American drivers & Canadians driving into the States must be drug tested. Learn the criteria here!
Trucking | United States Drug Testing
Introduction
In the late 1990s, I worked as a safety and compliance officer for a small flat deck company in Ottawa. Ontario. We had one of our drivers pulled on a random drug test. He was drug and alcohol tested according to the rules of drug testing in the United States of America. All of our drivers ran into the States and were subject to American rules which states that drivers must be drug and alcohol tested in entered into a pool and randomly drawn. He blew considerably over the legal limit for alcohol at ten o'clock in the morning. Subsequently we had to put him through rehabilitation training and there were some very hostile feelings about him being pulled on a random as part and parcel of the job. Eventually, because of those hostile feelings and he felt that he had been tricked on a random, he eventually resigned, and a relationship deteriorated between us and him and he left feeling somewhat betrayed.
Unfortunately, for many drivers you are subject to random drug testing according to American rules if you're running into the States or you are an American driver. We're gonna talk to you about drug testing today as part and parcel of the job as being a truck driver. We'll be right back with that.
American & Drivers Working in United States are Drug Tested
Talking today about drug testing for truck drivers—Canadian truck drivers—running into the States and American drivers - you are subject to drug and alcohol testing. Before you begin working as a truck driver in the United States of America. If you're running into the State you're going to have to be pre-employment drug tested. The company pays for the drug testing.
The Procedure for Drug Testing
They send you down to a facility that will drug test you. You need to empty everything out of your pockets, sign some legal documents, and whatnot indicating that it is in fact you. They send you into a bathroom, you pee in a bottle. The taps on the sink are taped shut, the toilet lid is taped shut, and the top of the cover taped shut. You gotta seal the bottle and give it to them and they do drug testing.
Illegal Substances
The drugs that they're testing for are:
• marijuana;
• cocaine;
• opium which is opiates rather which is opium and codeine derivatives;
• methamphetamines and amphetamines;
Those are the drugs that you're going to be tested for.
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Random Drug Testing
You're also gonna go into a pool and be randomly tested for alcohol. Now the way that it works is there are companies that this part of the job is outsourced to. The reason that is done is because for smaller companies that have five or six drivers you don't want to have half of your drivers every year being drug tested in twenty-five percent of them being alcohol tested. So what they do is there's companies who take all of the truck driving companies all of their drivers put into a very large pool and the smaller companies is a very small chance that their drivers are going to be pulled on a random according to the rules for the United States of America.
So know that you're gonna be pre-employment drug tested. You could potentially be pulled for a random drug test at any time according to the rules of the pool which state that 50% of the pool must be tested annually for drugs. 25% of the pool must be tested annually for alcohol.
If you're pulled on a random you can be sent for a drug or alcohol test anytime that you were reporting to safety sensitive duties, anytime that you are coming back from safety sensitive duties or any time that you are at work. So know that any one of those times you can be pulled on a random if you're a driver running into the States or an American driver.
Post-Crash Drug Testing
The other time that you will be drug tested is if you were involved in a crash and the criteria for being involved in a crash is if there are fatalities, there are injuries that require hospitalization, or any one of the vehicles needs to be towed you as a driver will be drug tested in the United States of America. So that gives you some overview of the criteria for being drug tested as a Canadian driver running into the States or as an American driver.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Canadian drivers running into the United States will be subject to drug testing and all American drivers, commercial drivers, are subject to drug testing. You're pre-employment drug tested. You are tested for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, methamphetamines, and amphetamines and PCP.
You will be entered into a pool where 50% of that pool annually will be tested for drugs, 25% will be tested for alcohol. You can also be randomly pulled and tested any time that you were reporting to safety sensitive duties or coming back from safety sensitive duties or at safety sensitive duties.
The other time that you will be tested is post-crash. If any one of the vehicles are towed, there are fatalities, or injuries requiring hospitalization at a crash. So know that as a Canadian driver running in the States, you're gonna be drug tested; an American driver, you're also going to be drug tested.
