albion:
Conducted a drugs test on one of ours not long ago after a tip off from a customer. The one and only time I’ve done a drug test, hair sample. Habitual user of crack cocaine. And I have no doubt about the veracity of the results.
Jesus Christ!! There’s something very wrong with your company if someone who use that regularly can escape anyone’s attention. That isn’t the type of thing you can hide, even to someone who isn’t wise on these things.
Harry Monk:
albion:
In my case, I wasn’t going to take chance on someone dragging a trailer round Europe with a load of hazardous on the back unsure if he was impaired or not.No, of course not. I presume that as a responsible employer you arranged for some type of treatment or rehabilitation?
Yes thank you Harry, I am indeed responsible.
I know that the fine people of Trucknet moan about companies that cut corners and don’t follow the law, so they’ll be delighted to hear that part of my job includes a legal obligation to maintain the integrity of MoD clearances. In real life that means advising our sponsor if you become aware of anything that compromises, which includes drug use. His clearance was rescinded the same day.
Secondly, I have to advise our Insurers and they wouldn’t insure him. Because the driver resigned, I never went into the details of what it would take to get him back on insurance if it had got to that point, but I am taking an educated guess that would mean being off drugs for x amount of time.
This was about ten months into a tax year, so his earnings were going to be about 43-44,000.00 a year, call it 43,500.00 for ease. S on gardening leave that is 836.53 a week (plus another £90.00 odd for employers NI and pension contribution on top of that). At best it would be about two months before he came back, so we are in the 7200.00 - 8100. territory + ongoing drugs tests at £450.00 a pop. More likely it would be three months minimum, so 11,700.00 + ongoing drugs tests. You’ve run a business, you know the score about spending that kind of money; even for a business of our size it will impact spending elsewhere.
And somewhat selfishly, I’d view him as a risk and I don’t want to be done for corporate manslaughter - it would be highly unlikely, but it would be lurking at the back of my mind.
And finally, we took his mate on and they ran together pretty much all of the time. His mate didn’t want to run with him anymore, something that had started before we made the discovery. That’s a point that I’m not going to expand on, but there is more to it.
On a personal note, I help my lads and lass out where I can, I’ve had thank you cards and chocolates from drivers wives for the things I’ve done over the years. However, I also believe strongly in personal responsibility and sorting your own life out when you screw up, and that bleeds over into how I think other people should deal with their lives. I gave him a job when he was under 25, trained him up and let him loose only when he was happy to do so, we might do long hours sometimes but they aren’t hard hours, he got to see exciting places, be part of a team - our customer is easy to work alongside, drive with his mate, stay in hotels around Europe, earn decent money for a lad with no qualifications. I feel I did my bit.
I’m sure there will now be a queue of people to tell me all the things I did wrong.
jbaz73:
I’m curious Albion, I’m guessing you don’t use hair analysis at 450 a time as a random test. So something must have tipped you off to do the test on this guy. Was it a tip off from another driver? Or was he acting strange? Just curious
It was a tip off from someone outside of the firm.
dbk23:
albion:
Conducted a drugs test on one of ours not long ago after a tip off from a customer. The one and only time I’ve done a drug test, hair sample. Habitual user of crack cocaine. And I have no doubt about the veracity of the results.Jesus Christ!! There’s something very wrong with your company if someone who use that regularly can escape anyone’s attention. That isn’t the type of thing you can hide, even to someone who isn’t wise on these things.
No there isn’t something very wrong with my company. His driving was fine, he was never late for work, there were no complaints from customers, paperwork was handed in as it should be, he wasn’t bouncing off the walls or whatever the stuff does to you.
The only clue was that he had - what we assumed to be - a long-running cold. I’d had one that lingered for nearly three months the previous year.
Whatever decisions I make, someone is going to tell me that I’m doing something wrong.
kr79:
dbk23:
Always a touchy subject this isn’t it! If your a hgv driver I believe the tests should be more vigorous but specific & in context, how many places test for diazepam & such like? Many anti depressant’s have amphetimene & Methylenedioxymethamphetamin in, the warming labels in many of these even tell you not to drive or oporate heavy machinery. I bet there’s thousands of drivers taking these daily, what’s worse a person who’s taking these or the man who likes to have a smoke on a Friday?.. yet only one will lose his job if tested?I recon there is a lot of people who would fall foul on prescription medication my wife works with someone on numerous health issues on loads of pills who she recons is away with the fairies half the time.
