Posted on 08/27/2012 4:51:04 AM PDT by thackney
While the Eagle Ford Shale holds out the promise of tens of thousands of jobs, many job seekers aren’t making the cut, while qualified workers are facing a bottleneck in obtaining credentials for trucking jobs, experts said.
Employers say they’re rejecting 30 percent to 40 percent of all shale job applicants because they can’t pass a pre-employment drug test, said Leodoro Martinez, who moderated a panel discussion about workforce issues at last week’s Texas Economic Development & Energy Summit. The audience included energy industry officials, elected officials, public officials and economic development officials.
Drug use is “a family, school and community problem” that needs to be addressed but won’t be easily solved, said Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio.
Doug Ridge, director of employer initiatives for the Texas Workforce Commission, agreed, saying drug use “is a big, big problem, a major problem.”
The problem isn’t occurring among all applicants, Ridge said after the panel discussion.
“I’m not seeing it in engineers or the professions,” he said, but he said it’s a problem among applicants for jobs on rigs or as truckers.
An audience member asked if students are being told that they could land a great job in the shale — but only if they stay away from drugs.
Ridge cited a program called GeoFORCE, which encourages promising but at-risk students to avoid drugs while showing them the opportunities in the energy industry. The summer outreach program for eighth- through 12th-grade students for now is concentrating only on some Southwest Texas and Houston schools. It’s run by the University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences.
“We hold that program out as a best practice,” Ridge said. “It’s a very impressive program, but it’s too small.”
A study by the University of Texas at San Antonio estimated that 20 counties in the Eagle Ford Shale supported 47,097 full-time jobs in 2011, a number that’s expected to grow to 116,972 full-time jobs by 2021.
For now, many of the jobs in demand are for truckers. And a pay range of $25,000 to $80,000 a year is attracting many applicants, according to Workforce Solutions Alamo officials. But even solid job applicants are being stymied by the licensing system, panelists said.
The whole process of getting the commercial driver’s license, or CDL, is backed up, said Martinez, who also is chairman of the Eagle Ford Consortium.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is responsible for handling commercial driver’s license applications.
DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said that DPS “is addressing the increased demand for CDLs with our existing resources, and our examiners are processing them as quickly as possible.” The department is expected to continue having to make do with existing resources. Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, said that because of budget cuts, he isn’t hopeful that the Legislature will be able to increase funding to help expedite applications.
Vinger said applicants could help streamline the process by scheduling their skills test online.
“The skills test is a critical requirement to ensure the proper certification of a commercial vehicle driver, which ultimately impacts the safety of all travelers on the roadway,” Vinger said.
Most corporations require a drug test to be hired. A girl where I worked tried to use her dogs pee. Didn’t work.
It’s not just a problem there - even here in central KY the company I work for rejects a significant number of applicants due to failed drug tests.
Sounds like the drug screen process is working, that’s what it’s for. Hopefully employees get screened regularly after initial hire also.
Just wish they would start the drug testing at 1600 Pennsylvaia Ave. in DC. That sucka has to be messed up on something.
It’s a major problem out here in West TX also, along with alcohol abuse. Had a major issue with Robinson Drilling last year, the trail of beer cans and ligour bottles going to and from the rig got them kicked out of an 8 well package. Now it looks like their going to be shut down due to accidents, two have already been killed this year and constant visits to the ER are the norm. My wifes the director of the ER. The oilfield is a dangerous place where a mistake can cost you and others their life, ain’t no room for drugs or alcohol.
I need a pickup, a place to sleep and someone to put me on pilot routes, and I’ll be pretty happy.
Sleep is a relative term though, as I haven’t had much of it for the last 13 years due to endocrine disorders.
“An audience member asked if students are being told that they could land a great job in the shale — but only if they stay away from drugs.”
Another audience member asked if students are being told that they would actually have to get out of bed in the mornings in order to come to work...
(Life can be SO unfair.)
Another thing, Texas could hire temporary workers (through an employment agency, obviously) to help with the backlog of people seeking a TX CDL.
Problem solved. Do I get a cookie? A visit from Chuck Norris to give me a thumbs up? No, nothing? Okay, I’ll keep drinking my coffee now.
No, it isn't. It is a problem with the person Senator. It is called a personal choice. It comes back to personal responsibility, accountability, and discipline. Families will take care of their own as much as anyone's family can influence them. However, I absolutely do not want the schools and "the community" trying to address issues like this with my tax dollars. If someone is going to destroy their future by making bad decisions that's their tough luck. I do not want you trying to save them from themselves with heavy-handed "community" solutions that restrict everyone's freedoms. This whole notion that issue X is a "community" problem starts leading you down the path to socialism with a nanny-state solution to every perceived problem.
The problem isn’t occurring among all applicants, Ridge said after the panel discussion.
“I’m not seeing it in engineers or the professions,” he said, but he said it’s a problem among applicants for jobs on rigs or as truckers.
Because people have to be motivated and disciplined to get an education and become an engineer/professional. Then they are not going to screw that up (usually) by making bad choices. You lose a security clearance, get a professional license pulled, can't pass a background check, etc. That's it, game over.
An audience member asked if students are being told that they could land a great job in the shale — but only if they stay away from drugs.
Great advice for everyone.
I have to ask a silly question...
If you are prescribed pain killers by a doctor, and you take and naturally fail a drug test, would the fact that you have a prescription make a difference in hiring?
Just curious, maybe some of our HR freepers can answer this one???
So why would a trucker with a CDL go through a temp agency and loose a big chunk of pay...?
When they can go directly to the hiring company...get a sign on bonus and start soon as they pass the drug test..typically 48 hours later.
Getting a CDL is no mean achievement.....spoke with a driving shool instructer a while back and he told me that some out of work airline pilots were amazed at the complexity and rigour of the training.
I would expect an applicant that discussed this PRIOR to the drug test would not likely have a problem.
One who came up with that excuse AFTER failing the drug test is likely to keep looking for work.
I’ve hired with drug screening, that was our policy.
So, if said applicant told you up front what the deal was, in detail, the failure of the drug test would not present a problem ( unless it was operating heavy machinery, or driving a truck )....?
So what is the root cause that the doctor prescribed the pain killer medication for...?
Its one thing to get pain killers for a tooth ache while waiting for a dental appointment
Than it is if you have a serious spine injury. or are recovering from surgery....
In this case how you expect to be driving 11 hours a day....?
How you expect to be able to couple up a trailer....and have the physical strength and to tie down a heavy load.
Texas gets hot 110 in summer and North Dakota oil fields gets cold in winter -50 so expect to have to drive in any and all conditions
We sent people to DOT regulated sites. The drug test would specifically screen for that drug along with others.
Proof of that drug only would not result in failure.
The test gives more complex results than overall pass/fail, although p/f is usually the only information shared unless specifically requested in advance.
We did not have people operating heavy machinery, but they would be walking around in areas where heavy machinery was routinely in operation.
Unfortunately, often the pleasant, well-liked ones we wanted to make Permanent, flunked the drug test.
I have no idea what that means, or what drugs were involved, but it was a surprise.
Not wanting to argue with the safety premise, but the usual “pee” test gives results for past 30 days use. Other than being an indicator of past usage, specific to recreational drugs like pot, 30 days prior use does not affect performance and safety. This point is not about harder, more dibilitating and longer effecting drugs.
In Australia, the standard drug test is a mouth swab which shows drug use for previous few days not 30 days, which is more appropriate for workplace safety.
Like many other areas of how life has evolved in America, many things have evolved from over-reaction to a problem. We need to return to more common sense approaches in many areas not to mention political. The Austrialian “swab” drug test seems more common sensicle.
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