Nearly 10% of Truckers Fail Oregon Drug Test

A 48-hour check of trucks along Oregon’s southern border showed nearly one in 10 drivers tested positive for drug use, an Oregon State Police report says. And the numbers may be higher.

The trucks themselves were in even worse shape. About a fourth rumbled north despite bad brakes, bald tires and cracked wheels. Inspectors ordered 98 of the rigs off the road because of driver and equipment violations.

Police stopped 373 trucks entering Oregon at Ashland and Klamath Falls in October and collected urine samples from 367 drivers, six of whom were arrested on the spot, the Oregonian reported today.

“Drug use, combined with the long and at times excessive hours driven, creates an increased propensity for commercial vehicles crashes,” said state police Lt. Charles E. Hayes. “And that should concern everyone. We share the road with these people.”

Violators may still be driving because state authorities do not automatically notify the trucking companies.

In addition, federal regulations generally leave it up to the drivers to tell their employers if they have been convicted or have lost their license.

The test results showed 34 drivers, or 9.3%, had drugs in their system, most commonly cocaine and methamphetamines, marijuana and prescription painkillers.

Twenty-six drivers, including some who were in reserve and not at the wheel, refused to take the tests, Hayes said, suggesting that the drug use estimate may be conservative.

Ericka Ohm, of the Oregon Trucking Assns., found the arrest figures less than alarming and “kind of in line with national testing results.”

State police planned the operation after a large number of truck crashes during the first nine months of 1998 in southern Oregon.

Seventy truck wrecks occurred in Douglas, Jackson and Josephine counties, causing 18 serious injuries and three deaths.

The operation was the first to deploy safety inspectors from the Oregon Department of Transportation along with police trained to detect alcohol and drug impairment.

Word of the border stop quickly spread via CB radio, and state police set up another checkpoint in Klamath Falls to intercept drivers avoiding the Ashland stop.

Before the operation ended Oct. 8, the California Highway Patrol reported hundreds of trucks laying up in Northern California, waiting for the checks to end.

Troopers issued 45 citations and 80 warnings for equipment or driving problems.

Four other drivers were so fatigued they were removed from service, Hayes said.