Post Accident Drug Testing

Pam, this is one of those circumstances where it sure would have been helpful if you would have let us know what was going on before you made any career-altering decisions. Getting terminated for a refusal to take a drug test is about the worst thing that could have happened for your career. Unless you can get this removed from your record I don't know how you're going to find another job. It's going to be next to impossible.

The first course of action is to try like mad to get this worked out with Swift. I have no idea if that's possible or not. If it is, get back there and get to work. If you can't get re-hired there then try to make sure they don't list this as a failed drug test. Again, I really have no idea what your chances are of making that happen.

I'm afraid at this point there isn't much we can do except cheer you on and hope things work out for the best.

Thank you Brett. Ignorance didn't work in my favor I'm afraid. I just didn't know.

This never was about about a drug test. They were just looking for a way to get rid of me because I was complaining about my paycheck. Trainer was keeping me in sleep er berth 15, 16,17 hours a day. They only pay for on duty hours. My first day I worked over 15 hours and got paid 1 hour and 7 minutes.

They already have 1 class action pending against them. Unfortunately, the attorneys I talked to just want to start another one over the payroll thing, not the refusal.

Wouldn't it just be easier to pay your employees what you owe them instead of the time and expense of a huge lawsuit?

Some people never learn. At least I'll get the satisfaction of knowing I helped get other trainees the money Swift cheated them out of so they could stuff it back in their own greedy pockets.

Trucking 101. If the wheels aren't turning, nobody gets a paycheck!!!

I'm also gonna look into going to an independent lab and having a hair follicle test on my own. I'll send the results along with a personal copy of the lawsuit.

Although my career may have been short-lived, it was one of the most beautiful experiences in my life!!!

Pam, this is one of those circumstances where it sure would have been helpful if you would have let us know what was going on before you made any career-altering decisions. Getting terminated for a refusal to take a drug test is about the worst thing that could have happened for your career. Unless you can get this removed from your record I don't know how you're going to find another job. It's going to be next to impossible.

The first course of action is to try like mad to get this worked out with Swift. I have no idea if that's possible or not. If it is, get back there and get to work. If you can't get re-hired there then try to make sure they don't list this as a failed drug test. Again, I really have no idea what your chances are of making that happen.

I'm afraid at this point there isn't much we can do except cheer you on and hope things work out for the best.

Thank you Brett. Ignorance didn't work in my favor I'm afraid. I just didn't know.

This never was about about a drug test. They were just looking for a way to get rid of me because I was complaining about my paycheck. Trainer was keeping me in sleep er berth 15, 16,17 hours a day. They only pay for on duty hours. My first day I worked over 15 hours and got paid 1 hour and 7 minutes.

They already have 1 class action pending against them. Unfortunately, the attorneys I talked to just want to start another one over the payroll thing, not the refusal.

Wouldn't it just be easier to pay your employees what you owe them instead of the time and expense of a huge lawsuit?

Some people never learn. At least I'll get the satisfaction of knowing I helped get other trainees the money Swift cheated them out of so they could stuff it back in their own greedy pockets.

Trucking 101. If the wheels aren't turning, nobody gets a paycheck!!!

I'm also gonna look into going to an independent lab and having a hair follicle test on my own. I'll send the results along with a personal copy of the lawsuit.

Although my career may have been short-lived, it was one of the most beautiful experiences in my life!!!

Since there was so much confusion and mistakes (both sides to be fair) Swift has agreed to compromise and offer Non-DOT Required Refusal. Won't go on my record but reason for discharge. Should I agree to this?

For the 2 and a half years before I was an official OTR driver, I was a Truck mechanic at the same company. One day after changing out a bad shifter knob, I was exiting the drivers side with my canvas tool bag in one hand, the other hand on the outside grab bar, one foot on the top step, going down with my other foot for the botom step. (Yep, was the last time I Did'nt follow the 3 Point Rule). My foot slid off/missed the botom step, my inertia pulled me down off the truck, landed with a rolling motion on my back, the back of my head bounced off the concrete hitting my head against a fender of a car trailer when it came up. I ended up needed 6 stitchs across my right eyebrow. Safety had some one drive me to their workmans doctor clinic. The First thing they did before they stitched me up was make me take a Pee Test,, Really,, I'm still not sure if it was because I worked for a DOT trucking company OR they just wanted an out (if I failed) for a workmans comp law suit...

