Failed a drug test

I’m totally lost for words on this one…

I’m a new pass driver, self funded everything and worked hard to get where I am. Passed everything on the first attempt and all was going well.

Sent my CV to a very large company who invited me down for an assessment. The money was fantastic, more than I’ve seen anywhere else and things were looking decent. The assessor was a really nice guy, as was everyone I met in the company. I wont name the company, but they were big, a professional outfit and clearly worth working for.

Prior to starting the full assessment, I had to do a saliva drugs test… And failed for THC (cannabis).

Here’s the kicker… I’ve never taken drugs of any sort in my entire life. None of my family or friends do, and I’ve not been near anyone who uses cannabis. I’ve checked online at things that can give false positives for THC and i’ve not been near any of them and am not on any medication or foods that could trigger a false positive. I’m actually a serving cop so I know all to well the dangers and stupidity of drugs. I’ve not been near anyone at work for months who has used or handled any drugs, as i’ve been working in the office for a while rather than being on the streets, so there’s no inadvertant contamination from a member of the public. I smoke a lot of cigars but that’s about it. Surely they shouldnt be coming up as THC on a sliva test kit, and i’d not smoked for about 13 hours prior to the test.

I’m flabbergasted.

As expected, they terminated the assessment there and then. They were fine with me about it, but I’m gutted.

I can only assume it was a bad testing kit, otherwise I’ve no idea what the hell im gonna do if every haulier I try and get a job with are going to test me with the same result. In hindsight, maybe I should have asked for another test but was so stunned I just left. I doubt they would have given me another test anyway.

I don’t expect much from you guys, just needed to vent a little bit. Nobody to blame, because to be honest, I don’t even know where the blame lies. It’s a shame because the company seemed to keen to have me and I could have made a good carreer out of this, they were clearly switched on and the money was great.

God knows what Im gonna do next, because I cant find an explanation for this. Just my luck at the moment…

Whilst it may be because it was an assessment, but usually, they look at two samples before making a decision, not sure how long ago it happened, but have you spoken to them to ask for a 2nd test based on your comments?
As an aside, you could arrange to be tested (at your cost) and see what the results are to satisfy yourself - you may be positive again!!!

The testing kits are only as good as the money they wish to spend on them. Any driver at our place that gets a positive is then offered a blood test, then suspended on full pay pending the results. Not known anyone yet get a positive from the blood test, which leads me to believe false positives can occur.

On a side note, not all companies require a drugs test on your assessment, so keep your chin up and keep applying [emoji106]

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The drug tests I have done (2 in past few months) the results are described as negative or non negative. So they don’t describe it as a positive result, just that it needs further investigation. They might still have the original sample for further analysis or you could ask to do it again. I wouldn’t give up with this same employer, you will always feel like you lost out and alternatively if you get another job without a drug test, they might bring in either random testing or testing after an incident.

Seeing as it basically cost you your job before it even started, I’d be wanting information on:

• test kit used
• reliability
• alternative test methods

I have zero clue about what can be detected how (I don’t do drugs so I don’t care) but I’d offer to do another more robust test (e.g. blood test) to prove innocence. It also shows “good will” on your part, and honesty, too (someone who is genuinely positive would walk away knowing they could never pass a more robust test even if offered by the company).

When did you walk away? You might be able to salvage it as AFAIK these things linger for a while, so a negative test on something more robust would show you actually aren’t a drug user.

You definitely want your own independent test, but as has been said drug testing is not necessarily a regular occurrence, so keep stumm about it and try another potential employer.

To be honest, the very idea of drug testing is a minefield; companies who want to do this need some very solid legal guidance before they even think about trying to bring it in, it’s not a straight forward situation by any means.

If your a current employee you have a leg to stand on if your applying then it is what it is you can email or whatever but they can just ignore you

Why care anyway there tons of other driving job according to the government

Zac_A:
You definitely want your own independent test, but as has been said drug testing is not necessarily a regular occurrence, so keep stumm about it and try another potential employer.

