DRUGS!!!

. There’s a few things that require a new physical, Heart attack, Open heart surgery, Stents, along with Dr. Letter, stress test, mandatory time off after procedure. I’m sure you know. My understanding was the OP would be off pain pills before returning to work. If so, he has nothing to worry about. Some Companies may require a release from Dr. or anything they want pretty much, physical, x-rays depending on their policies. Others could care less, if it’s not a workman comp claim. Op should take a few days to relax stress free before returning to work. Depending on how long narcotics were taken. If more than a month, best to take a week to adjust. That’s my opinion, sometimes it’s better to take 2 steps back, and 1 good step forward.

 

Check with the consortium that you are a part of, find out if you put "your" driver out of service on medical leave, will it remove him from the random pool?

 

I can answer that question! This is NOT an opinion it is right from the FMCSA Regulatory Guidance. LINK

Question 10: If an employee is off work due to temporary lay-off, illness, injury or vacation, should that individual’s name be removed from the random pool?

Guidance: No. The individual’s name should not be removed from the random pool so long as there is a reasonable expectation of the employee’s return.

 

Regulations Section
Q & A #17
"If an employer does not want to notify the driver that he/she has been selected for a random controlled substances test while the driver is in an off-duty status, the employer could set aside the driver’s name for notification until the driver returns to work, as long as the driver returns to work before the next selection for random testing is made."

Q & A#18 Addresses the use of alternates in the event that someone is off duty. It is up to the company or consortium to decide if they will allow random drug testing during off duty, or if they use alternates.

 

Drug training says 24 to 48 hours for most everything But MJ [which is a good 30 days] and the idea is that you want to remove the habitual user who can't force himself to go 24 to 48 hours without though you will catch occasional users too.

Used to do remote Drug screens out by a customer near Roanoke instead of dragging the candidate all the way to Norfolk just to pee. Arranged today, UPS drops off the chain of custody the next day and had a bunch of positives for coke. D 'Oh!

 

I won't argue the point. All I can go by is what I was told by a PhD on this subject. Hydrocodone analytes will trigger a positive at 300 ng/mL and Oxycodone analytes will trigger at 100 ng/mL. I was told that if the person is not a chronic user after about 20 to 30 hours there are not enough analytes to trigger, still have them in the body, but not enough to trigger. This is why you can eat real poppy seeds and not pop a positive.

The bottom line to all this is with a legit RX popping a positive for narcotics is not going to cause a problem and most MROs will report you as a none positive. The primary issue as I see the question is the OP is asking about taking narcotics and driving. THIS takes more than a legit RX. YOU MUST have the Medical Examiners' approval. I will also add that a lot of carriers won't allow this.

 

It’s not the triggering the positive, it is the illegal use of the drugs and the safety of the public.

from my underwriters, if a driver is out for medical reasons, and on pain meds, they want the driver to sit it out for at least 24 hours, 36 hours is better and 48 hours after they took their last dose.

 

Mixing apples with oranges! I was not speaking about anything but the length of time between taking a narcotic pain killer and how long it's detectable in a human. If I were running a fleet I would want at least several days narcotic-free before I allowed the driver back in the truck, DEPENDING on some factors like time away and type of narcotic. Based on post 23 this is left up to the carrier.

Last June I had Shoulder Surgery at the Hampton Virginia VA Hospital. Because of Epilepsy I was held overnight and give Morphine as needed for pain. I was getting shots about every 4 hours. I was discharged that following morning and still felt the after-effects for most of that day.

 

My consortium sends me a monthly email with a timed link in it, clicking the link starts the 90 minute clock ior whatever it is to get to the test site, if you get hit, but you realistically can leave the link dormant for 28 days and go on the last of the month, or it will just pop up “no driver selected”