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RECENT integrated operation in Perak saw 39 out of 153 commercial vehicle drivers test positive for drugs, a staggering 25.5% failure rate.

The scale of this “silent crisis” is even bigger nationwide; between April and June 2026, 135 individuals were arrested for drug use while driving commercial vehicles, with lorry drivers accounting for nearly 90% of those cases.

These are not just traffic offenders; they are potential “killer machines” operating in our midst.

While public attention often focuses on bus drivers, such as the 14 caught nationwide during a festive operation in 2024 or isolated cases like the one in Kuala Terengganu in March 2025, statistics indicate that lorry drivers represent a significantly larger portion of these arrests.

For that reason, my rule is simple: I speed up if a heavy vehicle is behind me, overtake it if it’s in front of me, and never run parallel. It is a matter of survival.

Current enforcement, while well-intentioned, is clearly failing to curb the behaviour. Sporadic spot checks are simply not enough to stop this. The authorities must move from the highway to the source.

Instead of waiting for a driver to appear on the road, enforcement agencies should proactively visit transport depots and bus terminals.

By collaborating directly with companies to conduct random, unannounced screenings before a bus or lorry ever departs, we can stop the risk before it reaches the public.

To make this systemic, we must look to global best practices. Australia’s “Chain of Responsibility” framework mandates that safety is a shared burden across the entire supply chain. If a company sets an unrealistic schedule that forces a driver to use stimulants to stay awake, the scheduler and the company itself are held legally accountable.

In the United States, the department of transportation (DOT) enforces rigorous, federally mandated random drug testing where employers must ensure a significant portion of their workforce is tested at random, so drivers never know when they may be screened.

Ultimately, this is a matter of employer accountability. The industry must move away from the dangerous culture of incentivising the “number of trips”, which often encourages drivers to use illicit substances just to cope with fatigue.

Companies have a moral − not just legal − obligation to protect the public. They should be required to implement mandatory, regular and unannounced in-house drug testing as part of their standard operations.

Where do our transport associations stand in all this? They are undoubtedly aware of the struggle to find drivers, but safety cannot be a gamble when human lives are at stake. As industry leaders, associations have a moral obligation that must outweigh the pursuit of profit.

It is time for these bodies to make mandatory “Drug-Free Certification” a core requirement for membership, ensuring that every operator they represent proves they are serious about safety. The mindset of the executive committee in these associations must shift; safety is not a hurdle to business, it is the foundation of it.

We can no longer afford to wait for the next tragedy to dictate our response. It is time for regulators and industry leaders to demand total accountability. Until companies prioritise the lives of fellow road users over the volume of their cargo, our highways will remain a high-stakes game of chance.

Safety is not a checkbox; it is the absolute minimum standard we must demand from those who control the heavy vehicles sharing our roads.

CYS

The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: [email protected]