MARIJUANA

Truckers using cocaine more than marijuana, study finds

A new study reveals that the U.S. Department of Transportation may be underreporting cocaine abuse by truck drivers, a finding that could put more pressure on federal regulators to allow hair testing as an alternative to urine testing for preemployment drug screening by trucking companies.

Because the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse does not allow hair test results to be included in the database, DOT “is seriously underreporting the actual use of harder...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckers-using-cocaine-more-than-marijuana-study-finds

Viewpoint: Clearinghouse queries come due

In late December, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reminded employers that they must conduct an annual query of the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse for all of their commercial driver’s license-holding employees on a rolling 12-month basis. With the bulk of these annual queries coming due in December, the FMCSA’s outreach was a timely reminder that carriers needed to prioritize conducting these queries before the end of the year.

In the latest report on Clearinghouse data...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/viewpoint-clearinghouse-queries-come-due

Undercover trucker: Hauling half-ton of pot for feds in sting

Multiple commercial trucks move along the Peace Bridge, a common site of marijuana seizures at the U.S. Canada Border.

On Dec. 1, a truck driver pulling a flatbed trailer presented himself to U.S. border officers at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, New York, one of the busiest commercial crossings with Canada. He had picked up his load of aluminum panels in Toronto and was delivering it some 450 miles away in Somerset, New Jersey. 

At face value, it might have appeared as a typical cross-border run. But something aroused the suspicions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers after the driver presented his...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/undercover-trucker-half-ton-pot-marijuana-us-customs-sting-canada

CDL holders banned from driving due to drugs, alcohol top 60,000

The number of U.S. truck drivers sidelined due to substance abuse violations has surpassed 60,000 and continues to climb by roughly 2,000-3,000 per month, according to federal data.

The latest monthly report by the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration since January 2020, revealed that 60,299 CDL holders have a drug or alcohol violation recorded in the clearinghouse as of June 1, up from 57,510 as of May 1 and up from 18,860 recorded in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cdl-holders-banned-from-driving-due-to-drugs-alcohol-top-60000

$6M in marijuana seized from trucks at US-Canada border

Bags of marijuana in a box seized from a truck at the US-Canada border

Over $6 million worth of marijuana was seized from two commercial trucks that were attempting to cross the U.S. border from Canada with shipping manifests claiming an especially mundane cargo: paper. 

The seizures happened within a day of each other near Buffalo, New York, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement on Friday. The drivers in both cases are under investigation, CBP spokesperson Mike Niezgoda told FreightWaves in an email, declining to provide further details.

The most...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/6m-in-marijuana-seized-from-trucks-at-us-canada-border

Curious pot bust jams up 2 truckers — Long-Haul Crime Log

An aerial view of the Pembina U.S.-Canada border crossing, where two truck drivers were arrested.

Two Canadian truck drivers in their 20s are facing charges in North Dakota over a $4.5 million load of marijuana intercepted at the U.S.-Canada border. The latest episode of FreightWaves’ true-crime podcast, Long-Haul Crime Log, examines the case and why some aspects of it are unusual.

The drivers were arrested on April 23 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered the marijuana while inspecting what was supposed to be a load of straw at the border in Pembina, North Dakota. The...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/curious-pot-bust-jams-up-2-truckers-long-haul-crime-log

2 truckers face prosecution after $4.5M marijuana seizure at US-Canada border

Marijuana seized from a truck at the U.S.-Canada border in Pembina, ND.

Two truckers were turned over to local authorities for prosecution after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized $4.5 million worth of marijuana during an inspection of a truck at the U.S.-Canada border in North Dakota on Friday.

Officers discovered nearly 2,800 pounds of marijuana after referring a truck from Manitoba for a secondary inspection at the Pembina port of entry, CBP said in a statement on Monday.

The drivers, who were not identified, were subsequently turned over to the...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/2-truckers-face-prosecution-after-45m-marijuana-seizure-at-us-canada-border

Cannabis logistics is smokin’ hot

The stories behind how April 20 became known as “weed day” around the world are as varied as the cannabis products now available. According to Time magazine, the most credible story is that a group of teenagers in 1971 used to meet at 4:20 p.m. after school to smoke pot – 420 became their code word for the meetup.

Today, smoking in a lot behind the school is not necessary in many states, with 16 states and Washington, D.C., making marijuana legal for adults over the age of 21. A total of 36...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/cannabis-logistics-is-smokin-hot

Texas border agents seize $12M in drugs from tractor-trailers

In two recent incidents, border agents in South Texas uncovered attempts to use commercial trucks to move methamphetamine and marijuana across the United States-Mexico border.

The first occurred Friday at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers were inspecting a tractor-trailer hauling a commercial shipment of fresh broccoli from Mexico. CBP discovered 330 packages of alleged methamphetamine weighing 581 pounds hidden inside the trailer’s floor. 

T...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/texas-border-agents-seize-12m-in-drugs

Don’t get wrapped up in drug test confusion

Substance abuse is a serious issue in the trucking industry, but tracking and reporting it is equally challenging. While motor carriers, medical review officers (MROs), substance abuse professionals (SAPs) and consortium/third-party administrators (C/TPAs) do their best to crack down on the use of illegal substances, all parties must understand how to conduct proper testing and recordkeeping.

Marijuana takes the heat for contributing heavily to the industry’s substance abuse problem, and with...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/dont-get-wrapped-up-in-drug-test-confusion

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