For carriers, growing use of marijuana challenges driver retention

Laws around marijuana are relaxing. Buying marijuana is becoming easier. But federal standards for drivers using marijuana remain the same.

Drivers are still subject to Department of Transportation regulations and testing. This brings some confusion for drivers and retention challenges for carriers.

On top of all this, the Drug Enforcement Administration may soon relax the federal classification of marijuana.

“It’s just another pressure point for the recruiters and HR departments of these carriers trying to compete for those eligible drivers,” Michael Precia, president and CSO of Fleetworthy, told FleetOwner.

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While marijuana testing doesn’t measure impairment, it is still necessary to ensure fleets have the safest drivers—and is particularly important under the threat of nuclear verdicts. In response, fleets may have to improve their recruiting, retention, and education practices.

Growing acceptance of marijuana

Legal and cultural acceptance of marijuana is rising across the U.S. This challenges drivers to make sense of shifting regulations, and that confusion may get worse as the DEA considers rescheduling marijuana.

More accessible than ever

Sweeping legalization of medical and recreational marijuana brings easier access to the substance than ever before. Marijuana is becoming much more accessible at a rapid pace.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 23 of the contiguous 48 states allow recreational marijuana, and another 13 states allow medical marijuana. Over half of the 23 recreational states legalized marijuana since 2020.

“In 2023, 41% of drivers in the United States lived in a state where recreational marijuana was legal,” Jeffrey Short, VP of the American Transportation Research Institute, told FleetOwner. “In 2019, it was half that number. It’s quite a big jump to all of a sudden happen.”

ATRI’s 2023 study, “Impacts of Marijuana Legalization on the Trucking Industry,” reviews recent demographic trends and research on the relationship between marijuana and trucking.

“With it being legal, it’s more accessible to more drivers,” Short said. “It’s not like you have to go into the underworld to get it; it’s right there.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, overall marijuana use in the U.S. continues to rise. Among surveyed adults aged 19 to 30, an all-time high of 44% of respondents in 2022 reported using marijuana within the last year. That is nearly double 2012’s reported use rate of 28%.

Marijuana can be as accessible as alcohol in many places. To illustrate this, Short mentioned that he visits Cape Cod in the summer in Massachusetts—where a marijuana dispensary sits right next to a Dunkin’ Donuts.

“It’s just that simple,” Short said.

Regulatory confusion for drivers

As marijuana legalization grows, many drivers are unclear on the rules.

“Legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana has caused a lot of confusion in the industry with drivers about what’s allowed and what isn’t allowed. You might have a driver who’s told by a medical professional that they should be using marijuana for pain or other symptoms, and then they’re hearing the same thing basically reinforced in the news,” Brenna Lyles, director of safety policy for the American Trucking Associations, told FleetOwner. “But at the end of the day, those drivers are still subject to the federal DOT drug testing standards, and so marijuana is still not permitted for them to use.”

The shifting marijuana landscape has brought regulatory confusion for a significant number of truck drivers.

“While the rules are clear, drivers don’t necessarily always know what the rules are,” Short said.

ATRI’s 2023 study included a survey of more than 3,000 drivers. One question asked whether CDL drivers can use marijuana while both off-duty and in a legal state. Among the responses, 19.1% of drivers said they were uncertain about the rules, and 6.6% of drivers incorrectly believed that they could use marijuana at that time.

“That’s a number in the range of a quarter of drivers out there were unclear on what the rules are,” Short said. “That’s the kind of confusion that has come out with this rollout of legal recreational marijuana while at the same time keeping it a very serious offense—as it should be—for drivers as far as testing is concerned.”

A driver can even refrain from using THC and still fail a drug test. Some cannabidiol (CBD) manufacturers allow small quantities of THC in their products, triggering positive tests for users simply seeking pain relief and not a high.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case in October on this issue. In Medical Marijuana v. Horn, OTR hazmat driver Douglas Horn is suing Medical Marijuana Inc. The suit alleges that the company’s CBD product, advertised as containing “0% THC,” contained detectable quantities of THC and caused Horn to fail a DOT urine test, costing the driver his job.

Federal rescheduling down the line

To add to accessibility and driver confusion, the federal legal status of marijuana might soon change.

