Thoughts? DOT Eyes Plan For Oral Fluid Drug Testing

I know y'all aren't super 'keen' on 'reposting' (rebranding) media/articles, but....

I just had to, in this instance:

Oral Fluid Drug Testing

Thoughts?!?

Would the chemicals show up farther back than the traditional U/A, but not as far as hair follicle? (It's of NO concern to me, but I'm sure others will wonder!)

Sure wish Rickipedia were here to chime in, dangit. (RIP, mate. We miss ya.)

~ Anne ~

On the one hand I'm all for it as it's much harder or maybe impossible to cheat with fake or someone else's saliva. You'd have to be dedicated af to hold a mouthful of someone else's spit

On the other I'd prefer more frequent testing that only tests for actively impaired people. If someone hungover and with no sleep can drive at 0 BAC but still be a major risk I don't think someone who smoked a joint their first of 5 days of home time and only then should be penalized either.

As far as the time, saliva is actually even "shorter" from what I've read. Just a couple days vs multiple days or weeks(for marijuana)

I know y'all aren't super 'keen' on 'reposting' (rebranding) media/articles, but....

I just had to, in this instance:

Oral Fluid Drug Testing

Thoughts?!?

Would the chemicals show up farther back than the traditional U/A, but not as far as hair follicle? (It's of NO concern to me, but I'm sure others will wonder!)

Sure wish Rickipedia were here to chime in, dangit. (RIP, mate. We miss ya.)

~ Anne ~

Oral fluids are more immediate. Most substances are nor in oral fluids after 3-7 days.

I took an oral swab test when I worked for Amazon. Put the q tip in your mouth, leave it in there for a certain amount of time and then put it in an envelope. It was administered by HR and it was done in groups.

I'm good with it. If I can take a test in an office at the terminal , instead of having to take a 20 minute drive to the clinic and sit there for another 45 minutes and then drive back, I'm all for it.

I'm wondering if this is a way to be more forgiving to past drug users. Evidence of drug use last longer in urine than it does in saliva.

Given a lot of carriers do hair on top of DoT UA I can't see that it would help any on the forgiveness front.

I suppose it may not wreck your actual CDL but isn't there sort of a "credit bureau" system that private companies use that it could be added to?

I took an oral swab test when I worked for Amazon. Put the q tip in your mouth, leave it in there for a certain amount of time and then put it in an envelope. It was administered by HR and it was done in groups.

I'm good with it. If I can take a test in an office at the terminal , instead of having to take a 20 minute drive to the clinic and sit there for another 45 minutes and then drive back, I'm all for it.

I'm wondering if this is a way to be more forgiving to past drug users. Evidence of drug use last longer in urine than it does in saliva.

Given a lot of carriers do hair on top of DoT UA I can't see that it would help any on the forgiveness front.

I wouldn't say a lot of companies do hair follicle testing. It's probably a small percentage of carriers. A hair follicle test isn't reported to DOT , but the article says that they're considering using saliva instead of (not in addition to) urine for DOT purposes. I'd imagine a company going with saliva wouldn't be doing hair follicle testing.

I suppose it may not wreck your actual CDL but isn't there sort of a "credit bureau" system that private companies use that it could be added to?

I think any failed drug test (doesn't have to be DOT) can be reported to hireright you be placed on a DAC report, but I can be wrong. A failed DOT drug test would get reported to clearinghouse.

Given that a sizeable majority of Americans live in states where marijuana is legal, I think the trucking industry, and law enforcement, would benefit from a test that, like BAC, correlates closely with the degree of impairment. I haven't smoked weed in forty years and am confident I never will again, so I don't have any direct stake in this. But if a driver wants to indulge when off duty, I don't particularly care as long as she's sober and well-rested when it's time to go back on duty.

I haven't smoked weed in forty years and am confident I never will again, so I don't have any direct stake in this. But if a driver wants to indulge when off duty, I don't particularly care as long as she's sober and well-rested when it's time to go back on duty.

I agree.

Until caffiene or tobacco is illegal, I'm good for any random drug test. Smoked weed in high school 15 yrs old til 17, n quit! Tired of being dopey and the stuff we had in the '70s was weak compared to hybrid stuff today....Last time I even had a drink of beer was in Philippines, small shots with the guys never got too buzzed. But was to not be rude, when invited over to drink. Now on my birthday there, I did get snitzelled good ,by noon and took a lil nap lol.....Here I don't drink nuthin' but coffee, water, juice, and rarely a coke.

Two thoughts 1) the oral fluid will only capture presence or absence in a very short window, and if memory serves does NOT provide information as to concentration on a positive.

2) the UA or follicle test is going to provide prsence or absence, potential concentration, and will be potentially more indicative (yes by inference) of behaviors and *risk of reoffending*. That to me is the good thing about historic tests, they show what was done at some point in the last ## weeks, not 5 hours ago.

YAMMV, and I love that about this group. My biases are in the direction of following the rules because theyre the rules, but that is a casualty of my previous 30+ years.