Burnley Proposes Drug-Testing of Bus, Truck Drivers

Transportation Secretary James H. Burnley IV on Friday proposed mandatory drug-testing for as many as 5 million drivers of interstate trucks, passenger buses and vehicles transporting hazardous materials as part of the Reagan Administration’s campaign against drug abuse.

Similar proposals were put forth earlier this year for those in “sensitive areas and security-related jobs” in the aviation and railroad industries.

“When society has a drug problem, no segment of our population--from welfare recipients to Wall Street brokers--is exempt from it,” Burnley told a West Hollywood news conference in announcing the latest drug-testing plan.

Medical Review Officer

Under his proposal, companies would be required to appoint or designate a medical review officer charged with administering the pre-employment, post-accident and random testing. The testing, Burnley said, would cost employers about $40 for each person.

School bus drivers and city bus drivers would not be affected by the proposal, which is subject to public comment and hearings before being adopted by the department.

There are no firm figures on drug abuse among truckers and bus drivers. But Burnley, saying that truck drivers use more stimulants than the general public, cited the random testing last year of 317 tractor-trailer drivers at a weight station on Interstate 40 in rural Tennessee. The testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that 15% of the drivers tested positive for marijuana, 2% for cocaine and 5% for prescription stimulants.

But the constitutionality of regulations requiring drug and alcohol testing in government-regulated industries, such as aviation and the railroads, has been challenged in the courts.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in an opinion Burnley called “bizarre,” ruled in February that railroad workers may not be tested for drugs or alcohol immediately after major accidents. The three-judge panel, breaking step with other appellate courts on the issue, also rejected regulations authorizing railroads to require their employees to submit to breath or urine tests when a supervisor has reason to suspect drug use.

Supreme Court Case

The U.S. Supreme Court in March agreed to a hear a case to determine if government officials, police officers, air traffic controllers, railroad engineers, schoolteachers and other employees of government agencies or government-regulated industries may be forced to undergo drug testing.

A top official of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, reacting to Burnley’s announcement, vowed a fight over the latest proposal, terming it a “witch hunt.”

“The proposal is a politically motivated move to beat up on truck drivers while this Administration continues to ignore the basic safety problems brought on by trucking deregulation,” said R. V. Durham, the Teamsters’ director of safety and health.

A spokesman for the Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc., the nation’s biggest bus company, said the company, which has had a drug-testing program for nine years, supports the testing plan.

But Lana Batts, vice president of the American Trucking Assns., which represents 4,000 trucking companies, said she is concerned about potential loopholes.

“We’re in favor of random drug testing so long as everyone is included and the trucking industry isn’t singled out,” she said.