Random drug and alcohol testing is required for United States Department of Transportation (DOT) regulated employers. This includes DOT regulated owner operator truck drivers. For non-regulated employers, random drug and alcohol testing is a best practice and a deterrent to employee drug use. In this article, we will discuss:
Check out also some other articles on our website regarding random drug testing.
Random Drug Testing
Random Drug Testing Guidelines
Owner Operator Random Consortium
Employers needing random testing consortium pool or random testing standalone pool can look to setting up an account with National Drug Screening.
DOT Consortium Random Pool
The DOT allows a consortium random pool and requires this type of random pool for owner operators. The consortium is a grouping of employers into one pool of employees for random testing.For example, our consortium random pool for Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) might contain 500 owner operators, 150 small trucking companies with 2 drivers and 50 small trucking companies with 4 drivers.This now puts 1000 drivers into this consortium random pool and with FMCSA regulations this consortium would do minimum testing annually: 500 random drug tests and 100 alcohol tests. FMCSA requires 50% annual testing for drugs and 10% annual testing for alcohol.
In the above example, if the consortium is in compliance with the required annual percentages and in one particular employer company no one is selected for random testing and no random testing is completed; that company is in compliance for the year.When the consortium random pool is in compliance, the consortium members that follow the rules are in compliance.Consortium random pool programs are typically best to run on a calendar year with monthly or quarterly selections.
We get the question very often, how many employees should be in the consortium.There is really no required minimum or maximum number of employees that can go into random consortium.The one exception is the owner operator that is required to be in a random consortium.In general, our rule of thumb is that an employer with over 20 drivers should be in a standalone random pool (see below) and employers with 20 or less then employers should be in a Consortium random pool.
The term Consortium/Third-Party Administrators (C/TPA) is used by DOT to describe a business that sells services to employers to manage random drug testing programs.There are 100’s of C/TPA’s across the USA who can service employers for their drug and alcohol testing needs.The C/TPA is an integral part of process of managing a consortium random pool.Learn more about Third Party Administration (TPA) For Drug Testing Programs.
It is important to note that employer members in a random consortium pool must follow the rules of the consortium pool.An employer not following the consortium rules will be removed from the random pool.
Standalone Random Pool
In contrast to the consortium random pool, the standalone random pools consists of employees from just one employer company. So, for example if I have 100 drivers in the FMCSA program, then I need annually to complete a minimum of 50 drug tests and 10 alcohol tests.
There is really no required minimum or maximum number of employees that can go into standalone random pool. The one exception is the owner operator that is required to be in a random consortium.As mentioned above the general rule of thumb is that if you have over 20 employees to go into a random pool, the standalone might be better. If you had 2 employees in a standalone pool, you would be testing those same 2 employees over and over again; so, for 2 employees the consortium pool is better.
Like the consortium pool, the standalone pool should be operated over a calendar year and selections done monthly or quarterly. In some cases, an employer might have seasonal operations with no employees working for several months so the schedule for selections might vary.
The standalone random pool might be managed directly by the employer or with the assistance of C/TPA. In either case a scientifically valid method of random selections must be utilized, typically a computer program designed for this function.
Best Practices for Random Drug Testing
The DOT Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC) publishes best practices for random testing programs, these are provided below:
- 1. Best Practice: Just prior to performing a random selection, refresh the pool to include all safety-sensitive employees subject to DOT random testing, and exclude those not subject to DOT random testing.
- 2. Best practices: Here are smart things you can do to figure out when to test:
- a. Spread testing dates reasonably throughout the year in a non-predictable pattern.
- b. Conduct random drug tests anytime employees are on duty or while performing safety-sensitive duties
- c. Conduct random alcohol tests just before, during, or just after the employee performs a safety-sensitive job, as described in your industry specific regulation
- d. Each workday or weekend, you can enhance the non-predictability of your program by conducting tests at the start, middle, or end of each shift. The worse thing that could happen is for employees to say, “Yup, the last Friday of every month the second shift gets tested.”
- 3. Best Practices: Every employer should have procedures in place to ensure that each employee receives no advanced notice of selection. But be sure to allow sufficient time for supervisors to schedule for the administration of the test and to ensure that collection sites are available for testing. Employers must provide appropriate privacy for each employee the fact that he or she is being tested.
- 4. Best Practices regarding selections:
- a. If an employee selected for testing is known to be unavailable during the selection cycle (legitimate extended absence, long-term illness, etc.), document the reason and make-up the rate shortfall by making another selection, or make an extra selection during the next selection cycle.
- b. An employee is selected for testing but has not received notice since it is his day off, test the employee during his or her next shift within the same selection cycle.
- c. No employee should be excused from testing because of operational difficulties. See your industry specific regulations and interpretations for legitimate exceptions.
- d. Once the employee is notified to report for testing and the test does not occur, the opportunity for the random testing is over. There is no second “bite of the apple.”
- 5. Best Practice: Many employers develop random testing procedures or policies that clearly state what activities are acceptable after notification: for instance, which safety-sensitive duties Agency regulations permit them to complete. If an employee is notified of a random test while working “offsite” or “on the road,” the company’s policies should spell-out exactly what the employee must do before resuming safety-sensitive functions. That way there is no misunderstanding among employees about what is expected.
- 6. Best Practices regarding maintaining and evaluating your random program
- a. Service agents and C/TPAs providing random selection and testing services to employers should monitor on an ongoing basis (daily or weekly) the random tests that have been completed and compare them to those that were selected. If a random test has not been completed in an acceptable timeframe (within a day or week) of the expected test date, the service agent or C/TPA should contact the employer to determine the status of the test and take the necessary steps to ensure the test is completed within the selection period.
- b. Employers, service agents, and C/TPA should not wait until the end of the selection period to reconcile the random testing numbers. This is a weak business practice that we want to discourage.
Below are some quick references points for managing a DOT random drug and alcohol testing program. If you have questions or need assistance managing your random testing program, contact National Drug Screening at 866-843-4545.
- Updated Accurate Lists
- Scientifically Valid Selection
- Selection Periods
- Notification – Immediate Testing
- Notification – owner operators
- Alternates – BAD!
- Are tests closed out
- Record keeping
- Who gets tested?
- Regulated by multiple agencies
- Monthly or Quarterly, Seasonal
- Employee not available
- “I got picked last quarter”
- Refusal
- Compliance
- Follow Best Practices
