Almost 41,000 truck drivers tested positive for cannabis last year, up 32 percent over 2021, according to Transport Topics.
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Drivers who test positive for cannabis or other illicit drugs are barred from driving and have to go through a process to get back on the road.
Many of those drivers who failed drug tests have not enrolled in “return-to-work” programs.
According to the report, 166,000 drivers have failed tests as of January 4 and 91,000 of them have not enrolled in the “return-to-work” progress.
Only about 46,000 have completed the process.
Jeff Short, vice president at the American Transportation Research Institute, speculated that a strong job market could be responsible for drivers not applying to return.
“...It may just be easier — instead of going through that [return-to-work] process — to go to a place where testing might not be required or where it’s simply not as strict,” he said.
