "Refusal to test". Depending on his situation it may not be reportable. Unfortunately under 49 CFR Part 40 by Subpart O ( [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. ) your positive test is a violation of the DOT drug and alcohol regulations.

Quote:

Subpart O - Substance Abuse Professionals and the Return-to-Duty Process § 40.285 When is a SAP evaluation required? (a) As an employee, when you have violated DOT drug and alcohol regulations, you cannot again perform any DOT safety-sensitive duties for any employer until and unless you complete the SAP evaluation, referral, and education/treatment process set forth in this subpart and in applicable DOT agency regulations. The first step in this process is a SAP evaluation. (b) For purposes of this subpart, a verified positive DOT drug test result, a DOT alcohol test with a result indicating an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater, a refusal to test (including by adulterating or substituting a urine specimen) or any other violation of the prohibition on the use of alcohol or drugs under a DOT agency regulation constitutes a DOT drug and alcohol regulation violation.

If the original test was a "Split specimen" test then you can request the second specimen be tested as a verification of the results. If the second specimen tests negative then there is reasonable doubt. In your case you stated that you tested positive 35 days after stopping. Chances are high that your second test will also test positive. Would it be worth having on your record that both tests came back positive or just go through the SAP evaluation and look for a company that will hire you?

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Knowledge is power, but sharing knowledge brings peace!

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I take driving very seriously and in the 18 years of professionally driving never smoked within 2 or 3 days of going to work. Don't recament anyone start or continue the habit as a driver. When I started driving in the late 70 's it was common to see drivers going to the little bars by the truck stops or hear drivers (on the CB )talking about sharing a smoke at the end of the day. New drivers would learn from some old trucker they knew or take some very brief school ( 2 week school for a couple hours at night ). It is interesting to debate the accident statistics for then and now but Big Brother has the last word and we all just try to make a living. Ronald Regan and Elizabeth Dole brought in the era of Drug testing with the saleing point of would you want your lawyer or doctor to be on drugs. 20 some years later polititions, lawyers and doctors are the only ones not tested.
Thanks for the knowledge guys old liberals from the 70's sometimes have to vent.

If this was the very first drug screen that swift gives on the first day it was pre- employment, what I have come to learn in my own situation is that refusing a drug test is just as bad as failing a drug test , which if you think about why would it not be , Im still waiting to see if mine shows up on DAC but I am accused of refusing the second drug screen after getting my cdl and starting orientation before going otr with a mentor and although it was considered pre-employment I have found that applying with different companys they all cover this base very well on their applications, Scheider in 3 separate phone interveiws asked if I had ever failed or refused to take a pre-employment drug screen and then asked the same question again on paper 3 times .
The advice I recieved in here was TOPS and a great help, me being new to trucking I will refrain from giving any advice other then listen to these people they know what their talking about and can help you salvage a bad situation. good luck.
jerezxp7

I went to SWIFT where I was drug tested the first day, 3 weeks later I obtained my cdl a large number of of my class became sick and elected to go home for a while I went home for 2 weeks where I was almost hospitalized with namonia it turned out to be a bad case of broncitis I began to recover with some antibiotics after 2 weeks of being laid up. I didn't feel strong enough to go back for orientation but after being prompted by my recruiter to return , I agreed , I elected to pay to fly rather then suffer the 22 hour bus ride despite this I was not feeling good at all the morning of orientation I was talking to my instructer at the time a different individul announced that they were testing I did not think he was refering to the students that had just returned but to the new non swift students there for orientation, it was not until I was in the shuttle ready to go back to the hotel that the instructer approached me and stated that I would be marked down for refusing. I wish he had done his job and explained what that meant but he left it at that, I just wanted to get back to the hotel to use the bathroom the hotel only being a mile away and having two shuttles in contant motion to and from all day long I could have been back before 1/3 of the class had been tested but once I left there was no returning and my fate was sealed .
When your going to school and trying to get your cdl you are treated like your very expendable and the slightest thing can send you packing and in fact you watch people droping off during the 3 weeks but after you get your cdl they turn you over to new people and at that point everything changes better hotel room better shuttle service and along with more respect you really start to feel like you know what your doing and you can't make a mistake that could cost you everything you feel important and it was this feeling of importance combined with a mass gap in knowledge that lead to me making a very big mistake and learning the hard way your job is never locked in safe , I still had a lot to learn about trucking and how companys operate, Swift instructors should not assume that just because a guy gets his cdl they know everything about policy the drug test I took for swift 30 days before was the first and only one I had taken in my life . I don't do drugs and I don't think like someone who does drugs, but I now understand why they must treat everybody as if they do and leaving before a test is a violation of policy subject to all of its consequences.