Comments By Jamal S.

Well this is something that I didn't give much thought until now. Given my lifestyle and former career choices, not something I even worried about. So, when I decided I was ready to sign on with a company, the idea that I could fail a drug test didn't even register... Until today...

I just received my Class-A CDL (no restrictions). Obviously, I would have to have a DOT card in order to have the license, and in order to have the DOT card, I'd have to pass a drug test. No problems getting this far..

Then the company with whom I'm scheduled to attend an orientation in 2 weeks sends me an order for both a DOT drug test and a hair follicle test to be done at a 3rd party facility the beginning of next week. "No problem" I thought. "No problem" has been my motto regarding this part of the hiring process ever since I decided I wanted to begin a career in the trucking industry. "Only people with drug habits worry about drug tests" I thought as I emailed my recruiter the confirmation that I'd be present at the chosen time and location to pee in a cup, offer a few strands of my hair, and show I'm responsible enough to not cause an accident while operating their machinery.

It's at that moment I remembered the CBD gummies I took 5 or 6 months back- I can't remember exactly when since the idea that I'd become a trucker hadn't yet crystalized in my mind.. and because I only took them at night to help me sleep during the weekends when the bar next to my house packed with noisy drunk people would blast reggaeton (along with the occasional gunshot popped off by a patron in the parking lot) til all hours of the night.

I then remembered that around the same time I went to see a doctor and was prescribed two medications (one for the same reason as the CBD) as the stress of not being able to sleep was starting to cause acid reflux. One of those medications was Pepcid, the other was a benzodiazepam which I failed to mention to my recruiter during the interview. I took maybe 3 and a half tablets, total, over the course of the time I was prescribed them, and had completely forgotten about them.

I honestly didn't like the way the medication made me feel.. foggy and jellyfish-like, as was the case with the CBD gummies which I took over the course of about 6 weeks.

I eventually solved my problem; I no longer live next to a bar.....

...Enough backstory...

At this point I'm realizing the potential for what seemed trivial a few weeks ago to cause me serious problems, so I call a friend of mine who's an OTR trucker and explain the situation to him. He advises me to call my recruiter and try postpone the hair follicle test for about a month.

I get ahold of the recruiter. After explaining to her what I told my friend (I'm one of those people who thinks honestly wins at the end of the day.. and then regrets it), she tells me she's going to discard my application and that I can call her back in five months.

So now I'm doing damage control.. by the way it's my 49th birthday and I'm feeling the shame a typical drug addled low life must feel.. but there's no point in beating myself up. I'm sure every recruiter deals with those people on the regular as I'm sure they pop up on here from time to time lamenting their perceived injustice of being denied a job because they made lousy choices.

Honestly, I'm glad there are strict guidelines as far as substance use and operating a commercial vehicle are concerned. The rules are there to save lives. I'm just a bit irritated that instead of being a responsible person and a considerate neighbor, I could instead be one of those loudmouth drunks boozing it up at the bar next to my house.. some insufferable tool who spends half his paycheck getting wasted every night, passes out in a pool of his own vomit, and then goes to a job the next day.. which happens to be driving a commercial vehicle.

My only thought now is to have my own hair follicle test done. I have to get a doctor's order and they'll do it at a LabCorp in my town. Chances are nothing will show up anyway. Assuming the results come back negative, I could then contact that recruiter with the results. Even if they decided to schedule another follicle test, or if I had to apply to another company, at least I'd know it's no longer an issue. Had I just taken the hair follicle drug test issue more seriously.. and not been in such a rush to get hired.. none of this would be happening.

Yes it does! Thanks!

Thanks Laura and Big Scott!

I understand that part of how banking days at CFI works.. and its good to know I won't be penalized for a day or two. However, my more specific questions regarding the policy are:

1) How many weeks will the company allow a driver to be out on the road?

2)How many days of home time can I use when I go home?

So let's say I've been out for 8 weeks (assuming the company will let me stay out that long). At the end of that 8 weeks I will have saved 8 days of home time. Can I use all 8 days at once or would I have to bank some of those and use them later?

Also, how often do you earn PTO days?

As far as my dog goes, I have a lot of questions regarding how to care for her while on the road (where does she need to be when I'm at the terminal, when driving, during hot or cold weather, when the truck is being serviced, when loading or unloading, etc) but I'm thinking I'll need to save that for another thread.

Greetings,

I'm trying to figure out how CFI's home time banking policy works but I'm having trouble finding someone who can explain certain specifics.

I understand that CFI allows a driver to bank days of home time based on how many days get used per number of weeks spent out.

For instance if I'm out for 5 weeks, I've got 5 days of home time. I can take 3 off and still have 2 left.. or 4 off and have one remaining, etc. I can then add the remaining day(s) the next time I'm out for 3 weeks and have those extra days off if I choose.

But is there a maximum number of days I can bank? And if so, is there a maximum number of days I can take off at once?

I've gotten conflicting information from different recruiters. One told me I could theoretically be out on the road for 10 weeks and then go home for 10 days. However, the next recruiter said the company's policy is a maximum of 5 weeks out with no more than 5 consecutive days of home time taken on a single home visit. When I asked about the banking policy, they couldn't provide much info. At this point I'm a bit confused about how this would work since my house is in Puerto Rico and getting home isn't as easy as if it were in say Boston or Wichita.

If I'm not mistaken, CFI drivers have access to (or can at least park at) any Heartland Express terminal, so I could theoretically park my truck in Jacksonville, FL and jump on a 2 1/2-3 hour flight to San Juan and be back in under 5 days. If not Jacksonville, then the CFI terminal in Atlanta with a 3 1/2 hour flight.

That's a bit of a crunch either way but doable I suppose. It would be a lot more advantageous for me if I could have more than 5 days since my house is 1000 miles from the nearest place I would be able to park.

Any advice? Also, I have a dog which means I can eliminate at least half of any other employment options in the industry.