The term Consortia/Third Party Administrator was coined by DOT with the rewrite of 49 CFR Part 40 back in 2001. C/TPA’s providing DOT drug & alcohol testing services should be intimately familiar with program 49 CFR Part 40, read it over and read it over again. Refer back to this regulation often to insure your answering questions properly and setting up your operations to be in compliance.
In 49 CFR Part 40 the C/TPA is defined as: A service agent that provides or coordinates the provision of a variety of drug and alcohol testing services to employers. C/TPAs typically perform administrative tasks concerning the operation of the employers’ drug and alcohol testing programs. This term includes, but is not limited to, groups of employers who join together to administer, as a single entity, the DOT drug and alcohol testing programs of its members.
