C.R. England Improves Safety With Innovative Approach to Applicant Screening

SALT LAKE CITY, April 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- C.R. England, a Salt Lake City-based global transportation provider, and Omega Laboratories, Inc. a state-of-the art drug testing facility, have announced an innovative drug screening partnership that will test the hair samples of driver applicants.  This program will enhance England's pre-employment drug screening process with the end result of putting safer drivers on the road.

"The industry-wide impact of being able to conduct a pre-employment drug test that reviews a longer screening history is a tremendous improvement over the current Federally mandated requirements," said Dustin England, Vice President of Safety and Compliance for C.R. England.  "With hair testing, we are able to detect months of time rather than the handful of days checked with standard urine tests.  We found our hair testing positive rate was over three times higher than the required DOT urine test alone."  

During the trial, both urine and hair samples were collected.  After a year of research, the management team at C.R. England became convinced that hair testing was a superior methodology for pre-employment drug screening and offered a much more effective screening process than urine testing.  England will continue to conduct standard urine drug testing for all applicants as required by the DOT.

Results of the trial program clearly show its effectiveness.  Out of 2,000 candidates, over 150 tested positive that would have otherwise passed the current Federally-mandated testing.  In total, over 11 percent tested positive with hair resting, versus 2.8 percent testing positive with DOT urine testing.

In addition to being a leader in the refrigerated trucking industry, C.R. England operates four driving schools across the United States.  "By operating our own schools, we can provide the best training for our future professional truck drivers and their safety," England says. "By hair testing we can better control the quality of successful applicants.  Knowing we can keep more potentially dangerous drivers off the roads is a great feeling," continues England.  "That is why we are now firm believers in the benefits of hair testing for the transportation industry."  

About C.R. England, Inc.:  Founded in 1920 with corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City, C.R. England, Inc. is one of North America's largest transportation companies and the world's largest temperature-controlled carrier. C.R. England services include National, Mexico and Regional Truckload service in addition to Dedicated and Intermodal services. Additional services include Leasing, Brokerage, LTL/Parcel, Supply Chain Engineering, Special Project Engineering, Warehousing, and Global Sourcing, which includes offices in Southern California and China. For more information, visit www.crengland.com.

About Omega Laboratories, Inc.:  Omega Laboratories, Inc. is a state-of-the art drug testing facility offering the unique capability of testing hair samples for drugs of abuse.  Omega has over 6,000 clients worldwide and services businesses, government organizations and educational institutions.  Omega's reputation for performing accurate, timely and cost-effective testing, coupled with an unmatched reputation for client service, has positioned Omega as the industry leader in the hair drug testing industry.

SOURCE Omega Laboratories, Inc.