pkg car drivers and pain medicine
- Thread starter yonnko
- Start date
Anonymous 10
Guest
I think only a maroon would drive a package car under the influence of percocet. Take yourself out of service go to your doctor and get yourself straight.
dannyboy
From the promised LAND
I equate this to "I never use protection while having sex with perfect strangers". Its only a matter of time before you get bit hard.
I find it very hard to believe that a UPS manager would let a driver out on the street using percocet, or anything similar. Any way you want to look at it, that is driving under the influence.
Get in a serious accident and see what happens. Especially if you happen to have your prescription bottle in the car.
No way I would ever drive while taking.
d
Simple anwser.
What would happen if your where in your personal car and got into an accident or pulled over and the officer found out your where on Percocet.
I would think that it would be the same not matter what you are driving for UPS they are all commercial vehicle.
What people need to understand is that you don't have to be over the limit to have legal problem you can be under and still be in serious trouble depending on the situation.
dannyboy
From the promised LAND
72, dont get me wrong. I am just making a point, UPS drivers are held to a higher standing than the run of the mill driver. If you can not control the pain with a motrin, be very careful of what you do take. Just because you have a perscription to legally take the drug, does not mean you can drive a truck. Should you be in a fatal accident, you will show having drugs in your system.
d
d
I totally agree.
brown67
Well-Known Member
You are still under federal dot rules. I'm a package/feeder driver and get random drugs tests. Almost all pain meds are against dot rules. What most package drivers don't know is they are subject to the same dot drus rules as a CDL holder is. Since their trucks are under 26000LBS they aren't required to get the random tests like I do, but still have to follow the same rules.
Where package drivers get in trouble is the company can drug test you if you get in an acccident or have an injury. That's when the company will get you and fire you.
Where package drivers get in trouble is the company can drug test you if you get in an acccident or have an injury. That's when the company will get you and fire you.
UPS can't drug test a package car driver just because he got in an accident or had an injury. Package car drivers are not included under Post-Accident Drug Testing. Even feeder drivers, who are subject to Post-Accident Drug Testing, are only subject to testing if the accident is "serious."
However if UPS has reasonable cause to believe the package car driver is on drugs and that drugs contributed to the accident or injury, then the driver is subject to Reasonable Cause Testing. The accident or injury alone is not reason enough.
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When doctors prescribe pain medication, they do not normally prescribe it in suffieient strength to get you high. Normally it is strong enough to deaden the pain, but not enough to make you unfit to drive. Only in some situations would driving be wrong. No one should automatically assume a legally prescribed low-dose pain killer makes you unfit to drive.
brownedout
Well-Known Member
The disclaimers used on these presciption and otc bottles should not be taken lightly. If they say not to operate machinery, or a motor vehicle than those should be your guidelines. UPS's policy WILL be whatever is best for UPS and won't be good for any employee. Forget narcotics enough low dose ibuprofen over a given period of time would be all it would take .
bluehdmc
Well-Known Member
I believe it applies even in a personal vehicle if you have a commercial driver's license.
dannyboy
From the promised LAND
Jon.....Let me tell you a story, of an accident that happened here.
We had a driver that clipped another vehicle. The UPS truck was not damaged, but drivable. The other vehicle left the road and turned over. WAY before the first UPS sup was on scene, the police had the EMS people take him to the hospital for testing. Mind you, he was not hurt. He was very distraught and nervous, and that was probable cause for the police to take him in. Remember, a policeman has probable cause if you move 6 inches or more within your lane. An accident if any severity is enough probable cause if he even thinks you are under the influence.
After the sup got there, they went through the truck and found prescription pills. And yes, he had taken them for his pain. And yes, they charged him with being DUI. And yes, he no longer works for UPS.
You have a fascination with UPS having reasonable cause, and that there needs to be two employees or more etc etc. You forget, the police on scene are not bound by your contract book, and all it takes is one person that makes the observation, and you are off to be tested.
So if it makes you feel better to hide behind that security blankee, go for it. But for the rest that live in the real world, you better not depend on a contract book. Cops could care less.
d
The disclaimers are an attempt to protect the manufacturer from being sued all the time, and to shift responsibility to the doctor and ultimately the patient. Also to alert people that individual results may vary, and that smaller people may only need smaller doses of the drug.
Just having a drug in your system is not enough. It must be in high enough concentration to trigger a positive test result. A low level is disregarded.
I don't think they even test for Ibuprofen, do they? It's not listed in Article 35.
I recently had a very bad cough. The doctor prescribed codine. I followed the directions. Nothing happened. I doubled the dose. Still nothing. I trippled the dose. Still nothing. I quadrupled the does. Finally a slight decrease in coughing. I quintuppled the dose. Bingo. My cough went away. But only for short time. So I had to keep takeing the 500% dose more frequently than the label recomended for the normal dose. At no time did I feel any impairment.
On the other hand, as a kid away at summer camp many years ago, I was given codine by the medical staff and was high as a kite for days.
The police aren't restrained by the UPS Contract, but there are Laws they have to obey, and that pesky US Constitution they swore to uphold.
I can't comment on your anecdotes because I don't have all the facts. If the the police acted properly, fine. If they acted illegally, their actions would be overturned. And maybe lawsuits filed.
You seem to have a hostile attitude toward the Contract and member's rights. Weren't you a steward?
