Urinalysis and hair analysis for illicit drugs of driver applicants and drivers in the trucking industry

Abstract 

The purpose of this article is to compare the differential rate of detection of illicit drugs when using two distinct sample types, hair and urine specimens. The specimens were collected from persons who applied for employment as a truck driver, or were collected from randomly selected currently employed truck drivers. The data is examined for job applicants and employees to determine if any differences in outcomes are associated with employment status or specimen type. The data is also assessed for specific patterns associated with particular drugs and their assay outcomes. Overall, it was determined that drug positive cases are relatively rare. Job applicants are more likely to test positive for an illicit drug than a currently employed driver. Applicants are more frequently positive for a drug by a factor of 3 for both urinalysis and hair analysis when compared to currently employed drivers. Approximately 2% of applicants were urine positive and 9% hair positive for an illegal drug. Considering employed truck drivers 0.6% were drug positive by urinalysis and 3% when using hair analysis. It is concluded that hair assays detect more drug use than urinalysis. It is also concluded that when urine and hair assay outcomes are non-concordant the typical case is a positive hair analysis with a negative urinalysis.

Keywords: Drug testing, Urinalysis, Hair analysis, Truck drivers, Employee drug testing, Employment applicant drug testing