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DoorDriver

Last week I got a job at a mill driving delivery trucks. I quit smoking earlier this month to prepare for the DOT drug test and physical exam. This is where two questions come in:

1. They did not drug test me. I don't know if the doctor's office I went to screwed up or what, but they did urinalysis to check for protien, sugar, and something else in my urine, but no mention of drug testing. Of course I came up with no problems, so all my dillution and whatnot was worthless, but it concernes me. I already have my medical card, and I started driving today with no questions asked. Will I be drug tested? The doc said I would not have to go re-certify for 2 full years. I am just nervous to smoke now because, what if it pops up tomorrow?

2. The mill I work for obviously has dangerous equipment. When there is an on-the-job or job-related injury, they take you to THEIR physician. They require you drug test, for obvious reasons (on the job intoxication, etc.) but I know for a fact that people have been fired from past-drug use. I don't have the most hazardous job, but I could be injured any day. I don't want to give up smoking as it has been a part of my life for a long time, and my girlfriend is an avid smoker, thus I am in contact all the time. Can they MAKE me go to their physician? I grew up in this town and my dad is a doc. Also, is there some sort of "crisis system" I can work out in case I cut myself or step on a nail and they piss-test me? A pill I always carry, always staying dilluted? (I typically drink a half-gallon + of water a day, have for a long time just to stay healthy) I know someone here is facing the same situation and has a solution. I don't want to give up smoking, but I need the job and it pays my bills.

 

Hawg

They probably have the usual DOT randoms. Can't figure out why you did not have a pre emp test though. I would wait or carry a bottle of Quick Fix until you are sure they wont catch thier mistake. If you get hurt and are around friends just clock out and go home and then go to a Doctor if need be and say you got hurt at home, that is what we used to do on a construction job site. Yes they can make you go to thier Doctor for testing as it is company policy. Just carry the Quick Fix all of the time I used to when I drove over the road.

__________________
Here is a good place to see who test's and how.
http://www.testclear.com/dtcompanies/searchcompany2.cfm



Figures don't lie but liars can figure

DoorDriver

I'm not concerned about randoms (No one there has ever been randomly tested), nor am I concerned about the company themselves testing me (they do not drug screen at all unless you show up intoxicated). I am good friends with the owner/manager, and they have known my family for years. I look to be pretty clean-cut. None of them have any reason to be concerned. The doctor I went to for the DOT physical was just some random, run-down office guy past his prime. I have to assume that they will not be calling me in to catch "their mistake". (Esp. since the DOT will get all my med forms including the Urinalysis coming back all negative)

If I get hurt on the job though, I have to assume I could leave and go see a doctor of my choice. I have read through all of the papers I signed to get started, along with a lawyer friend of mine, and none of them said anything about requiring that I go see their doctor or medical facility.

Sec

The DOT does not get all your medical reports or your drug test results. They require the employer to have all the paperwork on file. If the employer is chosen for an inspection, then they are subject to up to $2,000 fine for each violation. That is why DOT employers follow the regs so closely. You may not drive a truck large enough to require a test, or you may have a previous employer's records indicating that you participated in a random pool in the past 12 months and you were tested in the past 6 months.

Just because you are required to have a physical and carry a medical card, is no indication that you are required to drug test. Besides, they cannot use the same urine for a physical and a drug test. They cannot test a urine sample for a physical, then use the same urine for a drug test. The Physical must be performed first, then the controlled substances test can be done. (see 49CFR, part 391.43, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations Handbook; interpretations, Question #7 of volume 08/04).

If, however you are in fact a DOT regulated employee and your employer is not pre-employment testing or random testing, they could suffer HUGE fines and all of their drivers could be disqualified (out of service violation) until a controlled substances test is perfomed and the results are on file.

DoorDriver

I'm on my lunch break after a huge scare. About 45 minutes ago my partner got a call from our supervisor telling him that we were getting randomly drug tested today. I did one hit last night after I decided that I could manage to get away with it. Of course, I flipped out, killed two liter of water, got my girl to pick me up a quick fix solution, took it, killed some time, peed a few times, then headed back to work.

