• Motor carriers must know how to handle a driver's denial of drug use following a failed test.
• The DOT regulations have a due process built into them for such instances.

A driver who denies drug usage after a positive drug test result is often convincing. Claims that the result “had to have been a mistake at the lab” may seem credible, especially when the driver is a good employee. How should a motor carrier handle such claims?

Due process and the official result

Regardless of a driver’s believability, a motor carrier may not take matters into its own hands and ignore an official DOT drug test result.

Since the medical review officer (MRO) should have already contacted the driver before an official result is provided to the employer, the result should not be a surprise to the driver when the carrier’s designated employer representative (DER) approaches the driver. During the MRO’s verification process, the driver was given an opportunity to offer an explanation (e.g., cite a valid prescription) or refute claims through processing the other half of the collection (split specimen) at a new lab. The driver has only 72 hours once notified by the MRO to request the split specimen test, and if the driver did not request it within that time period, there is no second chance. As the driver, carrier, and MRO await the split specimen results, the motor carrier would have to treat it as a positive until proven otherwise.

Messages left

In some instances, the MRO will be unable to make direct contact with the driver. In such a case, the driver may try to claim that no one spoke to them, so the result is not valid.

During the verification process, the MRO will leave messages and then enlist the DER to contact the driver, directing the driver to call the MRO. If all attempts are exhausted as required under the regulations, the MRO can declare the test positive without ever speaking with the driver.

One more layer of due process is built into the regulations for the driver. If the MRO and DER only left messages, and never spoke with the driver, the MRO must allow the employee to present information within 60 days that serious illness, injury, or other circumstances unavoidably precluded contact with the MRO and/or DER in the times provided.

If the driver is able to provide an acceptable reason, the verification process is reopened, and the MRO is open to discussing a legitimate medical explanation of the confirmed test result.

No discretion

Following a reported positive result, the DER is obligated to remove the driver from any safety-sensitive function and present a list of substance abuse professionals (SAPs) to the driver to start the DOT return-to-duty process. The driver cannot resume safety-sensitive functions until the necessary steps are successfully completed, despite any objections by the driver.

Similarly, a motor carrier cannot take a driver applicant’s word over a former employer that communicates a DOT testing violation. If there is a DOT testing violation in the driver’s past without proof of the return-to-duty steps, the carrier’s hands are tied. The driver is required to complete the necessary steps under the new carrier.