Just A Quick Question

Topic 12971 | Page 1

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Steven H.'s Comment
member avatar

.can you be prescribed a controlled substance and pass dot drug screen any help would be greatly appreciated

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

murderspolywog's Comment
member avatar

Depends what it is and what the side effects of it are. I was prescribed pain killers after 2 surgers I need to report them in drug test and carry the paperwork for them, even thought I have not been on them for a few months. Might be harder to get it signed off on with out being a driver already. I had to get the dot Dr to sign off on the drugs. And then sign paperwork with my company saying that I would not operate a vehicle with in 10 hours. And I could not do an 8/2 split.

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

Dutch's Comment
member avatar

I had these same questions when I came into the industry, because I have several bad discs in my neck, and was prescribed Oxycodone to deal with the pain. I had a physical job as a Tig Welder, and couldn't handle the repetitious work without the pain meds.

When you go to trucking school, you will in most cases be given a DOT 10 Panel drug test. They will be checking for a variety of prescription drugs such as Hydrocodone and Oxycodone. If you test positive, you will be sent home.

In most cases, if you bring a note from a doctor stating that you have a valid medical condition that requires that you take that medicine, most trucking companies are not going to want you on their payroll. The problem is that if you are ever involved in an accident, one of the first orders of business will be to give you a DOT 10 Panel drug test. If you test positive for any of those substances, a prosecuting attorney will have a slam dunk case against the trucking company you work for, that in most cases cannot be defended.

I was fortunate, that my bad discs are in my neck, and driving a truck allows me to keep my head vertical the majority of the time. Most days I am pain free, without any prescription meds because driving a truck is much easier for me than the Tig Welding work I used to do.

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Brett Aquila's Comment
member avatar

Anything that could make you groggy or interferes with your mental acuity is not allowed in trucking. So speak with a doctor that does DOT physicals and ask them if the prescriptions you're taking are going to be permissible for commercial driving. If not they should be able to prescribe you an alternative.

There are a ton of drivers on medications of some sort but they all have to be approved during the screening process.

Here's a bunch of information we have on DOT drug testing

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

Dutch's Comment
member avatar

Anything that could make you groggy or interferes with your mental acuity is not allowed in trucking. So speak with a doctor that does DOT physicals and ask them if the prescriptions you're taking are going to be permissible for commercial driving. If not they should be able to prescribe you an alternative.

Brett, when I was faced with this dilemma, I contacted C1 to ask questions, and was asked to leave a message so someone qualified could call me back. After calling twice and never getting a return call, I gave up waiting and decided to consult my doctors on the situation.

When I went to my pain specialist and initiated the conversation about this topic, he replied by telling me he had patients driving commercial trucks that were taking Oxycodone. He felt that if a patient took the medication every day, their ability to drive would not be impaired, like someone who only took the medication occasionally, such as a patient who had dental work done.

I had already learned that if I showed up for school with a note from my doctor stating that the medication didn't impair my ability to drive, and was found with it in my system, that they could possibly send me home for 3 to 4 months, before they would allow me to test again. Since I couldn't afford to let that happen and waste that much time, I told my doctor that I needed to get off my medication, and wait and see how things went, so I could test clean when I got to school. He said OK, and a few minutes later he left the room, and came back with some paperwork. It was a variety of strategies on how to deal with my pain, without prescription meds.

After leaving his office, and reviewing the paperwork he gave me, I realized that he knew he would probably never see me again as a patient. I was also guessing that he may have some drivers who are patients of his, taking Oxycodone, who aren't reporting it to their employer, or who are possibly owner operators. I remember reading a post from a driver at the time, who felt that whatever prescriptions his doctor prescribed were none of his employers business.

I suppose they could take that chance in the short term, but if they ever get hit with a random, or have an accident, they would certainly be caught, and there would be a record on file for any other company to see in the future.

The moral of the story is, that everyone knows doctors like to reschedule appointments, and sometimes they hate to see a patient permanently go. If a driver was encouraged to take certain meds by a doctor without their employers knowledge, that driver could end up in a courtroom with a case their attorney couldn't defend. The end result of that situation could be jail time, especially if fatalities were involved.

Owner Operator:

An owner-operator is a driver who either owns or leases the truck they are driving. A self-employed driver.

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

TWIC:

Transportation Worker Identification Credential

Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.

Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

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