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DOT Drug and Alcohol Testing Requirements for Trucking Companies - Transcript
Hello, this is Joe Reilly. I’m here today to talk to you about the DOT and FMCSA. Requirements for DOT drug and alcohol testing. So, it’s a pleasure to be able to address you and help you understand the DOT requirements for drug and alcohol testing. And let’s kind of get right into it. I’m going to talk about who was covered. So not everybody that drives a truck is covered for the DOT drug and alcohol testing program. And not everybody who has a CDL or even a DOT number is required to have DOT drug and alcohol testing.
But who is required. Those of you who hold a commercial driver’s license, a CDL, or a permit commercial driver’s license permit issued by the US Mexico or Canada and operate a commercial motor vehicle in anywhere in the United States. And that commercial motor vehicle has one of the following criteria:
- 1. has the gross vehicle weight rating, a gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight rating of 26,001 pounds or
- 2. a vehicle designed to carry 16 or more passengers, including the driver, which would be a bus or
- 3. any size vehicle that used to transport hazardous materials and is required to be played card.
So, if you drive a small truck, even though you have a CDL license, and even though you have a DOT number, if you drive a truck that’s less than 26,001 pounds, and you’re not transporting hazardous materials, you are not required to have the do T drug and alcohol testing. Most trucking companies and trucks out there that are 26,001 pounds or more are the ones that are required to have to do the DOT drug and alcohol testing programs.
So, what’s required, it’s required that you have a pre-employment drug test, you don’t need a pre-employment alcohol test, you need a negative pre-employment drug test. To start driving. You need to be enrolled in a random drug testing Consortium, or what we call a standalone drug testing Consortium. So, the consortium is when we have a group of drivers from multiple companies, all banded together into one Consortium. The standalone pool is a larger company, 2030 or more drivers, and they have their own random pool. owner operators are required to be in the consortium poll. We are required in any of our random polls, to test 50% over the course of the year for drugs and to test 10% over the course of the year for alcohol.
Driver Education is important. It is important for you as a driver or if you employ drivers to know the rules. The rules can be downloaded from the do T’s website on drug and alcohol testing. If your company hires two or more drivers, so in other words, you go beyond being an owner operator, there are now some additional requirements. Those are that you have:
- a policy, you have a drug and alcohol testing policy
- and that you also provide for the supervisor of your drivers, a reasonable suspicion training program.
And the supervisor training is a two-hour training. And it is important. It is an item that is checked on a new entrance exam. It is an item that is checked on a safety audit or other inspection of your drug and alcohol testing program.
So, know what’s required. And when do you test when do you test your drivers? When do you test as an owner operator? Again, that pre-employment test is correct. At random testing 50% over the course of the year for drugs 10% over the course of the year for alcohol Also post-accident testing, but not every accident, there are certain criteria for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for you to have to do a DOT, post-accident, drug and alcohol test. So, what is that criteria, well,
- 1. one, there's a fatality in the accident, any fatality, you've got to do the DOT drug and alcohol post-accident test to the driver
- 2. the driver of your truck gets a ticket. And there's disabling damage to a vehicle in the accident that has to be towed away.
- 3. The third criteria is your driver gets a ticket. And there's medical attention needed for a person away from the scene of the accident. They have to go to a hospital or a medical center, urgent care, etc. So, there's only three criteria.
If the accident doesn’t meet one of the three criteria. You don’t need to do the do T drug and alcohol test. What are the three criteria again, one a fatality. Two, you get a ticket with disabling damage to a vehicle or three, you get a ticket with medical attention required of an individual.
Reasonable suspicion is also required. Reasonable suspicion testing, when a train supervisor makes a determination that someone in the operation of the safety sensitive possessions might be using drugs or alcohol.
And then the last two times that we test our return to duty and follow up. So, return to duty is when you are taken out of service. Because you had a positive drug or alcohol test, you go through a substance abuse professional program, you come back to work, that’s your return to duty drug test. And that same person will be required to have follow up drug testing to make sure that they stay clean for the employer that they work for or as an owner operator. So next when you when that’s when you test.
