Drug Test Negative - Still Fired?

Well I don't drink so you can save that little part of your arguement. He may have tested negative but he still admitted to using drugs. Technically he does not have a positive drug test on his record that is true. He could probably get a job tomorrow with another company, but do you really want someone who is dumb enough to do that stuff behind the wheel of a truck? I have absolutley no sympathy for this driver or any other who thinks it is ok to do drugs I could care less if he passed his test or not.

 

Sorry but the guy deserved to get fired maybe the loss of this job will wake him up to see what his habit is truly costing but I doubt it......

 

First, I respect anyone's opinion, whatever it is; second, it is probably due to lawsuits that we are staring at this huge problem. If it were'nt for companies being sued for millions when one of their blockhead drivers tests positive after an accident, do you think they would spend the kind of money that drug testing costs? It isn't just that we are denied due process in our current use of drug and alcohol reporting. It is specifically unfair to marijuana users due to their being caught because, unlike any other drug test, the test for it detects metabolites instead of the presence of the drug itself. This allows the testing entity to detect past use of the drug for literally months if they wish. Companies could detect past use of cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, etc. by the simple expedient of pulling a hair, but that costs money. I suspect that if they
were to random all drivers tomorrow using a hair test, we would be looking at even more rookies than we have now. St. Augustine, in City of God wrote that it is unfair for a man to suffer a certain punishment for an uncertain crime. This hand was foolish, but does that mean he isn't entitled to due process under the law?

 

I think it's really more of a safety issue than a legal issue. If this driver had gone to his company on his own, and said "I have a problem, and need some help" then maybe he would be deserving of rehab and job retention. The fact that he only went to his employer because he was being tested and was afraid of testing positive negates all that. I know I wouldn't want to drive beside someone like that, whether he uses on company time or his own time. But, I'm a newbie so what the heck do I know?

 

He gets fired because he got nervous and reported to his manager that the test was going to come back positive becuase he had indulged in a half "twig" on the weekend prior to going back on the road -


this seals his fate. he admitted to using drugs, when he should have kept quiet. any other time a random would be done, he may have been caught, or a post accident would show that perhaps then. he's proven to me at least, he doesn't know well enough to "just say no" and smoking a "little weed" can and usually does lead to more potent drugs. i for one (of many) am glad he screwed up enough to hang himself, and i show no mercy or sympathy towards him or any current financial problems you will now be having. he "made his bed" now he has to lie in it.............

i do belive that this will be a part of his DAC report, as he tested inconclusviely at first, and then admitted to his supervisor. "his word/my word" won't stand a chance for any defense that i can see, and by the way, he may not be telling you the whole story, as there may have been a 'witness" to that converstation betwen the two. you are going on an "assumption" it was him and the boss only...................

 

I guess this isn't going to be popular, but how many of you stone casters drink alcohol?


i too do not drink, but what difference would it have made if i do, or anyone else does.........?? showing up drunk for work is obvious wouldn't you say...?? or are you that blind...........???

there are 'tell tale" signs of drunkeness, and then too, a weekend of binge drinking, or drinking at a bar-b-que will pass through the system in a few hours. dope does not..............

 

I don't, but let's see where this goes.

It is, or were you not aware of the strict rules in regard to the use of alcohol and the driving of a commercial vehicle.

No alcohol of any description is allowed inside the cab of a moving CMV.

No alcohol may be consumed within four hours of coming on duty to drive a CMV.

The limit considered to be intoxicated while driving a CMV is .04.

Huh? Depending on how often a user consumes marijuana, it can linger in the system from a few days to several months.

I beg to differ with you. Number one, there is a time and a place for everything. Alcohol, as much as it should not be in my personal opinion, is a legal substance that is allowed to be consumed by citizens of this nation. Marijuana is still considered to be illegal, although I happen to think it SHOULD be legal, under the same criteria as alcohol, but that's another subject.

There is absolutely no room for anyone to be behind the wheel of a CMV in an altered state...period. I don't care if it is due to the consumption of alcohol, or after toking a few hits off a doobie.

Now, I suppose that there are valid arguments that can be made on both sides of the issue, and they are always valid too. People abuse alcohol, and people abuse drugs. But the fact remains that one is legal, and the other is not, and until the day comes that the illegal drug is legalized, any argument is a moot point.

The law is the law. If one disagrees with it, they have three choices. They can abide by the law, disregard it and take their chances, or work to change the law so that they can do what they desire legally.