Thankfully not in a safety critical job
Yeah for sure, though many don’t even realise it, doubt they even read the inserts on packaging. If a dr tells them they just eat em up without another thought.
I worked for a council years ago, 30+ drivers, 9 tested one morning, 3 failed 2 ex army for marijuana & one old fella, turns out he was on a certain anti depression prescription that fails these tests. 2 sacked one reinstated, one couldn’t go a week without hitting something, including knocking down the same wall twice in 3 months. You can guess which one was reinstated can’t you.
albion:
dbk23:
albion:
Conducted a drugs test on one of ours not long ago after a tip off from a customer. The one and only time I’ve done a drug test, hair sample. Habitual user of crack cocaine. And I have no doubt about the veracity of the results.Jesus Christ!! There’s something very wrong with your company if someone who use that regularly can escape anyone’s attention. That isn’t the type of thing you can hide, even to someone who isn’t wise on these things.
No there isn’t something very wrong with my company. His driving was fine, he was never late for work, there were no complaints from customers, paperwork was handed in as it should be, he wasn’t bouncing off the walls or whatever the stuff does to you.
The only clue was that he had - what we assumed to be - a long-running cold. I’d had one that lingered for nearly three months the previous year.
Whatever decisions I make, someone is going to tell me that I’m doing something wrong.
Ah, didn’t realise it was your own company. I thought you said crack cocaine, not sure why that would give you a cold, and someone on crack cocaine most definitely wouldn’t be able to hide it. Standard powder cocaine yes they probably would ‘appear’ to be normal.
dbk23:
Ah, didn’t realise it was your own company. I thought you said crack cocaine, not sure why that would give you a cold, and someone on crack cocaine most definitely wouldn’t be able to hide it. Standard powder cocaine yes they probably would ‘appear’ to be normal.
It was crack cocaine and standard + other stuff. Maybe he was only using the crack when he was’t working. I have never even smoked wacky baccy, so I am clueless.
We do what we believe is the best at the time, that’s as much as anyone can do IMO.
dbk23:
albion:
Conducted a drugs test on one of ours not long ago after a tip off from a customer. The one and only time I’ve done a drug test, hair sample. Habitual user of crack cocaine. And I have no doubt about the veracity of the results.Jesus Christ!! There’s something very wrong with your company if someone who use that regularly can escape anyone’s attention. That isn’t the type of thing you can hide, even to someone who isn’t wise on these things.
Actually, that isn’t quite accurate. I knew a bloke once who was a heroin addict. He held down a very responsible job, dressed immaculately, owned a six bedroomed house, a fairly high-end car, and nobody outside his immediate circle of friends had a clue. It would be wrong to assume that all drug addicts sit in shop doorways with a mongrel dog on a string begging for spare change.
Albion did the right thing. It is his company and he would ultimately be responsible. I can’t believe the so called “drivers” that are up in arms about random testing. I am not completely at ease with it but my company only do it with reason - tip off or odd behaviour. Then the limit for everything is zero. Any more and instant dismissal Random testing is in our contract of employment. With all the corporate responsibility nowadays I would insist on the same if I operated.
no1dieselman:
Albion did the right thing. It is his company and he would ultimately be responsible. I can’t believe the so called “drivers” that are up in arms about random testing.
Her/ she. 
I’m not personally up in arms by it myself, I neither take recreational nor prescription drugs, although it doesn’t seem quite right that metabolites of cannabis smoked several weeks ago would cause someone to fail an impairment test.
Let us not forget that drug taking is still illegal. Is a druggy a responsible employee?
albion:
dbk23:
albion:
Conducted a drugs test on one of ours not long ago after a tip off from a customer. The one and only time I’ve done a drug test, hair sample. Habitual user of crack cocaine. And I have no doubt about the veracity of the results.Jesus Christ!! There’s something very wrong with your company if someone who use that regularly can escape anyone’s attention. That isn’t the type of thing you can hide, even to someone who isn’t wise on these things.