Now what if you test positive or you have a refusal. If you test positive or have a refusal, you are removed from the driving position. You are reported to the FMCSA Clearinghouse a database that tracks all violations of drivers. You are required to enter a program with a substance abuse professional or SAP as they are called. And after the program with the substance abuse professional, you are required to have a return to duty test to go back to work for the same employer or to go back for another employer. If you were, let’s say terminated from the first employer, you will be required to have follow up testing. It may be for a period of one year, it may be for a period of up to five years.
So how can I get all this taken care of? Well, we at National Drug Screening can help you. We offer an immediate service, you can call and get set up immediately. We offer nationwide service. We do business all over the United States. We can get drug testing done in any part of the country. We work with Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp and other labs so that we can service you with nationwide coverage. You can call us at 866-843-4545 you can email me directly and I’ll help you personally at Joe@nationaldrugscreening.com. So, help is available.
Now what about this FMCSA Clearinghouse that I mentioned, it’s a database that got started only about a year and 10 months ago. January of 2020. The Clearinghouse records and tracks all positive drug and alcohol test all received use those to test and put you in a prohibited status until you go through the SAP program and get your negative return to duty test. So, both the employer and the employee, the employer and the driver have responsibilities in the Clearinghouse both have to register directly in the Clearinghouse website, going to go to https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/.
And the employer when they’re hiring a new driver must run a pre-employment query to make sure that that driver is not in a prohibited status. And that employer must also run an annual query to make sure that driver didn’t get a positive with a different employer.
And if you are in a prohibited status, you cannot operate in a covered vehicle. Now, we have an affiliated company called clearing house services.com. If you need help with the clearing house, help with registering help with running queries help with challenging a violation that might be on your record, you can contact us at https://clearinghouseservices.com/ You can call the company at 877-345-2425 and you can email at info at clearing house services.com. Just a quick note clearing house services.com is a private company not affiliated with a federal government offering services to help you if you need help.
You can do these things on your own. But if you want help, you can get help from clearing house services.com. There are fees involved.
So, to get to the point where we are wrapping up here it’s a pleasure to be speaking with you today about the requirements for trucking companies and trucking drivers for DOD drug and alcohol testing programs. Remember just because you have a DOT number does not require you to have DoD drug and alcohol testing. But if your commercial motor vehicles are over 26,001 pounds, or rated to transport, a total gross weight of 26,001 pounds, that’s when you are required to have the DOT drug and alcohol testing program. You can call my office at 866-843-4545. Anybody there can help you with the DOT drug and alcohol testing program and you can email me directly and I will be able to personally help you. That would be Joe@nationaldrugscreening.com
Below we will cover the following topics:
Who is Covered?
Do you or your employees:
- hold a Commercial Driver's License (CDL), or similar license issued by Mexico or Canada, and
- operate a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) in any state?
- a CMV is defined as a vehicle:
- with a gross vehicle weight rating/gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight rating/gross combination weight of 26,001 or more lbs., or
- designed to carry 16 or more passengers (including the driver), or
- of any size that is used to transport hazardous materials which require the vehicle to be placarded
What is Required?
- Pre-employment Drug Test
- Enrollment in Random Consortium
- Driver Education
- If 2 or more drivers, additional requirements:
- Designated Employer Representative (DER) - Person in charge of the DOT drug and alcohol testing proram
- Drug & Alcohol Testing Policy
- Stand Alone Random Pool or Consortium Random Pool
- Supervisor Reasonable Suspicion Training
When Do I Test?
Pre-employment
Random - 50 % drugs and 10% alcohol
Reasonable Suspicion
Post-Accident – must meet FMCSA criteria
Return to Duty
Follow-up
What if I Test Positive or Refusal
- Removed from driving position
- Reported to FMCSA Clearinghouse
- Requirement to enter program with Substance Abuse Professional (SAP)
- After SAP – Return to Duty and Follow up Testing
Where Can I Get This Taken Care Of
Nationwide coverage
Call 866-843-4545
Immediate service available
Call 866-843-4545
What About FMCSA Clearinghouse?
Employer and Employee Register
www.clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov
Employer runs pre-employment query
Employer runs annual query
Help Available - (877) 345-2425
info@clearinghouseservices.com
For More Information
