Suspicion Drug Test

I agree this situation isn't exactly ideal, but it is the nature of the beast. Part of this job is being subject to random drug and alcohol testing at any time for basically any reason. Like everyone else said you can ask in a nice professional manner is there anything they can maybe do to help you out since you were down for so long. My guess would be probably not and I know it sucks. Best of luck. Let us know how this turns out.

I never once mentioned someone's rights being violated.

You most certainly did. You said:

I believe your company violated FMCSA controlled substance testing laws by doing what you stated.

That's another way of saying his rights were violated. It's really fun trying to carry on a conversation with someone who says something and then immediately denies saying it.

Not only that, but you told him:

Take them to small claims court for that weeks pay and find another job.

I don't need to amplify that. It's already the most extreme solution possible. You told him to quit his job and sue the company over a small issue that wasn't the company's fault in the first place.

I don't think you should be telling people to basically blow up their lives over a small issue. He shouldn't quit his job because his company did nothing wrong. He shouldn't sue the company because he has no grounds for it. He would lose twice as much as he could possibly win in the time it would take him to find another job and get started with them, if he could even do that. Who is going to hire someone who is in the middle of a lawsuit with their last company? They're going to look at the circumstances and say, "Sorry, we've found a better candidate" and he's going to get the door slammed in his face time and time again. Then that lawsuit will be publicly available the rest of his life. Every employer he applies to is going to find that.

So you recommend that he goes through all of that over a little issue that wasn't the company's fault in any way? That is over the top, reactionary, short sighted thinking.

I never once mentioned someone's rights being violated.

You most certainly did. You said:

I believe your company violated FMCSA controlled substance testing laws by doing what you stated.

That's another way of saying his rights were violated. It's really fun trying to carry on a conversation with someone who says something and then immediately denies saying it.

Not only that, but you told him:

Take them to small claims court for that weeks pay and find another job.

I don't need to amplify that. It's already the most extreme solution possible. You told him to quit his job and sue the company over a small issue that wasn't the company's fault in the first place.

I don't think you should be telling people to basically blow up their lives over a small issue. He shouldn't quit his job because his company did nothing wrong. He shouldn't sue the company because he has no grounds for it. He would lose twice as much as he could possibly win in the time it would take him to find another job and get started with them, if he could even do that. Who is going to hire someone who is in the middle of a lawsuit with their last company? They're going to look at the circumstances and say, "Sorry, we've found a better candidate" and he's going to get the door slammed in his face time and time again. Then that lawsuit will be publicly available the rest of his life. Every employer he applies to is going to find that.

So you recommend that he goes through all of that over a little issue that wasn't the company's fault in any way? That is over the top, reactionary, short sighted thinking.

So now you twist my words to lend credence to yours. You try to make me out to be an outraged rights screaming nutter but that is simply not the case. FMCSA laws are not rights and nobody thinks of them that way. Everyone who rages about their rights is referring to the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Answer me this Brett; Can a motor carrier declare a driver out of service, for any darn thing they want to? Or must they follow FMCSA laws and guidelines put out for the industry. There are no FMCSA guidelines for taking a driver out of service pending the results of a drug test. Unless that test was required for a claim of drug use suspicion by a certified drug testing agent who personally witnessed behavior that led to a suspicion of drug use. Kind of difficult to do that over the phone.

If the company was a victim in this, so was the suspected driver, who you and others hold in such contempt. I know a lot of people that would really be hurt by losing a weeks pay. And if they are an experienced driver with a good record, they will have ZERO problems getting work. People sue their employers all the time and win.

Can a motor carrier declare a driver out of service, for any darn thing they want to? Or must they follow FMCSA laws and guidelines put out for the industry. There are no FMCSA guidelines for taking a driver out of service pending the results of a drug test.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the way I see it the company didn't declare him "out of service" per se. At least not as defined by FMCSA. He was still able to operate a commercial vehicle, by law.

The company did, however, refuse to let him operate "their" equipment pending the drug test.

There's a difference.

Can a motor carrier declare a driver out of service, for any darn thing they want to? Or must they follow FMCSA laws and guidelines put out for the industry. There are no FMCSA guidelines for taking a driver out of service pending the results of a drug test.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the way I see it the company didn't declare him "out of service" per se. At least not as defined by FMCSA. He was still able to operate a commercial vehicle, by law.

The company did, however, refuse to let him operate "their" equipment pending the drug test.

There's a difference.

He used the specific term "out of service" twice in his first post! He had a random. There must have been some issue with it and called him back for a hair test. Which took a week. There are many different issues that could have caused a problem with his sample that are perfectly legitimate.

I am on a medication that shows pos on every test I take. Due to this my test results take longer to come back than other test takers and has led to suspicions being raised about my possible drug use. Even though all my tests are passed clean this time lag has caused me problems. But I have never been put out of service pending results. Some of the FMCSA laws are written specifically to prevent this.

That is why I have been posting, to deaf ears I might add... No hard feelings here

Just because he used the term "out of service" doesn't make it so. It's my understanding only a state or federal official can place a driver out of service.

A company can place a driver off-duty and prevent that driver from operating their commercial vehicle, however.

He had a random. There must have been some issue with it and called him back for a hair test.

He said:

They told me they got an ‘anonymous’ phone call

So apparently someone called and accused him of doing some sort of drugs. So the company tested him and wouldn't let him return to work until the test results came back. What do you think the company should have done instead?

No one said anything about the DOT taking him out of service. He said the company put him out of service. Like Turtle said, the company wouldn't let him drive.

People have a knack for making statements with words that are out of context. Sometimes it is laziness and not stating things the way they really mean. Sometimes it’s out of a lack of understanding, and sometimes its flat ignorance. Anyway it sounds like here the words “out of service” were used instead of what actually occurred, “removed from dispatch”. An employer has the absolute right to make decisions over any issue pertaining to their business. Yes some areas have regulations they must follow, however there is usually a certain amount of discretion they have. This company chose to place this driver out of service pending the results. That is their discretion. Some folks these days just refuse to accept responsibility for their actions. Pretty simple. As has been pointed out this driver has caused his own issues to a certain extent. It takes a lot of hostility for someone to go to the trouble to make a false claim like this was. That hostility was bred somewhere by this driver. Working for an employer is a privilege not a right by any means. Just my cent and a half.

Just to clarify I popped for a random hair follicle test. I went to the lab to get it done, they gave me one hour to report. I went and took the hair follicle test then immediately after I was told to report to the operating center where they inttoregated me and told me someone called in anonymously and said I had been using illicit substances. Then they made me take a urine test and put me out of service.

Just to clarify I popped for a random hair follicle test. I went to the lab to get it done, they gave me one hour to report. I went and took the hair follicle test then immediately after I was told to report to the operating center where they inttoregated me and told me someone called in anonymously and said I had been using illicit substances. Then they made me take a urine test and put me out of service.

Well in that case it sounds like the company handled it exactly as they should have. When they said you could go back to work you should simply say, "Great! What's my next load?" and that's the end of it.

That's life in trucking. It's never an easy ride. There's always a lot of things to deal with. You get DOT inspections, bad weather, miserable dock workers, breakdowns, and a million other wrenches in your plans. You simply have to learn to accept the circumstances and find the best outcome so you can continue moving forward.

In this case the best outcome is to get back to work and get those checks rolling in again. Whoever called in on you had reason to. They knew who you were and they knew where you worked. That's for you to figure out and deal with. Your company didn't cause that and they can't be blamed for it. So you just move on and chalk it up to a learning experience.