The tens of thousands of drivers with drug violations likely to leave trucking for good

Carriers are required to query drivers' records yearly in the FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.Most of the 52,000 drivers who lost their jobs in 2020 due to drug and alcohol violations have not completed their return-to-work procedure, says a year-end report on the testing database. The numbers back up industry concerns that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is putting a dent in the driver labor pool.

The program took effect Jan. 6, 2020. All trucking companies with operating authority, even with only one truck, are required to register in the clearinghouse and to conduct a yearly query on each driver. The database is used by law enforcement, driver licensing agencies and carriers to check for driver violations.

Of the 51,998 drivers who had at least one violation last year, 45,475 are still unable to drive. Of those, 34,769 have not even begun the return-to-work protocol of substance abuse counseling and testing negative for drugs and alcohol. Only 6,513 violators have completed it and are cleared to drive.

The 45,475 violators who aren’t cleared for commercial driving represent 1.3% of an estimated 3.6 million truck drivers in the United States, or 3.1% of the for-hire trucking employment total, almost 1.5 million, which includes non-driving jobs.