Stuck In Limbo Over A Lost Drug Screen???

So heres my situation. I went thru orientation this week, last day of orientation AS WE WERE WALKING OUT THE DOOR, I get pulled to the side and was told my drug test was missing and was assured I hadnt done anything wrong. I know I havent as i had my copy of the drug screen paper and I know im clean. So I offer to just give another sample and was told no they had a trace on it and it should be found quickly....this was Wednesday.

Thursday morning I check back in with compliance and was told the trace had turned to pending and was given a meal ticket and a motel voucher. Stuck around for a lil while hoping for a change in my status. While there I was offered an amazing opportunity to have a quadruple diamond driver as my mentor, I was super excited, called him and talked to him and we hit it off quite well, great guy. Had me looking forward to gettin on the truck with him! I contacted my recruiter, who herself has been a HUGE HELP thru my whole hiring process and hasnt steered me wrong yet.

This morning ...Friday...since nothing had changed on my status. contacted my recruiter and he has reworked his schedule to try to keep me on his truck, which I thought was an awesome thing for him to do! I was given a bus ticket home for the weekend and I will be called back when they find my sample and was told it could take from days to months to be found. "But it outta be worked out by Monday" For whatever reason either i cant just give another sample or compliance wont LET me give another one. No way will I wait for a month or even a few weeks for someone to find my drug screen and I find it hard to believe I cant just give another sample...I am about to comb thru the fmcsa laws and was hoping someone knew anything about this issue.

Have any of you had or even heard of a lost drug screen and NOT being able to give another sample???

I gotta be honest Ive had to pee in a cup for every job ive ever had thru my life and ive never EVER heard of some one losing a drug screen...let alone a DOT DRUG screen and Im 46 years old!!! Ive seen them mixed up but never lost. There has to be a law or loop hole or something that covers such an issue.

Maybe if a 2nd sample is drawn it will raise red flags with Swift's corporate office, because I imagine that's extremely rare, and that local academy is trying to keep it quiet that they lost/misplaced a sample; although, a third party entity should be handling the testing and the samples, so maybe that's not it. I would go higher up the chain-of-command and offer the second sample and to allow you to continue with your training. All they can do is say "no" and keep you in the same holding pattern you're already in.

Maybe if a 2nd sample is drawn it will raise red flags with Swift's corporate office, because I imagine that's extremely rare, and that local academy is trying to keep it quiet that they lost/misplaced a sample; although, a third party entity should be handling the testing and the samples, so maybe that's not it. I would go higher up the chain-of-command and offer the second sample and to allow you to continue with your training. All they can do is say "no" and keep you in the same holding pattern you're already in.

Not in the school. Its the terminal. Really not sure its them so much as the company that handles their drug screening.

Which terminal? I only ask because I just did my 3rd random in 13 months. The woman that took my samples actually admitted she was high on pain meds. She was joking about it after she basically ripped the ID labels in half and then simply ID ed them with her initials. Everything turned out ok but I was more than justifyably concerned.

JJ

As long as you only deal with people inside the terminal they will be covering their butts to make sure they don't get in trouble for losing your sample and leaving you in limbo. There is no upside to making enemies at the terminal. If they say it will take days to months how can it possibly be fixed by Monday? You can't just give another sample because that would expose their error. If it does take months how will they keep your training fresh? Hopefully they will find it quickly.

No way will I wait for a month or even a few weeks for someone to find my drug screen

Krytter, I can empathize with you completely. I hit quite a few completely unexpected snags when I decided to follow this path at the age of 53. I actually got rejected and sent home from three different orientations. Today I am considered by my fleet manager to be the "best of the best."

My advice is to be very careful about the way you start throwing around words like you just did when you said, "No way will I wait." Those are like the famous last words of every failure I've ever witnessed in this career. One of the chief attributes I've witnessed in the folks who manage to succeed at trucking is their ability to keep a cool and level head during stressful events that normally get others all bent out of shape.

If they are asking you to wait, then I suggest you go with the flow. I'd go home, relax, and stay in contact with them by calling your point of contact every other day. That says volumes of good things about you to them, just as declaring "No way" to them establishes a perception that this guy is a hot headed liability that we don't need out here over reacting to issues on the road while driving one of our 80,000 pound trucks.

In life and trucking, some things are worth fighting for, and other things are worth waiting for. The discretion to recognize the proper path to choose is a common habit of the professional driver.

Old School I agree with you completely and want this more than anything. I can tolerate and can let alot of crap roll off my back, being a jailer taught me that. Ive kept my professionalism and cool with them, and have kept my recruiter driver manager his boss and mentor in the know. And have a good realtionship with both ladies that handle compliance, they know me well and seem to genuinely feel sorry for me and appear to be working diligently to solve my issue. As far as any of them know Im cool as a cuccomber! But in all reality, I cant pay bills sittin on my butt waiting for someone to fix what should not have been a problem to begin with! Perhaps I chose the wrong words in aggravation on here last night blowin off a lil steam in a neutral setting, but i cant afford to wait that long. Luckily Ive got a few odd jobs i can do this weekend whilst I await my fate to make a lil extra money, but a month??? come on now!? Im going under the assumption that they said that to cover their butt just in case, but I dont know anyone that has the money to sit for a month.

Jim J Its the Lancaster terminal. and wow yessir you had every reason to be concerned! thats crazy

On a brighter note. Ive had nothing but good experiences with everyone ive encountered at Swift all the way through their training and orientation classes. Theyve taken good care of me every step of the way...Great food in the Lancaster driver lounge by the way! This is really the only snag Ive managed to find, all be it a big one, and would still recommend someone looking for a good company to drive for to come to Swift. Ive learned alot and have had a good time along the way. I just have a knack for finding unique issues. Grand dad told me one time my nickname should be monkey wrench, cuz boy can i find em! LoL

I actually like going to the terminal there in Lancaster. The planning can sometimes leave a little to be desired but all of the people have been really nice and or helpful. LOL!

JJ

I actually like going to the terminal there in Lancaster. The planning can sometimes leave a little to be desired but all of the people have been really nice and or helpful. LOL!

JJ

Ill be glad when they get the rest of the road opened back up, thats for sure!