Remember to Keep Your Company
Records Current During the Busy Season

Now that the busier season is here for many of our clients, I would like to remind everyone on the importance of keeping AADT notified of your driver additions, deletions or out of service for vacation, medical reasons etc. This does affect the testing pools when it comes to the eligibility of active drivers in the testing pools to assure the testing percentages are met at the end of the year.

Although we at AADT empathize when it comes to having to take off work to complete a random drug and/or alcohol test many times the enforcement community are not as sympathetic. Once you have been notified of a required test either for yourself or a company driver(s) it is extremely important that the testing is completed in a timely manner or in the case of the owner-operator immediately. If you or your driver are going to be out on a medical leave, personal leave or vacation, AADT should be notified so we will have the proper documentation as to why there may have been a delay in the testing process. Another consideration is to temporarily remove the driver from the testing pool and place them into an out of service status. If a driver will be out of the testing pool more than 30 days DOT requires a pre-employment drug test prior to returning to a safety sensitive position, this also applies to owner-operators (refer to §382.301). Also random selections are made on a quarterly basis, so it is important that the testing is completed prior to the end of the testing quarter.

AADT’s staff encourages and welcomes your inquires.
Remember if you have any doubts we are here to help!

Respectfully,
Lonnie

The Health Hazards of Smoking

The U.S Surgeon General, Dr. Camona had released a comprehensive report on smoking and health related issues. Forty years after the release the first report by the surgeon general defining smoking as the cause of lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease, the newest report conclusively linked cigarette smoking to such diseases as leukemia, cataracts, pneumonia and cancers of the cervix, kidney, pancreas, and stomach, acute myeloid leukemia, abdominal aortic aneurysm and periodontitis.

According to the report smoking kills an estimated 440,000 Americans each year. On average, men who smoke cut their lives short by 13.2 years, and female smokers lose 14.5 years. The U.S economic toll exceeds $157 billion each year, $75 billion in direct medical costs and $82 billion in lost productivity.

The report concludes that smoking reduces the overall health of smokers, contributing to such conditions as hip fractures, complications from diabetes, increased wound infections following surgery, and a wide range of reproductive complications.

Another major conclusion, consistent with findings of other scientific studies, is that smoking so called “low tar or low nicotine cigarettes” does not offer a health benefit over smoking regular cigarettes.

The report concludes that quitting smoking has immediate and long-term benefits, reduced risks of diseases, reduced risk of heart attack and stroke. It is never too late to quit!

It is to every employer’s advantage to institute a smoking cessation program in the workplace. The Center for Disease Control estimates that each adult smoker costs employers 43,400 per year in lost productivity and excess medical expenditures.

For detailed information on quitting smoking and the detail reports on second hand smoke, including links to additional resources and a copy of the surgeon general’s report go to National Center For Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit/canquit.htm. There are also local support groups available by contacting the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org.