Advice For Failed Pre-employment Hair Test

The cat is out of the bag. Be HONEST at all times. The only chance you will have in the future is to be absolutely transparent. As others have mentioned, you may get more bites with this ding on your record when freight picks up again. But I can't stress enough to be honest and own the results of that test regardless of time elapsed since last use.

In the meantime, write a sincere letter of explanation for future applications with specific timelines (16 months prior) and explain you were unaware that the hair test would go back so far and lastly, explain that you know that any schedule 1 substance, even legalized ones have NO place in the career of someone driving a CMV and as such that permanent and absolute abstinence without exception is your ongoing personal policy as a CDL holder, this matter which produced the DAC record has been a very painful lesson that has helped you mature, and that your career and the safety of the motoring public supersede any recreational use of stimulants.

Lastly, if you think you may cave in and use again as a CDL holder in the future, then find another job and forget trucking as the wording above for the explanation letter is not just smooth talk to buy you a second chance, it is absolutely true and required of everyone. However if it genuinely resonates with you and your goals in trucking as a professional driver, then best of success to you!

Man, my heart goes out to you. I hope you can get this straightened out without having to wait a number of years before you can get hired.

Being in a similar pickle myself, I can totally relate. Fortunately for me, I may have caught the mistake early enough to not have it affect my DAC since I haven't yet done a follicle test.

In a perfect world what you did two years ago shouldn't necessarily have any bearing on how you act today.. since how you act today is what actually matters.

Unfortunately the world is far from perfect, or fair for that matter, and people sometimes fall through the cracks of a system, that ironically, has rules to serve the greater good.

I agree with Zen Joker in that honesty and transparency in this process is absolutely mandatory. I doubted that yesterday, but my honesty may have saved me. At this point in your situation it certainly WON'T hurt you.

It might be of benefit to have as much information in your arsenal as you can gather. I'm not exactly sure what your rights are. If you can get a written statement from the lab explaining the process that was used, and the age of the hair sample analyzed as evidence you're a responsible, intelligent, and honest person who simply made a mistake, the next time(s) you speak to a human recruiter you still might have a chance.

Perhaps things are in some ways tougher these days for people who are new to an industry like trucking. In our electronic age so much is transparent.. we have less privacy and things we do and say follow us around forever.

In your case the company you applied to found out what you were doing two years ago. As invasive as that may be, they know and you didn't mention it.. so it's on you to right it one way or the other.

We didn't realize how difficult this process is to navigate. But this is also a job where one stupid move could cost lives.. so hopefully, THIS will be the worst mistake we make in our trucking careers.