Comments By Rick S.

This has been done over and over before - but - legally - the address has to be a RESIDENCE (ostensibly, somewhere someone can FIND YOU).

That being said - there are a number "rent an address" services - the POST OFFICE not being one of them.

Mailbox Express used to do it. As did UPS.

The laws tend to vary state to state. Try a google search on: Can I Use A P.O. Box For A Drivers License

I used to have my FL license with my P.O. Box as an address - this changed, I think, shortly after 9/11.

I haven't researched this in a few years personally - and I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time digging.

With "REAL ID" federal laws pretty much rolled out nationwide - I believe an actual residence is mandatory under the law.

You can always use a friends address. I believe some drivers get a box at their companies terminal and use that as an address.

For tax and other purposes, you have to declare a state of domicile.

There are other ways around this - but with DHS and other agencies - especially if you're planning on getting a TWIC and/or HM endorsement - it's easier to have an address.

Many states now "cross check" addresses of mail services (UPS Store/etc) to prevent people from using those for DL's.

It's a (scary) brave new world - and it doesn't look to be getting any easier.

Friend or relative is the safest bet.

I live in a warehouse (OK - commercial property) - and (by code) I'm not actually supposed to be living here - but it is my sole/primary residence - and my CDL is in this address.

And lest any of my friends here, think I sleep on pallets in a storage unit - this is my living room. I built a mancave in 2,400 sqft, because it just works better for me businesswise.

That is all...

LOL

Rick

First off - HAIR TESTING IS NOT DOT TESTING. It is PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTING. Hair has NOT YET BEEN ACCEPTED FOR DOT TESTING.

There is a national database that tracks individuals that failed drug tests. Thus keeps applicants from going to a different company and not disclosing the failed previous tests.

You CANNOT LEGALLY BE PUT IN THE FMSCA DATABASE FOR FAILING A HAIR SCREENING.

Legally - carriers that use hair - HAVE TO DO BOTH (even though many do not) - because a FAILED HAIR IS NOT REPORTABLE - and ALL TESTS are now reportable to the clearinghouse. And DOT still requires URINE for a "DOT Employment Drug Screen" (also for RANDOMS).

Now - this will likely change soon - BUT - it is NOT IN THE REGS YET.

That being said - the DATABASE is likely the DAC - and you can & will get put in there for failing a PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING.

This brings up some interesting technicalities - as far as SAP/Return To Duty (DOT) protocols go.

Since you (technically) did NOT FAIL A DOT SCREEN - this may (or may not) apply.

We're in "grey area land" here.

Now - your CLP will still be valid. A failed PE doesn't invalidate it - in fact - even with a CDL, a failed DOT screen doesn't cancel your CDL - YOU JUST CANNOT DRIVE A COMMERCIAL VEHICLE IN A DOT REGULATED CAPACITY - until you complete the RTD Protocol (SAP/Etc.).

Sorry about the yelling - but we need to be giving out CORRECT INFORMATION - that jibes with the ACTUAL REGS.

Now sadly - for a newbie - the odds of getting a TRAINING HIRE after recently failing a PE screen, are VERY LOW - EVEN AFTER YOU DO A SAP.

And there's very little recourse for you. Either way - you will likely have to do a SAP to EVEN BE CONSIDERED FOR EMPLOYMENT (even though you technically didn't fail a DOT Screen, only a PE screen).

Sadly - I think you might be SCREWED. Even though it's not a DOT fail - very few (if any) "training companies" are going to take the risk with someone that failed ANY TYPE OF DRUG SCREEN.

Rick

Christmas, at my family's ..in Florida. No, I didn't get to go, thanks to the Vid virus.... My sister JUST forwarded me photos.. sheesh!

^^^^ which is scarier ?!? REALLY, haha!! <<< TOTALLY kidding, drivers. These pics, just in. Falling iguanas. I don't like reptiles, nor do I like snow (and/or drifts!) ~~ this misfit (I, tongue tied and twisted) will have a struggle when the time comes to drive, LoL!!

We're overrun with Iguanas down here. Started out as pets that got out or got released. They breed like rabbits. Dig holes and crap all over the place and are general nuisances. They grow as big as small alligators (well, maybe not that big - but I've seen 4-footers including tail, that have to weigh in over 20 lbs). It is legal to off them, as they are considered in non-native nuisance species.

Being cold-blooded, when we get down into the 40's-50's they don't die, but they go into kind of a suspended animation. They like to hang up in trees, and they fall out of the trees.

So the forecast down here ends up being - sunny, 45 with a chance of scattered iguanas.