No there isn’t something very wrong with my company. His driving was fine, he was never late for work, there were no complaints from customers, paperwork was handed in as it should be, he wasn’t bouncing off the walls or whatever the stuff does to you.
The only clue was that he had - what we assumed to be - a long-running cold. I’d had one that lingered for nearly three months the previous year.
Whatever decisions I make, someone is going to tell me that I’m doing something wrong.
You sure it was crack cocaine then Albion■■?
Those symptoms are very much that of some one who uses “normal cocaine” that you snort…
Thing is from what I’ve seen if your posts if he had come to you and said I have a problem can you help me then you would of done,it’s the fact he tried to continue to use drugs while driving your lorry’s.
Looks like he has lost a good paying job but no doubt the way the industry is he will be working again now and the company won’t have a clue what he has done
no1dieselman:
Let us not forget that drug taking is still illegal. Is a druggy a responsible employee?
Is someone who gets tanked up on a Friday and Saturday night a responsible employee?
Not every illegal drug is the same as injecting smack nor is every drug user any whinehouse.
albion:
Harry Monk:
albion:
In my case, I wasn’t going to take chance on someone dragging a trailer round Europe with a load of hazardous on the back unsure if he was impaired or not.No, of course not. I presume that as a responsible employer you arranged for some type of treatment or rehabilitation?
Yes thank you Harry, I am indeed responsible.
I know that the fine people of Trucknet moan about companies that cut corners and don’t follow the law, so they’ll be delighted to hear that part of my job includes a legal obligation to maintain the integrity of MoD clearances. In real life that means advising our sponsor if you become aware of anything that compromises, which includes drug use. His clearance was rescinded the same day.
Secondly, I have to advise our Insurers and they wouldn’t insure him. Because the driver resigned, I never went into the details of what it would take to get him back on insurance if it had got to that point, but I am taking an educated guess that would mean being off drugs for x amount of time.
This was about ten months into a tax year, so his earnings were going to be about 43-44,000.00 a year, call it 43,500.00 for ease. S on gardening leave that is 836.53 a week (plus another £90.00 odd for employers NI and pension contribution on top of that). At best it would be about two months before he came back, so we are in the 7200.00 - 8100. territory + ongoing drugs tests at £450.00 a pop. More likely it would be three months minimum, so 11,700.00 + ongoing drugs tests. You’ve run a business, you know the score about spending that kind of money; even for a business of our size it will impact spending elsewhere.
And somewhat selfishly, I’d view him as a risk and I don’t want to be done for corporate manslaughter - it would be highly unlikely, but it would be lurking at the back of my mind.
And finally, we took his mate on and they ran together pretty much all of the time. His mate didn’t want to run with him anymore, something that had started before we made the discovery. That’s a point that I’m not going to expand on, but there is more to it.
On a personal note, I help my lads and lass out where I can, I’ve had thank you cards and chocolates from drivers wives for the things I’ve done over the years. However, I also believe strongly in personal responsibility and sorting your own life out when you screw up, and that bleeds over into how I think other people should deal with their lives. I gave him a job when he was under 25, trained him up and let him loose only when he was happy to do so, we might do long hours sometimes but they aren’t hard hours, he got to see exciting places, be part of a team - our customer is easy to work alongside, drive with his mate, stay in hotels around Europe, earn decent money for a lad with no qualifications. I feel I did my bit.
I’m sure there will now be a queue of people to tell me all the things I did wrong.
You did the right thing Albion, what could possibly have gone wrong with him driving? Crack gets its hooks into you, and you ain’t getting off it without help.
Confession time, when my first marriage broke up 20 years ago, I went off the rails and took a lot of drugs. I was like that for a couple of years, I had a hard time coming off. So I do know a bit about it from personal experience. But I wasn’t driving for a living back then. I’m now 20 odd years clean and have no will to even smoke a j
Then there’s my part time job. Being on the doors, you see it all and you learn what to look for. I agree, not all junkies are like the people you see on benefits street. Some are very highly functioning. The amount of people that pull up in a Mercedes wearing 2k suits who you catch later on railing coke in the bogs!
yorkshire terrier:
You sure it was crack cocaine then Albion■■?
