Tackling drug and drink driving with D.tec
D.tec International Ltd, a partner of the Road Haulage Association (
RHA) for the provision of drug and alcohol screening solutions, has urged fleets to ensure employees are not driving under the influence.
“With the peak season for shopping and deliveries fast-approaching, operators will be turning their attention to overcoming immediate industry challenges, fulfilling orders and contractual commitments,” said D.tec.
“The driver shortage, whilst not so apparent as it was a year ago, is still a significant problem for many. It may have abated in the press, but it is still a very real issue. Whether you have enough drivers or not, every road transport business is battling with significantly rising running costs which are not easy to absorb in any industry sector, especially road haulage which generally operates with no more than two to three per cent margin.
“With labour shortages and economic challenges as they are, the last thing you will want to do right now is to unsettle the workforce you do have. Holding onto labour in the current climate is already challenging enough, and you will certainly not want to make that job any more difficult – especially during what for many will be your busiest period.”
D.tec points out that, from the middle of November to the end of January, the annual Think! drink drug driving campaign will see police forces across the UK increase focus on catching those driving whilst under the influence of drink, drugs, or both.
“As an industry we invest a lot of time and expense making sure our vehicles and their loads are roadworthy,” said the company.
“However, how many of us have robust policies and procedures in place to make sure our drivers are also roadworthy? The answer is unfortunately very few.
“The statistics tell us that we should absolutely be doing more… in some areas of the UK over 50 per cent of those caught drug driving are either driving to work or for work. Drink driving remains a significant problem, although education and awareness on the subject is far greater than drug driving.
“By the middle of next year, though, statistics are expected to show for the first time that drug driving is now more prevalent in society than drink driving – that means more prosecutions for drug drivers than drink drivers.”
As a major provider of drug and alcohol testing services and equipment for safety critical employees in addition to all 43 police forces in England, Wales and Scotland, D.tec says it can provide advice to those who are unsure whether they have the right policies, procedures and protections in place.
“We provide an unrivalled drug and alcohol safety service to the industry, supported by experts that understand the sensitivities of addressing this challenging and emotive issue, and the need to approach it with education and training as opposed to diving in with random testing,” said the company.
“During the forthcoming crackdown on drink and drug drivers, tens of thousands of road users will be stopped and screened for drugs and alcohol. Several thousand of them will fail. What can be done to mitigate the possibility of one of these being your driver in one of your vehicles? We can show you.”
D.tec’s customers include Clipper Logistics. D.tec assisted Clipper with policy refinement to enable its desired testing approach, and arranged training for all screeners. The DrugWipe Dual screening kits and Dräger alcometer devices deployed enable Clipper to carry out in-house, random screening as well as any required post-incident testing. The logistics provider also utilises D.tec’s internal recalibration service for its Dräger breathalysers.
David Watson Transport has also benefited from a variety of services from D.tec to assist with its in-house testing, including policy refinement, training, equipment supply and recalibration.
“The reasonable cost of the equipment has enabled us to provide several members of staff with training and testing kits, to ensure we have national coverage for our seven depots,” said David Watson Transport.
“The support offered by D.tec has enabled us to achieve and maintain several major accreditations, as well as giving us the confidence as a company to ensure we can communicate our D&A policy effectively to our workforce.”