To be honest, the very idea of drug testing is a minefield; companies who want to do this need some very solid legal guidance before they even think about trying to bring it in, it’s not a straight forward situation by any means.

It is fairly simple to do, just need a policy & procedure and then for them to follow it. Lots of Co have a policy but hardly anyone knows how to follow it, that’s when problems arise.
I visited a depot a short while back for an unrelated matter, they were doing spot-checks at the start of the day. Two if not three drivers decided to resign on the spot rather than take a test. One of whom apparently was into recreational drugs, they will now go onto the next unsuspecting employer.

Just out of curiosity, since it sounds like the results came back pretty quickly and the assessment was then terminated, did they allow you to drive home afterwards? Would be interesting to know how liable they could have been had you been involved in an accident after leaving their site

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Acorn:
It is fairly simple to do, just need a policy & procedure and then for them to follow it.

Where I’m ETM the company solicitor “strongly advised” the company to drop their alcohol testing policy and gave reams of legal reasons why.

Other TMs I speak to in various non-Trucknet scenarios also advise against it, unless there’s significant involvement from the company solicitor or other legal advisor to make sure it’s done properly.

Terry Cooksey:
Just out of curiosity, since it sounds like the results came back pretty quickly and the assessment was then terminated, did they allow you to drive home afterwards? Would be interesting to know how liable they could have been had you been involved in an accident after leaving their site

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They did let me drive home, but they said if it was alcohol, they’d call the police and report it.

To be honest, I was half hoping they’d report me and I get stopped on the motorway on the way home, and the Police could test me with one of their kits and it’d come back negative. With me being a cop, I was sure they’d report it so I really wanted to get stopped by another bobby and a negative roadside test with one of ours could have given me grounds to go back to the employer.

hottodoggu:
With me being a cop

Could you do an internal one - surely there are the odd drug wipes around

ROG:

hottodoggu:
With me being a cop

Could you do an internal one - surely there are the odd drug wipes around

I must be tired as I read that as an internal examination!

I thought “bit harsh!” [emoji23]

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My understanding is that the saliva tests are to detect very recent drug use (like last few hours). This is as opposed to the urine tests, which can detect cannabis and things like that for a few weeks after exposure to the drug.

People can sometimes put some in home-baking. Has anyone offered you a cake or a slice of tablet or shortbread with a little extra something?

Most likely scenario there is something in the cigars that flagged as 13 hours is probably within the time window where it would show in saliva.

Noremac:
Most likely scenario there is something in the cigars that flagged as 13 hours is probably within the time window where it would show in saliva.

I thought that but removed it from my post. It could be a contaminated product.

DHL by any chance?

hottodoggu:

Terry Cooksey:
Just out of curiosity, since it sounds like the results came back pretty quickly and the assessment was then terminated, did they allow you to drive home afterwards? Would be interesting to know how liable they could have been had you been involved in an accident after leaving their site

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They did let me drive home, but they said if it was alcohol, they’d call the police and report it.

To be honest, I was half hoping they’d report me and I get stopped on the motorway on the way home, and the Police could test me with one of their kits and it’d come back negative. With me being a cop, I was sure they’d report it so I really wanted to get stopped by another bobby and a negative roadside test with one of ours could have given me grounds to go back to the employer.

so you could of had alcohol in your system but legaly been allowed to drive ie under the limit you cant tell me they can tell that from a saliva test and they would of called the police yet they let you drive home beliving you were under the influence of canabis which i belive that you can be prosecuted for regardless of any levels. somthing very wrong there i would be worried about that if i were you.

a while back i went for a job in a warehouse and on the first day of induction i was given a urine test. they had to give it the full amount of time as it didnt imedietly say i was clear infacy if memory serves i think it was saying i had trace amounts of cocaine in my system. The guy doing the test said it happends sometimes when someones urine was a little strong or when they had peed recently before (which he knew i had) but was satisfied that it finaly came back as clear.