The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently announced that the trucking industry will be required to continue with the same level of random drug testing in 2015 as was required in 2014.

The FMCSA says its decision to continue to require truck companies to randomly drug test at least 50 percent of their drivers comes as a result of “the data from motor carrier industry-controlled substance lab test results, the 2012 drug and alcohol testing survey and additional investigations.”

The trucking industry had hoped that the FMCSA would drop their requirement of random drug testing to only 25 percent of truck drivers, which is the current requirement of other transportation industries, including public and marine. However, the FMCSA refused to lower the requirement for reasons, and included the following findings:

• Between 2011 and 2012, subsequent drug test results following an initial positive drug test increased by more than 4 percent;
• Reasonable suspicion positive drug tests results had a five-fold increase in a three year period. In 2010, the increase was 5.6 percent. In 2012, that increase jumped to 37.2 percent;
• There were 97,332 positive drug tests from independent Health and Human Services-certified laboratories which were reported to the federal Department of Transportation in 2012. This revealed an increase from the 95,427 positive tests reported in 2011. More than 80 percent of those drug tests came from FMCSA-regulated industries;
• In almost one-fourth of the most recent compliant investigations, the violations reported involved serious alcohol and controlled substance abuse; and
• In 2014, a two-week strike force targeting drivers who tested positive for drugs resulted in cases against 205 drivers. There was an additional 138 cases filed against transportation carriers. Drivers involved in these cases were responsible for operating vehicles which were transporting hazardous materials, as well as vehicles carrying passengers.

Truck drivers who operate under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol put everyone else on the road in grave danger. If you have been injured in trucking accident, please contact an experienced Westport personal injury attorney to discuss what legal compensation you may be entitled to for your pain and loss. Call Richard H. Raphael, Attorney at Law, at 203-226-6168 today to schedule your free consultation.