Starting November 18, 2024, truck drivers who test positive for drugs or are still “prohibited” in the drug-and-alcohol trucker database will lose their commercial driving licenses (CDLs).
This is a new rule that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued in 2021, but will only take effect next year to give time to “prohibited” truckers to take action.
Currently, truck drivers with a drug or alcohol violation are marked “prohibited” in the FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, an online database of truck drivers’ violations. A prohibited status means they cannot drive commercial motor vehicles like large trucks until they complete a return-to-duty process.
When the new federal rule takes effect, violators will not only be marked “prohibited” but will lose their CDLs. If they hold a commercial learner’s permit (CLP), they will lose this permit as well.
This rule will also apply to truckers who currently have a “prohibited” status and fail to remove it by November 18, 2024.
The FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse shows specific violations of each recorded truck driver and allows updating and accessing in real time. State licensing agencies must check this database to determine whether a driver’s commercial license should be denied or downgraded to non-commercial.
Before this, states had limited means of finding out whether a CDL-holder violated federal rules on drugs or alcohol. This meant that a federally prohibited truck driver could still hold their state-issued license if their state was not aware of the prohibition.
Now, with the Clearinghouse database and the new licensing rule, trucking regulators hope to improve highway safety by further filtering out drug-positive drivers.
Since the Clearinghouse opened in January 2020, it has logged 224,000 positive results from truckers’ drug and alcohol tests. Most of them were positive marijuana tests. Though several states have decriminalized marijuana, truck drivers nationwide are still banned from taking this drug, even when they are in marijuana-friendly states.
It is crucial for truckers to maintain clear thinking, sound decision-making, and quick reaction times while behind the wheel. Commercial motor vehicles like 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers, and tankers are challenging to maneuver and take longer to stop. Thus, a split-second driving decision could spell the difference between safety and a catastrophic accident.
Contact an Experienced Truck Accident Lawyer in Kansas City
Flick Law Firm has helped numerous individuals get compensated after they were injured in truck accidents in Missouri and Kansas. We provide a free consultation. Call us at (816) 221-0501 today.