Pam,

from the perspective you have refused to take the drug test. its that simple.

no matter what the law is... if you sign a contract or acknowledge a companies standards... as long as they fall within in the law or more strict they are perfectly in the right of way to protect theirself.

the best thing to do now is to be a busy bee. if you are clean go prove it. eat crow. beg them to not put it on your DAC if they havent already. if worse comes to worse, buy a truck a find a broker.

Pam,

from the perspective you have refused to take the drug test. its that simple.

no matter what the law is... if you sign a contract or acknowledge a companies standards... as long as they fall within in the law or more strict they are perfectly in the right of way to protect theirself.

the best thing to do now is to be a busy bee. if you are clean go prove it. eat crow. beg them to not put it on your DAC if they havent already. if worse comes to worse, buy a truck a find a broker.

Non-DOT required refusal is not a refusal with no consequences from dot. It will not go on my DAC. Their internal records will reflect refusal. It was a complicated situation. I'm just asking if their records will hurt me in the future.

Pam,

from the perspective you have refused to take the drug test. its that simple.

no matter what the law is... if you sign a contract or acknowledge a companies standards... as long as they fall within in the law or more strict they are perfectly in the right of way to protect theirself.

the best thing to do now is to be a busy bee. if you are clean go prove it. eat crow. beg them to not put it on your DAC if they havent already. if worse comes to worse, buy a truck a find a broker.

Non-DOT required refusal is not a refusal with no consequences from dot. It will not go on my DAC. Their internal records will reflect refusal. It was a complicated situation. I'm just asking if their records will hurt me in the future.

I didnt see that post until after I had already posted. and as you can see from y firest reply I accidently hit submit so... mistakes are made by all of us.

If you didnt really refuse, why would you let them say you refused? even if its not on your DAC.

I would ask for my job back.

Pam,

from the perspective you have refused to take the drug test. its that simple.

no matter what the law is... if you sign a contract or acknowledge a companies standards... as long as they fall within in the law or more strict they are perfectly in the right of way to protect theirself.

the best thing to do now is to be a busy bee. if you are clean go prove it. eat crow. beg them to not put it on your DAC if they havent already. if worse comes to worse, buy a truck a find a broker.

Non-DOT required refusal is not a refusal with no consequences from dot. It will not go on my DAC. Their internal records will reflect refusal. It was a complicated situation. I'm just asking if their records will hurt me in the future.

I didnt see that post until after I had already posted. and as you can see from y firest reply I accidently hit submit so... mistakes are made by all of us.

If you didnt really refuse, why would you let them say you refused? even if its not on your DAC.

I would ask for my job back.

That's what I'm trying to find out. What's that old saying "a bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush". Something like that.

Pam,

from the perspective you have refused to take the drug test. its that simple.

no matter what the law is... if you sign a contract or acknowledge a companies standards... as long as they fall within in the law or more strict they are perfectly in the right of way to protect theirself.

the best thing to do now is to be a busy bee. if you are clean go prove it. eat crow. beg them to not put it on your DAC if they havent already. if worse comes to worse, buy a truck a find a broker.

Non-DOT required refusal is not a refusal with no consequences from dot. It will not go on my DAC. Their internal records will reflect refusal. It was a complicated situation. I'm just asking if their records will hurt me in the future.

I didnt see that post until after I had already posted. and as you can see from y firest reply I accidently hit submit so... mistakes are made by all of us.

If you didnt really refuse, why would you let them say you refused? even if its not on your DAC.

I would ask for my job back.

That's what I'm trying to find out. What's that old saying "a bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush". Something like that.

whatever happens, Im sure you wont do it again. Please be careful. Your lucky you didnt land on your head. I was reading about my wifes 3rd great grandpa the other day. he fell off a wagon and died instantly.

osha says most deaths from fall happen from or below what height?

please be careful and get your job back. and stay clean.

Since there was so much confusion and mistakes (both sides to be fair) Swift has agreed to compromise and offer Non-DOT Required Refusal. Won't go on my record but reason for discharge. Should I agree to this?