Just another example of invasive/non-native species that irresponsible owners set loose on our ecosystem. We have a huge problem with snakes in the everglades eating everything in sight (open hunting license for those - I think the state has a bounty system). We also have a large wild parrot colony in my neck of the woods - not as irritating or destructive.

I know a couple that do iguana removal for homeowners (yeah, it's that bad) and the market for their meat is starting to catch on. It's a delicacy in the caribbean and parts of latin america.

Iguana Meat For Sale - "Chicken of the TREES".

I've tasted it - it's more like gator than chicken - but then again - people say gator tastes like chicken too.

Mouse (from The Matrix): That's exactly my point! Exactly! Because you have to wonder now: how do the machines really know what Tasty Wheat tasted like, huh? Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe what I think Tasty Wheat tasted like actually tasted like uh.... oatmeal or uh.... or tuna fish. That makes you wonder about a lot of things. You take chicken for example. Maybe they couldn't figure out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken tastes like everything!

Or EVERYTHING TASTES LIKE CHICKEN? Right?

Rick

"snatching defeat from the jaws of victory".

Some people just can't quit while they're ahead...

Rick

They did a urine tests. The nurse said that's what they always do for Prime. Don't know if that's country wide though.

If Prime went to hair testing, they would do so company-wide.

Keep in mind - HAIR TESTING is not an "FMCSA/DOT ACCEPTABLE" method of testing - but will be sooner than later (as soon as they can figure out the details). For now - hair testing is considered a "pre-employment test" (not a DOT test), and failures cannot be reported to the FMCSA Testing Clearinghouse. But can STILL BE REPORTED ON A DAC - and will still virtually trash your chances of getting into the industry (or at least make it so difficult as to not be worth the effort).

Article on "Mandatory Hair Testing" in Trucking

Interesting Article On Hair Versus Urine Testing. It also discusses a "racial bias" - in that minorities FAIL MORE than other ethnicities - but not enough to indicate a "racial bias".

As I mentioned earlier - if you are not 1,000% SURE you can pass ANY TYPE OF DRUG SCREEN - DON'T SHOW UP AND TAKE ONE. Even if it means waiting it out until you are 150% SURE that you can. Even if it means PAYING FOR A TEST ON YOUR OWN.

There's a ton of obstacles than CAN be overcome to get into the driver seat - A FAILED DRUG SCREEN IS (99% of the time - especially for newbs) NOT ONE OF THEM...

Rick

William, the world changes and we change with it. Airplanes have been able to fly themselves for a long time. The technology is actually simpler for flying aircraft than it is for driving trucks. There's next to nothing for an airplane to collide with, yet they still have two pilots on them. Trains run on tracks and can't even get off course, yet they still have an engineer on board. Automated trucks will be a long time before being practically functional. Even when they are they will not be without a driver. Nobody is going to take on that liability.

I wouldn't give it a thought.

What OS says (as usual)...

And not to dispute Brett - but I think it's going to be sooner than that.

Yards (and enclosed environments) are probably going to be automated first - they can be mapped down to the inch.

Aside from the level of automation (and AI) required in the trucks themselves, the infrastructure (roads/etc.) are going require a fair amount of automation assistive tech to make this work. There has to be SATURATION COVERAGE of connectivity (5G, satellite, etc.) - as you can only pack so much computing power into a truck - there's still going to have to be massive amounts of communication between the trucks and computers monitoring roads and traffic.

Though with miniaturization, there's more power in my Surface Pro, than the rack mounted mini-computers I was installing and servicing in '83. I remember when the IBM guys walked into the computerland I was working in, in Boca Raton FL (where the IBM mainsite for PC was). They made us lock the doors and close the blinds. They took out this huge box, with a green text monitor stolen from a System 32 terminal. It had an 8086 processor, 16K of Ram, and dual 160K single sided floppy drives. They said it was going to REVOLUTIONIZE the computer industry. We laughed. The original IBM PC. My Apple watch has 10X the computing power of that box. Then they came out with the XT - it had a 10 MEGABYTE drive - and we said - WOW, it would take YEARS to fill that thing up. My current Mac rig has 24 TERABYTES online (12 storage, 12 backup - about 6TB used).

I have little doubt that the tech is going to be online one day. It will start with closed environments (yards, ports, etc.) where there will be no possibility of "interaction" with the motoring public. It will move to some "limited interstate operations" in areas with little congestion (they're already testing this in a few states).

