Swift hair follicle test?

I don't know about Swift. It's safest to assume every company will hair test, unless you have a very recent confirmation of urinalysis only. Like, in the last week, because more and more companies are starting to do it. I'd honestly just ask a recruiter straight up, or call in anonymously and ask.

Most companies will test 1.5" of hair, with the reason being that labs charge them a lot more for more hair than that. Most people assume that because hair grows on average at 0.5" a month, 1.5" of hair will contain about 3 months of drug use.

This is only a little true. First of all, everyone grows hair at different rates. It could be longer or shorter, with variations of weeks. Second, there's additional time because it's not actually 3 months since you last used, but 3 months after the drug was completely cleared from your system. If it's in your system, it's still being pumped into your hair. Third, body hair. Body hair grows slower and sheds less. I don't think they can take body hair unless there's no way for them to take from your head, but if I knew my head was clean but my body hair was unknown, I'd shave my entire body just in case (obviously only if you have enough hair on your head). If for some reason they want to take from your body with viable head hair, they can't call it a test refusal because you walked in with enough hair on your head and there's some legitimate reasons for full body shaving like swimming. Body hair has absolutely no real research in how long an inch, for example, will go back. It's assumed because of the growth rate and much lower rate of shedding that it will go back much longer, but nobody really knows. It's safe to assume your body hair will be dirty for up to a year.

No hair anywhere on your body or head will count as a refusal, it's obvious you tried to evade it. They won't take it from an alternate source (finger nails) or tell you to come back when it grows back, they will mark it as a refusal which is the same as a fail, unless you have that rare disease where you're unable to grow hair anywhere. Because of the increased growth rate of beards, they very rarely are willing to take it from there.

Bottom line... Find a urinalysis company which you're already doing, or assume you need 4-5 months before a head hair test (and hope they only test 1.5"), or 13-14 months for body hair for absolute safety.

/r/Trucking Thread