Those symptoms are very much that of some one who uses “normal cocaine” that you snort…
Thing is from what I’ve seen if your posts if he had come to you and said I have a problem can you help me then you would of done,it’s the fact he tried to continue to use drugs while driving your lorry’s.
Looks like he has lost a good paying job but no doubt the way the industry is he will be working again now and the company won’t have a clue what he has done
He didn’t argue yt with the results.
I’ve no idea what I would have done, but I suspect the outcome would have been different. He took a non-driving job, and no one has asked me for references.
jbaz, we all make mistakes, it’s what we do when we wise up afterwards that counts. Well done, it can’t have been an easy time for you but you sorted yourself out, that counts for a lot in my book.
no1dieselman:
I can’t believe the so called “drivers” that are up in arms about random tresting. I am not completely at ease with it but my company only do it with reason - tip off or odd behaviour. Then the limit for everything is zero. Any more and instant dismissal Random testing is in our contract of employment. With all the corporate responsibility nowadays I would insist on the same if I operated.
You sound like the usual ‘‘Well if you’re doing nothing wrong what have you to worry about’’ crew mate, who you always encounter in these type situations, in cab cameras etc etc. 
How far are you willing to go with that opinion exactly ■■ The aforementioned rubbef glove for instance??
So, speaking as a ‘‘so called driver’’ myself I do not want to be considered to be on par with a smackhead or a ■■■■■■■■■ I consider it an insult, so I’ll continue to be against it.
Now on the other hand if anyone suspects me of being in either of those 2 categories, get the Police down and I will fully and willinglly co.operate, safe in the knowledge I am neither, but co.operate with some jumped up little 2at with ideas above his station ?..not a ■■■■ chance, but you crack on.
I bet if you done a test on 100 pub toilets you would find drug traces on 90%.
Didn’t one of the papers do tests in loads of buildings and found evidence of drug use in loads of them including government buildings.
Mind you that would explain a few things with the running of this country
robroy:
no1dieselman:
I can’t believe the so called “drivers” that are up in arms about random tresting. I am not completely at ease with it but my company only do it with reason - tip off or odd behaviour. Then the limit for everything is zero. Any more and instant dismissal Random testing is in our contract of employment. With all the corporate responsibility nowadays I would insist on the same if I operated.You sound like the usual ‘‘Well if you’re doing nothing wrong what have you to worry about’’ crew mate, who you always encounter in these type situations, in cab cameras etc etc.
How far are you willing to go with that opinion exactly ■■ The aforementioned rubbef glove for instance??So, speaking as a ‘‘so called driver’’ myself I do not want to be considered to be on par with a smackhead or a ■■■■■■■■■ I consider it an insult, so I’ll continue to be against it.
Now on the other hand if anyone suspects me of being in either of those 2 categories, get the Police down and I will fully and willinglly co.operate, safe in the knowledge I am neither, but co.operate with some jumped up little 2at with ideas above his station ?..not a [zb] chance, but you crack on.
Well said rob Roy so many seem willing to give up self respect in the name of stuff like this and it always seem to be jumped up jobsworths who carry out this stuff.
I have worked at firms where drivers have been clearly under the influence of drink or drugs and it gets swept under the carpet,
One firm revieved a phone call about a driver been drunk but did nothing about it until he returned to base that day then sacked him,the company that rang up should if rung the coppers really.
Worked at one firm where a joint with a morning coffee was like having a biscuit 
Over the years have I driven under the influence of drink and drugs■■? I’m ashamed to say yes I have but I was young and stupid,I had a word with myself and stopped.
But I still today see fellas turning up to work on a Monday morning in a right old state,
Clearly not fit to drive and they grab there keys and go,
I wouldn’t let anyone other than the police test me even though I don’t do drugs now and don’t drink like I used to…I wouldn’t let someone who isn’t the law accuse me of it
What a load of ■■■■■■■■. Cut out the mock indignation. Alcohol consumption is legal and if you drive under the legal limit you have done no wrong. Drug taking is illegal and as noted can be picked up some time after the event.
I am all for personal freedoms, but it only takes one bad apple to turn the whole barrel. An outsider reading your responses would think WTF It is no wonder that most drivers are seen as no good illiterate knuckle draggers. Relax, do you heart a favour