Penalized for being honest.. Dot physical

Discussion in 'Trucking Industry Regulations' started by Rolltidebama, Dec 8, 2018.

  1. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Maybe I should have explained myself a little more. Druggies, to me anyway, means people who spend their entire waking lives in the search for and use of drugs. Pot is on the menu but so is everything else. They're not recreational users who engage in a little reality-bending on weekends, they're hard core users and their life style reflects their choices..
    There's a big difference between the two as I'm sure you're aware.
    And yes a lot of respectable and productive people use drugs the same way a lot of people use alcohol.
    I live and work on the edge of the Emerald Triangle and drugs are a way of life for a lot of folks here. I know many people who make their living, directly or indirectly from drugs. Some of them I've known all my life and I don't hold what they do against them. That's their choice.
    My choice is not to hire them to work for me even if I was allowed to. We drug test our drivers of course but we also drug test our shop people, our equipment operators, even the janitor. We don't have a lot of turnover or new hires but the first question they get asked, informally, is if they can pass a drug test. If they can't the hiring process stops right there.
     
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  3. justa_driver

    justa_driver Road Train Member

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    I think he finally did admit to smoking it, he just didnt inhale lol
     
  4. justa_driver

    justa_driver Road Train Member

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    Id go ahead and get a copy of your current D.O.T. Card but I gotta tell you, (if you do find a company that wont require you to get their physical until that one expires), companies are also required to do Random Drug Tests and if you get caught in one of those and fail the test, you have pretty much ruined your chances for driving a truck. The best policy is if you want a career in trucking, stay away from the things that will put you out of trucking. JMO
     
  5. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    You aren't being persecuted for honesty but for smoking dope.
     
  6. GasHauler

    GasHauler Master FMCSA Interpreter

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    He didn't have a job let alone a trucking job. And who knows, he might be from a state that has legalized or one that has decriminalized weed either way it's viewed differently today than years ago. It's not a stupid move because he smoked a little weed it's a stupid move for telling them. There's no need to even explain smoking weed. What you thought was the right thing to do ended up hurting you in the long run. I'd find another doctor and if he or she confronts you with this problem just tell the doctor you made a mistake on the first doctor and you do not use any drugs whatsoever. I'd try that. If it does not work then finish the exam to get the report.
     
  7. THE ROOKIE

    THE ROOKIE Light Load Member

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    Truer words have never been spoken.
     
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  8. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    My home is America.

    I am silent in Public because I value my home being America and Society is so intolerant.

    I could be loud and out spoken and have a thousand enemies wanting to burn me and my family out for daring to be a American.

    I choose to be silent in public. But until I die, America is in my home. If you are a good human and need help I can give, I'll do what I can. But I have nothing to offer a Society determined to say I have no country. No more America.
     
  9. Woodchuck88

    Woodchuck88 Medium Load Member

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    You are probably the first person in history to answer yes to that question on that form! Hats off to you
     
  10. LilBudyWizer

    LilBudyWizer Light Load Member

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    I would imagine you actually failed the drug test, not the physical. It's rather asinine to think you could freely admit using illegal drugs but pass as long as you test negative. No, statements you make are part of the test. Likely they didn't give you the medical card as a procedural issue, not because you failed the physical. The potential employer was paying for it and you don't get a free physical despite not getting hired. So they don't give it to you to make clear to the potential employer they shouldn't hire you.

    Physicals are required to be reported to prevent doctor shopping. If one tells you that you need a sleep study due to risk of sleep apnea you don't get to just keep trying until you find one that doesn't. Any other DOT certified doctor can see you have a pending physical and why. Your existing physical should be good to it's expiration. When you try to get another physical that doctor will be able to see this one. You'll have to explain what happened.

    I put I used illegal drugs and failed a test on mine and passed the physical. I can't drive because I failed a test. My CDL is valid. I have to be cleared by an SAP to return to work before I can legally drive though. There wouldn't be much point to that if I can't pass a physical. It's really no different than failing a physical because of too many speeding tickets.
     
  11. davstu92

    davstu92 Bobtail Member

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    I admitted to smoking pot 5 months prior on my DOT test here in Ohio. Still got my card. Maybe because it’s decriminalized? Idk. I get why you wanted to be honest. Don’t feel bad. There are always other options career wise. Good luck man
     
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