Schneider Medical FIASCO

Even if you have a legal script for narcotics, it is ILLEGAL for you to be driving with them in your system. period. I had neck / spinal cord surgery so I know how this game gets played. I was at a point where the only time I took the Hydrocone was at night before bed. Still not good enough. They MUST be out of your system before you are medically qualified to drive.

 

please provide the evidence to support this claim.I do not believe the appove statement at all.

 

Keep it classy driver.

 

Well, I'm not a lawyer but I can tell you, I have been left on medical leave of absence twice, and by two different companies for as long as I was taking meds. Once you STOP taking them - THEN the letter from your Dr. will protect you from a positive drug test but - A company can still put you out of service until you pee clean. If a drunk hit you head-on, and you had traces of ANYTHING in your system for ANY reason - it is automatically your fault. Even if you had a legal script a month ago. The lawyers would have a field day with you AND the company you work for. Welcome to the Communist world of trucking! Sad but that's the facts. Drivers have no rights. There is a well publicized case of a driver in Chicago who peed clean, but his blood came back with traces of cocaine metabolites in his system, meaning he had done coke 30 days ago. A mini van ran up under the back of his truck killing 4 people. Guess what? He was found guilty. The trucking world makes their own standards based on lawyers, period.

 

You keep demanding proof - read the DOT regs. Find your own proof.

 

They do hair testing. If it's in your hair then it's not in your system unless you are still using it. And if he was still using it then he would fail a urine test.

All hair testing does is establishes behavior patterns. It has no bearing regarding recent usage. If he failed a hair test under the stated circumstances (which is what he stated) then there really is no excuse what schneider did. If he failed a urine test for opiates that means he was actively using them at the time and there is no excuse why he should have been attempting to drive if he was actively taking them.

 

Exactly. If he failed a pee test, he should NOT be driving even with a legal script. It MUST be out of your system before you are medically qualified to drive. You aren't even allowed to have them on your truck, period.

 

The difference here is- if you have a legal script, you don't get arrested - you just get put out of service until you pee clean. Most companies, their insurance company will force them to fire you for a dirty pee test, or for getting caught carrying. You can't even have an empty prescription bottle on your truck. They will use the residue in the bottle to nail you for having a controlled substance in a commercial vehicle. Legal script or not. You aren't even allowed to have cough syrup or mouth wash on your truck if it contains alcohol. Like I said welcome to communist America. Truck drivers have no rights.

 

For this I will need considerable proof, from the FMCSA. I've been struggling with a torn nerve in my left leg, and trying to get back to work, and I'm VERY knowledgeable on this topic. My understanding of relevant FMCSA rules is as follows ...

If both you and your medical practitioner AGREE 100% that you have adjusted well to ANY medication you are taking, AND that any potential side effects from ANY medication prescribed will not impair the safety of the general public or yourself in ANY way, then you may possess and use that prescribed medication. It must be contained within the original container that is labelled with your name, the quantity given, and the dosage and rate, along with the name of the prescribing physician and pharmacy information (all on the label provided by the pharmacy).

It is not illegal if those conditions are met. At this point, all liability shifts to you and your physician, in the event the medication is ruled the cause in any vehicle collision. If you have not obtained a statement that meets the conditions above, in writing, and retained a copy ON YOUR PERSON, as well as provided the motor carrier a copy, then you have not met the conditions above (if you don't write it down, it never happened principle). You also can't keep any of the medications in any other container than the latest original provided by the pharmacy. I recommend keeping a medication diary also, with the dates and times of when you took the medication, to protect yourself from liability in the event someone hits you deliberately in an insurance scam (commonly called the Squat).

Please be sure to volunteer all information regarding any prescribed drugs taken or being taken, along with original bottles (pills will be counted), if required to be drug tested for ANY reason. Otherwise you will test dirty, and could face CDL revocation, fines, prison, etc.

 

I realize what the rules "say" but no company is going to risk it. No insurance company is going to allow a company to let you carry. That guy in Chicago I was telling you about? He peed clean, post-accident but he is now in prison. The lawyers made him out to be a stoned addict even though he hadn't touched anything in weeks. EVEN IF YOU HAVE A LEGAL SCRIPT, AND THERE IS AN ACCIDENT, THEY WILL SWEAR THAT HAD YOU NOT BEEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS, YOU POSSIBLY COULD HAVE TAKEN EVASIVE ACTION AND AVOIDED THE ACCIDENT. YOUR REFLEXS ARE NOT AS SHARP, YOUR THINKING IS NOT QUITE AS CLEAR - YOU WILL GO DOWN. PERIOD AND DON'T EVEN KID YOURSELF THINKING YOU'RE "WELL ADJUSTED" TO YOUR MEDS. The whole purpose of pain meds is to dull your ability to FEEL. THAT is why insurance companies will not let you drive with a legal script. I fought this fight for almost 2 years. Pissed me off at the time but looking back - who the heck did I think I was kidding? You can NOT drive a commercial vehicle with pain meds in your system.