Page 40 - ATR 2 2013

“the results are uNdeNiable, hair testiNg has helped us keep lifestyle
drug users out from behiNd the wheel of our trucks.”

—greer woodruff,
seNior Vice presideNt of safety aNd security, J.b. huNt traNsport, iNc.

Tom Mieckowski found that the rate hair follicles permanently, short-term the United States. Psychemedics is the
of positive hair outcomes is approxi- abstinence will not mask drug use. world’s largest provider of hair testing
mately five times that of urine. Pre- Hair testing is not a new concept analysis laboratory, serving over 10 per-
employment testing data showed out in transportation workplace drug test- cent of the Fortune 500 companies.
of 9,784 driver applicants, 1.9 percent ing. Ray Kubacki, chairman and CEO of Kubacki stresses the validity of the
were urine positive in comparison to Psychemedics Corporation, asserts that method found in the stringency of test-
9.6 percent hair positives. Given its “over the past 25 years, hair testing for ing procedure certifications, and the
longer retrospective capability, it is clear drugs of abuse has undergone dramatic numerous studies that have examined
that hair testing detects more drug use, growth, acceptance and validation” physiological intricacies of the method’s
especially useful in pre-employment warranting this method as a proven matrix, the ability of laboratories to
testing where applicants are aware they and superior detection tool for lifestyle perform forensically sound and legally
will be drug tested and can temporarily drug users that is widely used among a defensible hair tests, and how hair drug
abstain to produce a negative urinalysis. growing number of trucking companies testing is best utilized in the detec-
As evidence of drug use remains in the and three of the four major railroads in tion of drug use. Kubacki identifies
additional advantages to the method
including an observed and less invasive
CALENDAR OF EVENTS collection process, and the fact that
“the widely known superior detection
rate for hair testing in itself provides a
MAY JULy 20-24 much more powerful upfront deterrent.
TRuCkIng AssoCIATIon Once a drug abuser finds out a compa-
mAy 8-10, 2013 exeCuTIVes CounCIl AnnuAl ny is using hair testing, they won’t even
ATA BusIness ConfeRenCe & ConfeRenCe bother applying to the company.”
VendoR shoWCAse Austin, Texas
Peabody Hotel Many large and small fleets dedi-
Little Rock, Arkansas AUGUST cated to using the best technology avail-
able have followed J.B. Hunt’s lead and
mAy 30-JUNE 1, 2013 AUgUST 20-24 adopted hair testing as well. North
ATA TRuCkIng ChAMpIonshIps nATIonAl TRuCk dRIVIng Little Rock, Ark.-based Maverick USA,
John Q. Hammons Convention Center ChAMpIonshIps
Rogers, Arkansas Salt Palace Convention Center Inc. fully implemented hair testing as
Salt Lake City, Utah part of company policy in August 2012.
JULY Of the 468 hair tests Maverick has con-
SEPTEMBER ducted, there have been 15 positive hair
JULy 11
sAfeTy MAnAgeMenT CounCIl SEPTEmBER 9 -12 results, all of which passed the urine
Springdale, Arkansas ATA’s TeChnology & test.
MAInTenAnCe CounCIl Bearing in mind that hair test
(TMC) fAll MeeTIng &
JULy 18 nATIonAl TeChnICIAn skIlls results are not accepted by DOT, these
MAInTenAnCe & TeChnology CoMpeTITIon companies voluntarily implement hair
CounCIl david L. Lawrence Convention Center testing because it is a superior method
Little Rock, Arkansas Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
that prevents drug users from gaining
employment into their fleets and do so
at a great additional cost.

40 arkansas Trucking rePorT | issue 2 2013