Originally published at: Will ■■■■■■■■■ Rescheduling Be A Game Changer For Trucking? - FreightWaves
Trump’s ■■■■■■■■■ rescheduling could strip DOT of testing authority for 4 million CDL drivers. Without a safety carve-out, the agency that’s kept impaired operators off highways for 34 years loses its legal teeth. Here’s what carriers need to do before the rules change.
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The problem being, like alcohol what is wrong if in my down time i smoke a joint or take a couple of whatever. As long as i am good when i climb back in any seat, it is none of anybodies business.
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It comes down to what Driver_matt15 said… Personal accountability. I’m not a driver, I’m a Software Engineer for aircraft. I hold a sec clearance so I am in the same boat as DOT folks - I am not authorized nor do I partake.
However, I am a firm believer that the roads are no less safe if cannabis is rescheduled. Argument being, we still have opioids, alcohol, etc that impair motor skills, etc. And these are MORE than readily accessible.
So, if we can expect personal accountability to hold true and warnings of “do not operate for amount of hours after using” to suffice.. Then ■■■■■■■■■ is no different - LEGALIZE IT!
The rhetoric of there being no scientifically accepted impairment testing is false. There are saliva tests, that are scientifically backed, that test for recent (hours to a couple of days) use. While it’s not BAC being able to test for use within a few hours, is definitely sufficient to discourage drivers from irresponsible use and limit it to our down time.
How is someone who smoked 2 days ago impaired? Just because they ■■■■ positive doesn’t mean they’re impaired while on the clock
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Same here. This is actually crazy good news. I don’t know what the heck the writers problem is? M/arijuana testing has been dragging down the industry since before legalization was an actual factor. And for no good reason!
Even that Amtrak disaster they list as to why m.arijuana is dangerous by the authors own words the driver of the train was also high on P/CP. One of these d/rugs is not like the other! For petes sake I’d rather the driver had been dr/unk and sto/ned at the same time than on P/C/P. At least they would be operating in the correct reality.
Here’s where i find issue with all the Freightwaves and ATA discussion about ■■■■■■■■■ control procedures. All these conversations started in 2024 when the FDA reduced ■■■■■■■■■ to a schedule III drug.
At the same time the FMCSA put out an article explaining and confirming the fact that they have lost tens of thousands of CDL drivers to false positive test results. In that article they expressed their position stating that they didn’t care what a driver does on his or her own time, they just can’t be behind the wheel. At the same time they also discussed the making of an ■■■■ test that can detect usage from a 1 to 4 hour period that will be used like a breathalyzer for alcohol testing.
Now, like the government does, they want to backpedal and force testing on a drug that should be as legal as alcohol. All because the the ATA wants to control what we do on our own time. As the FMCSA stated, many drivers that fail due to ■■■■■■■■■ consumption do not return to driving. This has become a major contributor to the national driver shortage.
So why backpedal on it now? Do your testing and leave people alone. Stop trying to enforce control procedures and allow grown people to make their own choices. If they get caught smoking and driving they face the same repercussions as drinking and you allow people to make their own choices with alcohol. So stop trying to micromanage drivers personal time. Stop crippling the industry to create a need for HB2 visa drivers.
THC has a half life that extends throughout the week that I know for fact effects your decision making as a truck driver like forgetting to check important things we should check and making mistakes you don’t usually make. Just because your not stoned dosnt mean your not impaired from THC half life. This is why we will never get out of a five panel ■■■■■ or pre employment hair follicle test. I can say this from personal experience figuring out the dark place of anxiety the way these punks drive these days. Functional mushrooms and broad spectrum zero Cbd is may cure not THC. Hope this helped:-)
Its gonna be a stupid person pull into a weight station blowing clouds and mess it up for everyone