Newbie/Wannabe Attitudes

Lol @ easy money. You know nothing.

 

Easy Money? Looks like it's not so easy for you.......

 

It was an easy $200/day for the week I ran in TX. Better managed it could easily be $250 for the driver six days a week. Thats $1500/week for driving a truck. Looks like pretty easy money to me. Not my fault you guys go otr for peanuts.

 

More erroneous assumptions...... ho hum

 

Here's the stereotype:

You're correct.

Hypothetically, a guy who have never smoked could fire off a joint, slid behind the wheel and piss clean for a couple of hours. Current urine testing detects metabolites, it does not determine impairment or intoxication. Only blood, or saliva and cognitive tests can assert that.

Unfortunately, cognitive tests have a bit of a challenge, because there are varying levels of intelligence at play here.

That would be a saliva swab test. Very effective and detects use in real time. Could be administered unannounced when you show up to work, or on the spot during a law enforcement stop, or DOT Inspection. Non-intrusive, able to be administered without having to compromise your personal privacy...etc.

However, I kind of get a kick out of the people who go back and forth and scream about infringement on their civil rights, but then roll over and take a UA, which pries into their personal lives (illegal or not) much more than an impairment test. They typically say, "Well, if you ain't got nothing to hide, then it ain't no big deal....."

Now, if you were to ask them to step into a scale house and let a LEO take a saliva swab to detect impairment unannounced, they would HOWL about their rights being compromised, even though, knowing deep down inside, it would be the most effective way to keep an impaired driver off the road.

That is what I would love to see as far as random drug testing goes. If someone is discovered to test positive with a saliva swab, of course there would have to be follow up blood or urine work to confirm the test. And then an effective system and comprehensive system to document and suspend a person's driving rights, just like an alcohol offense currently is.

What I find hypocritical, is that a person can show up for work, impaired, get caught, and by Federal standards, is supposed to be relieved of duty for 24 hours. We'll, let's see....

He is under the influence, albeit slightly at that level and sent home with a slap on the wrist.

I suppose depending on any given company's "zero tolerance" policy, said driver could be dismissed, but per Federal Standards, give him a day off, and he's good to go.

Now smoke a joint on your day off and piss dirty, and you are in for a long, expensive road. You must complete a SAP "return to duty process" to the tune of $600 on the low side, more if they deem you are addicted to whatever you pissed dirty for.

Lets face it, most of these drug discussions here are based around weed. I heard it right from the SAP's mouth on the phone one day...

"The one thing that is the least addictive and harmful in the scope of "drug abuse" is the thing that will linger in your system the longest. Funny how that works, isn't it?"

The consequences will be similar to the reactions you see here. Because most people can not wrap their heads around the fact that there is such a thing as "responsible drug use..." when it is an illegal substance.

It doesn't matter when you smoked it, the fact that that dirty little metabolite is in your system when you fail the test means to the employer that there is a good possibility that you may use while working. And that is the kiss of death for a commercial driver.

Regardless of the farce of where this country stands on it's "War on Drugs" public opinion and the inconsistency of the laws because they exist at a state level, the FMCSA and corresponding transportation authorities aren't going to change their stance on it for a long, long time.

It doesn't matter that you have people flocking in droves to hide behind the mask of medicinal marijuana, because they just don't have the balls to admit that they actually enjoy it.

It doesn't matter that most people when pressed to honestly address the issue shrug their shoulders and go, "Yeah, they ought to legalize it...."

It could be 100% legal and you could buy it at 7/11 next to the beer, and you still are going to be peeing in a cup and paying the piper for a long time. Drug testing is a multi-billion dollar industry, and everybody pees in a cup these days.

The "War on Drugs" is job security for a LOT of LEO's and Federal People. They do not want it legal because they won't have anything to do.

I am in a similar situation as you where I want to do the right thing. I tested positive for weed over a year ago that was smoked nowhere near a CMV - I admitted it was a stupid mistake and presented the story here, and didn't have the negative feedback that you got.

Out of sheer frustration and being a little overwhelmed, I got into a different line of work, and I hated it.

Even though I have a perfectly clean valid CDL A, no points, no accidents, no criminal record - 30 years of solid work history and many years of passing drug tests with nothing to worry about, all it takes is a lack of discipline for a very short period of time to send it all down the toilet.

Where my frustration lies is in the system and how job hoppers can still continue to drive, while as folks who want to make an honest attempt at rectifying a mistake hit brick wall after brick wall trying to do the right thing.

It's a heated topic and most truckers are highly opinionated. Anything toxic, and the moderators would have stepped in by now.

And technically, it's against the law. You have to complete the s.a.p. program to be re-qualified per FMCSA standards.

And I'm with you with regard to the pack of lies thing. I don't feel right "burying" my jaded past, when in reality, I have a squeaky clean DAC and someone who would vouch for me saying I drove his dump trucks for the last year.

Privacy laws do NOT apply when you are required to disclose each and every driving job for the last ten years on a potential employers application. Sorry.

And I may do the same. In fact, one of my goals is to be involved in this and be an advocate towards the good person who made a mistake. It was a hard, expensive and humiliating lesson for myself as well. I was ( and still have the skill, I'm sure....) very good at my game. It's 30 years, and I never considered myself a steering wheel holder.

Yeah, but taking swats and being condescending in return isn't going to get you anywhere. This topic has been beat to death on TTR, and there is 100 failed drug test threads sitting here. A lot of the negative feedback is from people tiring of new members #####-footing around the subject and trying to figure out workarounds to a skewed system, which there are.