When I got there, my super told me that the testing company had already left, that I had just taken a "drug test" on Tuesday, so I didn't have to take the test.

So, I'm out $25 bucks for the drink, and whatever I paid for the water,. MY parnter now knows I smoke, and that makes me nervous, he said he wouldn't say anything, but I'm not sure if I can trust him, he's adamantly anti-pot. And I'll be peeing every 20 minutes all afternoon now.

At least my pulse is back to normal. Looks like this is the end of my smoking days until I get a different job.

 

Sec

You definetly do not have a DOT job. If you were only told 45 minutes ago that you were selected for a random test and the collector left your place of employment with-in that time, it wasn't a DOT test. Besides, you cannot get out of a DOT test just because the collector left the site. You would be instructed to go or escorted to a collection site for testing if you were unavailable to the collector just 15-30 minutes prior. (A collector would never leave with-in 45 minutes. We are paid to collect urine. We are not paid when there is no collection done.) In one of your earlier posts you said they never randomly test anyone. Which is it?

DoorDriver

Okay, whole story time now.

After talking with some other employees and the Manager of the whole shebang, I learned some stuff. The drug test was not a DOT test. The whole shop, all the employees, had to take this test. The test, I was told, was to weed out some of the trouble-making employees who had been stealing from other employees and the shop itself. It was pretty well known that these 4 individuals would fail a drug test if ever administered. Went further to find out that this is the first drug test in 3 years at this shop. That technically goes against the insurance policy that they hold, but that's their deal, not mine. I asked him how often to expect these, and he said not to. And also hinted that he smokes occassionally, and that if pot was detected in good employees urine, that he didn't care so long as we were performing our duties to his satisfaction.

I am still concerned about random DOT testing, because I did have to get a Medical Card for the DOT. Sec3, you must know what I should be expecting from all of this. I do drive a truck everyday, and I won't smoke if it means I will have to be worried all the time.

Hawg

The only way to be prepared for randoms other than quit smoking is to carry a bottle of Quick Fix with you. Works everytime as long as the temp is right.

Sec

Depends on what size truck you are driving and whether you are carrying hazardous materials or not.

True Random selections are conducted by computer or a random numbering system. Just picking names out of a hat is not an acceptable random system. DOT truck drivers are tested at a rate of 50% per year. That means that each year, 50% of all the DOT regulated truck drivers are tested. On average, you can expect to be tested once every other year.

You could be chosen more than once per year if your luck is bad. The employer must spread out the selection evenly over the year. We draw quarterly for our random selection. That is, we draw about 12.5% per quarter. Some employers draw monthly. That would mean they would test about 4.5% of their employees each month.

Remember, for a DOT regulated driver to be required to test (by the government), you must drive a truck over 26,000 lbs gvw (or inclusive of a trailer over 10,000 lbs gvw), drive a truck carrying hazardous materials in a quantity requiring plaquards, or drive over 16 passengers (including the driver).

They put this law in place to try to prevent a catastrophic accident with just one incident. That is why a certain class of employee (those in a "Safety Sensitive Position") is required to be drug tested.

Catastrophic accident = School Bus crash, airliner crash, train wreck, hazmat spill, semi-truck plowing into cars at an intersection, flammable or pressurized gas leak, etc, etc. Basically the probability of these employees being involved in an accident where a lot of people are hurt or killed is very high.

The govt just wants to do what it can to protect its citizens. Remember that commuter train crash in Connecticut a few years back? I have heard (and we all know how reliable rumors are) that a Senator's daughter died in that train wreck, (The operators of the train were found to be positive for cocaine) and that is what started this entire thing.

DoorDriver

My truck should only be 23,000 GVW. Even loaded it shouldn't weigh enough to meet the cutoff. I guess I will simply ask my Manager if I can expect any more testing.