Well ideally you would talk your way into another chance with them. Keep trying for that. Keep making phone calls. If that is absolutely not going to happen then the most important thing is that a refusal stays off your record. Now keep in mind, I do not know the technical aspects of what a "Non-DOT Required Refusal" is. You really need to look into that. But if they're going to fire you and you can do it in a way where you never have to admit to failing or refusing a drug test, and nothing related to refusing a drug test shows up on your DAC , then that's probably the best case scenario for you.

But "Non-DOT Required Refusal" still says it's a refusal and that will be considered a failed drug test by most companies. I wouldn't want that on my record.

I would keep badgering them to be honest. Really make them understand that you had no intention of refusing a test and you had no idea the consequences. Remind them that they're pretty much going to ruin your career before it ever starts if they insist on condemning you for this. I would insist that they either give you another chance or completely remove any reference to a refusal from public records.

It's been my experience in this industry that the people in the offices of trucking companies are extremely busy all the time so you really have to badger people to get any attention. In this case, Swift likely just wants this to go away so they can move on. If I were you I wouldn't stop making phone calls throughout the company to anyone and everyone until I either get my job back or got released on my own terms. There's no guaranteeing either one will happen. But I feel that if you're persistent enough to make them realize you're not just going to go away quietly then you'll get better results. You'll get the right people on the phone that can fix this for you. It's your career on the line so I would keep at it hard.

Again, let them know you did not understand you were refusing a drug test. You didn't understand the seriousness of the situation or the consequences of what you were doing. Even if they won't give you another chance they shouldn't go out of their way to make sure you won't get another one someplace else. You've stated your willingness to take a hair follicle test. That in itself would prove you weren't hiding anything and that the whole thing was just a misunderstanding.

Ended up driving back to Lancaster to do drug test and physical. They gave me a piece of paper to do a physical at another clinic. This really spooked me so I went home n let them know I thought I needed advice. I got a discharge for a DOT Refusal of drug test.

I don't understand why after driving over 200 miles taking somewhere around three hours one way you decide not to take the physical offered by your company. Was it your HBP which I am sure would be high given the circumstances or you did not trust the physicians to evaluate your injuries properly. Get back with this company and kiss their buts if needed and comply to any regulations they run you through. They are such a big entity that they just have a format to follow as yours is not the first incident to probably be handled this way. You cant correct their system whether you feel wronged by the trainer who was probably trying to cover their buts and yours, accidents and insurance go hand and hand and they throw anyone through a drug test since the insurance companies demand it and they are fighting to keep their premiums down. Reconcile with this company however it plays out is my advice so you can have a future in the trucking industry.

I had a dream this morning about drug test probably because my sub conscious mind is pondering the fact that I shaved my body with hair clippers like I do every year after winter. I am returning to my hairy beast self and my arm hairs are over half to three quarters of inch long again. Had I known I would have left the sweaty itchy pollen catchers alone since it can be terms as Refusal of Drug Test to not have an adequate amount of hair for testing. I jog, swim, and do other exercises .......my point is my reasoning is not theirs.

My dream......I used to practice lucid dreaming in order to control my dreams when I was younger in order to correct negative dream patterns caused by stress. I do not advise people to change their dreams unless they have a stress problem which affects their lives and their dreams affect their waking hours. For some it is like waking up hungover in a fog and thinking patterns are negative.

This dream I just kicked back and watched even though I knew I was dreaming..........I was standing in a long line near the front and around the corner they were doing urinalysis for DOT when one of the guys in line was asking "does anyone have any pickle juice". I told him " hey, you can't beat a drug test using pickle juice", " They are going to say it is a dilute". I went on to discuss that he would have to stop drugs if he wanted to be a trucker and as we rounded the corner the doctor was handing out cups to everyone and as I reached he said " I need you to go into the office". I went into the office and the doctor came in holding a blue card and told me to sign it. I asked " you found marijuana didn't you" and he frowned and said " yes , we check back as far as a year". I thought to myself " I had not smoked in over three or so years and it was light recreational then". I asked him " can we test again, please let me test again", he just frowned and nodded "no". He said " I am sorry, could you please sign". I started crying with my face in my hands , sobbing telling him " but this ruins my chances to be a truck driver", " I worked so hard" and he just looked at me sadly and nodded "yes".

This is the worst dream or nightmare I have had in years.