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As a means to prevent impaired driving, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) require certain drivers to undergo alcohol and drug testing on a random, unannounced basis.
This regulation applies to all people who operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) requiring a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in interstate, intrastate, or foreign commerce and the motor carriers of these drivers.
Many of the requirements with regard to random testing are the same for both alcohol and drug testing. Two areas in which the regulations differ are the random testing rate and the time period when a test may be conducted.
Alcohol Testing | Drug Testing | |
---|---|---|
Minimum Annual Test Rate | 10% | 50% |
When is Testing Allowed? |
An employee who is also a driver (supervisor, mechanic, etc.) may be tested at any time they are on call, ready to be dispatched while on duty. | At any time the driver is at work for the motor carrier. The driver may be doing other work (mechanical, supervisory, etc.) at the time of notification. |
Selection and notification.
Calculation of number of driving positions. All covered drivers and only covered drivers must be in the motor carrier’s random testing pool. To calculate the total number of covered drivers eligible for random testing throughout the year, the employer must add the total number of covered drivers eligible for testing during each random testing period for the year and divide that total by the number of random testing periods.
The motor carrier must ensure that:
Testing pool. Motor carriers may pool interstate and intrastate drivers together for random testing. The pool may not include employees not subject to DOT testing rules. If a driver works for two or more employers subject to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) or DOT regulations that driver must be in all of the employers’ random testing pools.
Drug and alcohol testing is allowed from a single pool.
Unavailable drivers. In the event a driver who is selected for a random test is on vacation, laid-off, or on an extended medical absence, the motor carrier can select another driver for testing or keep the original selection confidential until the driver returns. If the driver’s name is skipped, the motor carrier must keep documentation that the driver was ill, injured, laid off, or on vacation and that the driver was in the random pool for that selection cycle.
The motor carrier could also remove the driver’s name from the selection pool cycle. If this is done for drug testing and the driver is out of the program for more than 30 days, the pre-employment testing provisions of the regulations would apply.
Multiple modes. If an employer is required to conduct random testing under the rules of more than one DOT agency, the employer may do one of two things:
If a driver is subject to random alcohol and drug testing rules of more than one DOT agency for the same employer, the driver must be subject to random alcohol and drug testing at the annual percentage rate established for the calendar year by the DOT agency regulating more than 50 percent of the driver’s function.
If a driver works for two or more employers, the driver must be in each of the employers’ random pools.
Consortium/Third Party Administrator (C/TPA). If the motor carrier conducts random alcohol and drug testing through a C/TPA, the number of drivers to be tested may be calculated for each individual motor carrier, or may be based on the total number of subject drivers covered by the consortium. The motor carrier must ensure that the C/TPA is testing at the appropriate percentage and that only covered drivers are in the random testing pool.
Owner-operators must implement an alcohol and drug program that includes more people as covered drivers in the random testing pool. Essentially, this means an owner-operator must join a consortium.
Record retention. A consortium that performs selection and/or testing services as agents for the motor carrier must prepare and provide to the motor carrier complete and comprehensive descriptions of procedures used by the consortium. A motor carrier must have this information readily available for inspection. The consortium (and the motor carrier who does not use a consortium), must include in these descriptions the following:
Also, documentation must be provided that the consortium is testing at the prescribed minimum annual percentage rate for alcohol and/or controlled substances.