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| Toxicology Test Results - Operation Trucker Check XIII | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10/11/2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sergeant Alan Hageman Patrol Services Division Office: (503) 934-0268 Toxicology tests completed by the Oregon State Police (OSP) Forensic Services Division on 468 anonymous urine tests during September’s Operation Trucker Check XIII revealed nearly nine percent of commercial drivers had controlled substances in their system. These results are close to previous tests in 1998 and April 2007 but are lower than tests in 1999. Drug categories between the April and September 2007 tests illustrated similar patterns. The most optimistic result from this analysis is the drop of amphetamine usage from 23 positive samples in 1999, where 15.2% of all samples tested positive, to eight positive amphetamine tests during April’s analysis to nine in September. “Other than the drop in positive amphetamine samples, the analysis does not demonstrate a significant difference in the presence of controlled substances among the commercial motor carrier driver populations, said OSP Sergeant Alan Hageman of the Patrol Services Division. “The unacceptable part is that we are continuing a trend where nearly ten percent of commercial drivers have controlled substances in their system while operating 80,000 pound vehicle combinations on our highways.” Operation Trucker Check XIII, an around-the-clock three day interagency inspection and enforcement project, was held September 18-20, 2007 at the Interstate 84 eastbound Cascade Locks Port of Entry. A team of law enforcement officers and ODOT commercial vehicle inspectors targeted driver impairment related to alcohol, drugs, or fatigue, and vehicle equipment safety. The first operation was held in 1998 at the Ashland Port of Entry and has been held at other locations including Ontario, Cascade Locks, and Klamath Falls. Unlike the first Operation Trucker Check in 1998 when nearly 20 percent of the drivers refused to provide voluntary urine samples for testing, only two percent refused to provide a voluntary sample this year. OSP evidence technicians helped police obtain the urine samples that were forwarded to an OSP Forensic Lab for testing. The following are the analysis results of the 468 urine samples obtained:
Following is a comparison chart for the four trucker checks:
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