As I have stated many times, because I drive a CMV for a living, I will not take a chance by smoking weed. I am subject to random testing at any time, and I'd be stupid to do it. I know it is illegal, and I understand the consequences if I am caught with it in my system.

It's all a matter of priorities. People that drive a CMV and take that chance are playing russian roulette with their job futures. It's really that simple.

While I doubt that the statement that the driver made would ever be disclosed because it cannot be backed up easily, it is the timing of the termination and the fact that there were two tests performed that may plant the seed of doubt in the minds of a prospective employer who views this set of events.

If they have their doubts, and decide that there might be something hinky going on, and they decide to decline the man's application, there's nothing to contest. Proving that someone declared something in confidence, if it is ever disclosed, is VERY hard to do. Not many people will volunteer to be a party to a civil suit.

I seriously doubt that this will happen, but if it does, again, there's nothing to contest. The drug testing rules are extremely strict, and any prospective employer is required to delve deeply into the most recent three years of any prospective employee, and drug and ALL alcohol testing results are required to be checked, and handed over by the former company.

Motor carriers are completely immune from civil action in regard to required information that the FMCSA has deemed essential as part of the background check process.

Any employer would be stupid to disclose verbal exchanges of this nature, and I suspect that this employer will allow the man to become someone else's problem, if there is indeed a problem.

Look, I'll spare you the ten cent analysis of your post, but although I consider marijuana to be more harmless than alcohol in terms of danger to the public, I cannot get on board with the premise that anything illegal should be condoned. And as is the case with any law that is enacted, it is because of the irresponsibility of a few, that those of us that are responsible are restricted in kind.

Alcohol has without question led to more death and the ruination of more lives that marijuana ever has or will, but until the day that it is legal for consumption, and exempted from testing for use, as a requirement for me to keep my job, I'll continue to leave it alone, as I have for 25 years now.

 

If you guys want to do drugs go for it,just don"t drive a truck out here. your right a bout one thing,alcohol is just as bad,but its legal at certain times,the drugs stay in your system,I don't drink unless I am at home off duty or off a whole weekend like at hubbard oh at the truckstop,I may have 2 drafts,glasses watch a movie and go to bed,I can't understand for the life of me why you guys take a chance on losing your career, families, houses that you have to have for your wife and kids,please get some help and be a good example for you yours and your children. I have told my friends and family there's nothing like a natural high,try it you might like it, my family will be much safer too' please do what you know is right"" thks.

 

While I have never used drugs, I realize that others do. Its none of my concern that certain drugs are illegal, no one asked my opinion when they became illegal. I have to say, I'd be more convinced if there was more clamoring for the CDL's of drivers who are guilty of other illegal activities. Companies advertise: "No felonies more recent than three years" etc. Why should a driver who has ever commited a felony be treated different than someone who smoked some pot two weeks before driving? I don't disagree with any of you where the "dumb" factor comes in; apparently neither does the driver in question. The real issue to me is that many drives have made this mistake, they just have to pay for the rest of their lives for it. Something tells me that we should be trying harder to get the users of harder drugs, drugs that truly do impair judgement and motor skills long after they are detectable off the road. Clearly there are professional drivers who take pride in their jobs. Moreover, they have loved ones about whom they are concerned when they realize that they have to share the road with some of the trash we all know about. One of the things I thought when I first stumbled on this site was "here is a great opportunity for those responsible professionals among us to begin developing and testing some consensus". When I read these posts, I see more agreement than disagreement. I just hope that everybody will keep in mind that everyone needs some help now and again. God Bless

 

All misdemeanors are not the same, as you assert. Equating them and lumping them into one category is disingenuous.

By 1992, when drug testing was proposed for commercial drivers, 33% of all fatally injured truck drivers were discovered to have drugs in their system. At the same time, truck drivers who tested positive for illicit drugs in their system post mortem, were averaging 750 fatal crashes per year, 7,700 injury crashes, and 4,750 property damage-only crashes. 41% of those same dead drivers had evidence of multiple illicit drugs in their systems.

How many of those 750 fatalities could have been prevented, had these drivers been sober? With drug and alcohol use figures among commercial drivers, proven to have declined by more than 50% today, we might be able to assume that 375 of them might well have been around to discuss the issue with us, had the same policies been in place back in 1992.

