What, Trucker Tokers?

 

We're all feeling the pinch from the breakdown of freight transport. Goods are just not getting to market as normal. Short supply, costs and prices go up.

There's a shortage of truckers to haul goods. Business Insider cites one cause - marijuana testing.

Even as more states liberalize their pot laws, standards for drug testing truckers have become more stringent. Insurers don't want the guy driving that 18 wheeler toking up.

According to Chris Harvey, Wells Fargo's head of equity strategy, drug screenings paired with the nature of the job — which often requires truckers to spend weeks-on-end away from home — has led many truck drivers to leave the industry. Harvey said the issue will "continue to push that price even higher," worsening a surge in transportation costs that have left consumers facing price hikes and shortages.

"It's really about drug testing," Harvey said, speaking at an industry conference on Wednesday. "We've legalized marijuana in some states but, obviously, not all ... What we've done is we're excluding a significant portion of that trucker industry."

[U.S.] Truck drivers are randomly drug tested on a quarterly basis, as well as in the event of an accident or traffic ticket, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Drivers that test positive are immediately removed from driving commercial motor vehicles, per the FMCSA.

In 2020, the trucking industry implemented a law that required all truck drivers who had failed a drug test to be listed in a federal database so that other trucking companies would avoid hiring the drivers. Previously, drivers could theoretically move to a new company that would not have knowledge of the positive drug test.