IT IS COMING - I think in less than the 25 that Brett says. BUT LIKE PLANES AND EVERYTHING ELSE - THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A HUMAN OPERATOR IN THE CHAIN SOMEWHERE. Either in the truck, or in a data center (like todays drone aircraft operators). The rub is - UNTIL ALL MOTOR VEHICLES ARE AUTOMATED - no matter how good the AI is - there will ALWAYS BE THE HUMAN FACTOR. Dumbasses on the roads doing UNPREDICTABLE THINGS. They're called ACCIDENTS FOR A REASON - and the cause is usually some unanticipated (and usually NEGLIGENT) act of ANOTHER HUMAN BEING.

Until the HUMAN FACTOR can be removed from the roadways - there's always going to have to be a HUMAN IN THE TRUCK.

Personally - I wouldn't mind setting the autopilot for a 1,000 mile, pure interstate run - kicking back and watching a movie (or three) while the truck takes care of the rest.

But for kids today (and at 18 - you still can't drive interstate), there will always be a level of job security in this industry.

Not too long ago I came across an article from 2015 that said Autonomous trucks will be here in five years.

Here we are in 2021 and it didn't happen.

Thought them polar ice caps would be all melted by now too.

I'm more concerned (and I've voiced this) with 20+ million illegal aliens suddenly becoming legal and being able to enter the job market and compete with AMERICANS (plus the millions more that will stream in, once they get the idea that it's OK to do so). Keep in mind - almost anyone that can walk and chew gum, can be trained to get a CDL. And more competition for jobs (when there are more workers than jobs), means LOWER WAGES (especially from people that are demonstrably willing to work for less).

I FEAR IMMIGRATION MORE THAN AUTOMATION.

Happy New Year All.

Remember - Mad Max happened in 2021

Rick

Wow - maybe I should start driving? Hire out of Fort Lauderdale?

LOL

Congrats and Happy New Year...

Rick

As Scott said - start from scratch.

I've held a CDL for over a decade now - AND NEVER USED IT. I would have to start from scratch too - in fact I WOULD INSIST ON IT (though I would hope they'd let me keep my plastic without downgrading - I have other endorsements on it that would be a PITA to get back - like my PASSENGER endorsement).

Best of luck - keep us posted on your progress.

Rick

Which begs the question - drinking? Mouthwash? Like - did you ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING that would trip a breathalyzer? WHAT LEVEL DID IT REPORT?

Did they IMMEDIATELY DO A BLOOD DRAW TO CONFIRM? While I'm not 100% sure it's written in the regs - you have the right to CONTEST THE RESULTS of a breathalyzer - and the ONLY CONFIRMATION is to draw blood.

Assuming you were not rolling out of a truck stop, after a night of chugging tall boys (and I've known guys that do), or you rinsed your mouth recently with an alcohol based mouthwash - then there are other medical conditions that could cause a false reading.

This is a whitepaper from a company THAT MAKES BREATHALYZERS - that illustrates things that can affect one.

https://www.alcolizer.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/12660_WhitePaper_Substances-that-Can-Affect-A-Breath-test_LR.pdf

So - if you DID NOT DO A BLOOD DRAW TO CONFIRM - there's a presumption that your BAC said you had been DRINKING.

At this point - that would go into the FMCSA Testing Registry AS A FAILURE. You would be DISQUALIFIED FROM DRIVING, until you completed the "Return To Duty Protocol".

FMCSA Clearinghouse Return To Duty Protocol

This includes completing a SAP (Substance Abuse Program) - counseling/etc.

Depending on you company and whether or not you were ROOKIE (Kiss of DEATH), and were an otherwise safe/productive driver with no other dings - YOU MIGHT GET BACK BEHIND THE WHEEL.

Since this board is pretty much ANONYMOUS HERE (like we don't know who you are in REAL LIFE) - how about you give us some HONEST DETAILS about the circumstances leading up to your test failure?

If it was a legitimate failure - and the presence of ANY ALCOHOL is a failure - then you are out of luck - out of a job - until you complete SAP (assuming anyone will take you on after a recently failed random - GOOD LUCK THERE).

Even if it's not sufficient for you to be DUI, though the threshold for DUI driving a CMV is lower than the usual .08 for personal vehicles (it is .04 if you're driving a rig - and we can assume you DROVE YOUR RIG to the testing center).

So please disclose what the deal REALLY WAS - and we can perhaps give you better guidance where to go from there.

But if I walked into a testing center and they said I failed a breath test - I WOULD DEMAND A BLOOD DRAW ON THE SPOT.

Then again - I'm 100% SOBER for 20 years now - so if I blew a bad test - THE TEST IS BAD.

Rick

Sorry to hear of this latest bump in the road for you. Everything happens for a reason, and according to His plan, not ours.

May 2021 be a resumption of normalcy for you. Continued prayers going up for you.

And a return to "normalcy" for EVERYONE.

I don't even remember WTH that looks like anymore...

Rick