Take also into consideration that most of those 750 people killed in crashes with impaired truck drivers were in automobiles. Had the involved truck drivers lived through the crashes, would their actions be considered a "misdemeanor"? No. They would convert to acts of homicide, and of course, felonies.

Smoking weed in one's own home is a misdemeanor act. Getting into a motor vehicle and driving is not, that is if someone is killed due to that act of pure negligence.

I spend a great deal of time helping fellow CDL holders and those who do not hold CDL's, but I do draw the line in the sand on some points, and on some issues. Impaired driving will never be defendable. In 1977, I lost my wife and my son due to the act of an impaired driver.

Now, do I commit acts of misdemeanor? Certainly. I have been known to exceed the speed limit by a few miles per hour. I've washed my car when there was a non-essential water use ban in effect. I've burned trash on my property when there was a ban on burning within the county.

Do any of those acts represent a danger to the public, and would they possibly cause death to another? It could happen, but it's highly unlikely that any of them would of themselves. Now, when someone is driving a motor vehicle in an impaired state, what are the chances that someone could die as a result of their act? I'm sure you would agree that those chances are substantially higher.

What if they are driving an 80,000 pound bullet at 70 mph? How high is that risk? They don't even have to be the one to screw up. What if someone runs a red light? Can they react fast enough to save them all? Research proves that they are unlikely to be able to stop in time, or to steer quickly enough to avoid a collision.

All misdemeanors are not the same. The consequences and the penalties are also never the same either.

It's all about risk. Companies are in business to stay in business. Truck crash claims are extremely expensive, and judgments in cases where a driver was impaired at the time of the crash are devastating. Do you have several million dollars lying around with no use for it, and will gleefully hand it over to another person if a Judge hammers on that block of wood and takes it from you? Of course not, and neither do many trucking companies.

A person who has already demonstrated that he will disregard one law, will likely choose to ignore others. How can anyone look at someone and decide that this person is not and never would drive impaired? You can't. The risks that they might are too great.

And when it comes to drug use, it's kinda like Lay's potato chips. No one can eat just one. Ya' gotta have more.

We all have a brain. How we choose to use it defines the outcome of all of our lives. For fourteen years, the trucking industry has made it clear as a bell, that if you are caught dirty, you can kiss your job goodbye, and rightfully so.

Marijuana impairs judgment and motor skills. When I did smoke it, I would NEVER get behind the wheel of my car. I knew better. The ability to simply be distracted is enough reason to not ever take a chance behind the wheel. It may have been many years since I have been high, but I know EXACTLY what it feels like, and what my motor skills were like while floating on cloud nine. It is VERY much like being drunk.

And those drivers would most likely never take chances with their futures, unlike the person whom we are discussing at this moment, who did. Understand, I do not consider this person to be the devil himself or anything like it. He probably was not thinking at the time, and did not foresee a random test being called for within days after taking a few puffs on a joint.

What he was though, was irresponsible, and this is the price we sometimes pay for such irresponsibility.

I most certainly have not made perfect decisions throughout my own life, but there is one thing I CAN say without and reservation. I have always owned up to my mistakes. I never ran away from them.

Look at the post offered. There was an aura of something in it that prohibits me from offering any outpouring of sympathy. Do you know what it was?

"Loopholes wanted".

Where's the remorse, when something like that is offered?

Do you know something else? Time and time again, people who will post stories like the one above, are not always being straight. I don't have any reason to discount this one, but how are we to know if this person was not a regular user, even if it only involved use during off-time? When it comes down to it, we really don't.

The bottom line in all of this, is that the man had choices to make, and he made a couple of bad ones. He smoked the weed that probably triggered the marginal and possible positive result on the first test, and then blabbed to a supervisor that he had indeed smoked a little weed. Okay, so the second test was negative. So what? He DID after all, smoke some weed.

We all can learn from this. I'm sure there is someone out there in cyberspace that will run across this, and when the opportunity arises for them to make a decision like this man did, the decision might just go the other way. It is too late for the man who already screwed up, although without a proven positive test result, he may well emerge from this with only minor flesh wounds, and if this person is smoking weed and driving a truck, I hope he never finds gainful employment again in this line of work. If all is as it has been offered, then I might be more inclined to hope that something has been learned from this, and that it would never happen again.

So, in that light, this thread will lilkely help others to make a sound and wiser decision on this issue if it ever applies to them, so you should feel much better.

I know I do.