Tens of thousands of commercial truckers tested positive for marijuana as part of federally mandated screenings, data from the Department of Transportation (DOT) shows. And a significant portion of those truckers have declined to return to work, contributing to a labor shortage.
In 2022 alone, 40,916 truckers tested positive for inactive THC metabolites, which can stay in a person’s system for weeks or months after use and do not reflect active impairment. The number increased by 32 percent compared to 2021.
Data from DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) shows that, since 2020, more than 100,000 truckers tested positive for cannabis, as Transport Topics firstreported. Marijuana was by far the most common banned substance to come up in the drug screenings.
