The DAC Safety Act: Help Get Drug Impaired Truck Drivers Off The Highway
When you’re driving with your family, your biggest worry should be whether the kids eating in the backseat will make a mess, and not whether the 18-wheeler in the next lane is being driven by a person with an illegal drug habit.
Most of us assume there are safeguards to keep that from happening. So it might surprise you to learn that the federal government requires truck drivers to pass a urine test that almost all illegal drug users can easily pass. But several trucking companies also require drivers to pass a hair drug test. And that method catches them.
The catch is: employers can’t report those drivers to the federal government. So, thousands of drivers are slipping through the cracks!
That’s exactly why the Trucking Alliance supports federal legislation to let employers report those truck drivers. Congressman Rick Crawford, a Republican from Arkansas, has introduced The “Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse Public Safety Improvement Act (DAC Safety Act). In short, the DAC Safety Act will help keep drug impaired drivers out of large trucks and off our nation’s highways.
The Current Problem: Drug Users Are Skirting the System
Hair testing for drug use is 14x more effective than a urine drug test. Yet, only a handful of freight carriers require the additional hair drug test when hiring a truck driver. Almost all trucking companies simply require drivers to pass the federally required urine test. They’re missing almost every truck driver with an illegal drug habit and that’s creating a critical national safety problem for all of us who travel our highways.
For example, researchers at the University of Tennessee and University of Central Arkansas analyzed more than 1 million matched urine and hair test results. They found that 9 out of 10 drivers who failed their hair drug test passed their urine test.
“Up to 90% of drug users identified through hair testing would have been cleared to operate commercial vehicles if these companies utilized only a urine test,” said Dr. Yemisi Bolumole at the University of Tennessee, who holds the Ryder Endowed Professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. “The implications of this finding are profound – thousands of drivers with recent drug histories are likely operating tractor-trailers on public roads today.”
Plus, a hair test is much more effective at identifying people who regularly use hard drugs. “Hair has a significantly higher positivity rate and a particular ability to detect hard drugs, such as cocaine, opioids, and methamphetamines/amphetamines, which urine would otherwise miss,” commented Doug Voss, Ph.D., and Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the University of Central Arkansas.
Yet because it isn’t recognized for official reporting, thousands of drivers who fail these more rigorous hair tests are still able to pass a urine test and legally get behind the wheel. This gap in testing policy poses a real and ongoing safety risk to the motoring public.
What the DAC Safety Act Will Do
The DAC Safety Act will require employers to report confirmed positive hair drug test results to FMCSA’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse under the agency’s definition of an employer’s “actual knowledge” of a driver’s drug use.
A driver with a confirmed positive hair test will be immediately removed from safety-sensitive duties, such as operating a commercial vehicle, and must complete a mandated return-to-duty process before resuming work.
In plain English? This means:
- All drug tests must be done by certified, trusted labs to ensure accuracy.
- Employers can finally report positive hair drug test results to a national database, which will let other employers know if a driver has previously failed a drug test. All drug tests must be done by certified, trusted labs to ensure accuracy.
- Drivers who fail a hair drug test must stop driving commercial trucks right away.
- Drivers who fail a hair drug test have to complete a return-to-duty process before they can drive again.
The Public Safety Impact
You shouldn’t have to wonder if the truck driver operating an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer beside you on the interstate highway is using illegal drugs. The DAC Safety Act will make sure commercial drivers are well-rested, well-trained, and drug-free.
This bill will close a dangerous loophole that allows truck drivers with a regular illegal drug habit to stay behind the wheel. It’ll be a critical step in keeping everyone on the road safe: drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, and pedestrians alike.
You can read the full bill text or follow updates directly on H.R. 4320’s Congress.gov page.
What Can You Do?
Ask your U.S. Representative to support H.R. 4320, the DAC Safety Act.
- On the right of this page, under “Give Feedback on This Bill”, click Contact Your Member.
- Enter your location.
- Select your desired representative, click contact, and urge them to support H.R. 4320.
For more information on trucking policy reform and how you can help protect our roads, follow Trucking Alliance on LinkedIn.