The DEA issued a proposed rulemaking to move marijuana from Schedule I to the less-restrictive Schedule III. The rescheduling would take marijuana out of a federal category for hardcore drugs and into a category alongside Tylenol with codeine.

“I think it’s just going to continue to add to the noise, the confusion, and potentially the frustration around what’s legal and ‘OK’ versus what the DOT is saying needs to be tested for,” Lyles said.

DEA’s comment period for the proposed rulemaking ended on July 22. The next steps for the rulemaking would be reviewed by an administrative judge before issuing a final rule. However, 2024’s presidential election makes DEA’s rescheduling less predictable. A change in administration could slow the rulemaking timeline or halt it altogether.

Adding to the driver shortage

Drivers found to commit drug violations must immediately cease operating any commercial motor vehicle on public roadways. CDL holders and others considering a job in trucking might be turned off when they discover DOT’s stance on marijuana. As marijuana becomes more popular, culturally accepted, and accessible, these factors could limit the pool of available, qualified drivers.

“This definitely impacts the driving workforce and contributes to the driving shortage,” Lyles said.

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The driver shortage continues to be one of the top issues facing industry professionals. The marijuana problem could aggravate that issue.

“I think all the carriers are looking for qualified drivers,” Precia said. “It’s still a highly competitive situation to get the right drivers into your seats, and this complicates the process.”

Interestingly, ATRI’s 2023 study found that carriers might be warming up to drivers with past drug use. The institute’s survey of carriers found that more than half of respondents (56.3%) might hire a driver candidate with a past positive marijuana test.

“I guarantee you, if we had done that survey in 2002 instead of 2022, it would have been a different story,” Short said. “There’s clearly far more acceptance [of drivers who previously failed a test], and there’s clearly also a driver shortage.”

A large number of drivers tested positive for marijuana through Clearinghouse since 2020—more than 150,000, as of the June 2024 report. Though it reduces the number of available drivers, it also probably reduces the likelihood of marijuana-impaired drivers.

“I think, if you talk to a carrier, most of them—hopefully all of them—would say they’d rather have an empty truck compared to a driver who could potentially be high,” Lyles said. “We want to retain those good people who are qualified and to make sure that they know what the rules are.”

Carriers do seem deeply concerned about the risk of impaired drivers. ATRI’s survey asked carriers how concerned they were that drivers would be more likely to drive impaired as a result of legalization. About 40% of respondents were "extremely concerned," 33% were "somewhat concerned," and 26% were "not concerned."

What can fleets do?

The shifting marijuana landscape challenges fleets to step up their messaging, education, recruiting, and retention practices. DOT regulations will not change any time soon, so it is up to fleets to adjust their workforce.

“The testing is going to continue,” Lyles said. “Until we have a proven standard measure for detecting drivers’ marijuana impairment while they’re driving and keeping those people off the roads, those drug testing rules really need to stay in place as they’re written now.”

Fleets will want to look at their safety policies and onboarding practices to continue efficiently hiring the safest drivers. “It is making sure you have a very good safety policy in place, and then a process to drive that onboarding as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Precia emphasized.

Carriers already have a lot of paperwork and regulatory diligence to keep their arms around. Partnering with a service provider might ease the burden of onboarding diligence. By doing so, this can assist in determining quickly whether a prospective driver is prohibited in order to avoid wasting time on invalid applicants.

“A lot of carriers are partnering with companies like Fleetworthy to get more bench strength, both from the people side and technology side so that they can do this quickly and efficiently—and so they’re not spending too much time with those applicants that are ineligible,” Precia told FleetOwner.

Messaging and education are also crucial to ensure drivers know the rules.

“The regs require employers to give their drivers, when they’re hired, a handbook on the DOT testing rules, but that might be the last time that they ever get any kind of training or information about what they are allowed and not allowed to be doing,” Lyles said. “And those rules do change. If they don’t know how they’re changing, that’s concerning.”

With clear, consistent communication, fleets can keep drivers informed.

“That’s where ongoing education, messaging, and incorporating those things into daily practices, regular safety meetings, and required ongoing training of drivers are critical,” Lyles said.