In order to resume a safety-sensitive function, the driver must complete the Return-to-Duty Process of Subpart O of Part 40. The driver cannot perform a safety-sensitive function again until all the necessary steps are completed:
- The driver must seek a face-to-face* evaluation from a SAP. (Payment of the evaluation is based on management-labor agreements and healthcare benefits and is not required of the employer under the FMCSRs.)
- The SAP will refer the driver to an appropriate treatment and education program.
- The driver must complete the required treatment and education and return to the SAP for another face-to-face* evaluation.
- If the SAP is satisfied that the driver is able to return to driving, the SAP will report the completed steps to the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, and issue a report on their findings to the Designated Employer Representative.
- This report will list any continuing treatment and education, if required, and the number of DOT follow-up drug and/or alcohol tests required in a given time frame. The driver will be required to have a minimum of six unannounced follow-up tests in the first 12 months following the employee’s return to a safety-sensitive function. The SAP may require follow-up testing for up to five years.
- The driver now can go, and not prior to this point, for a return-to-duty drug and/or alcohol test. The employer must wait for the go ahead from the SAP before sending the driver in for the return-to-duty test. A negative result must be received and reported to the Clearinghouse by the employer before the driver can return to a safety-sensitive function.
*At the SAP’s discretion, the initial and follow-up evaluations may be performed face-to-face in-person or remotely. If a SAP is not prohibited from using technology within the parameters of the SAP’s state-issued license or other credential(s), a remote evaluation must be must be conducted in accordance with DOT criteria.
After the driver returns to a safety-sensitive function, the employer must send the driver for the required number of unannounced follow-ups making sure that they do not have any discernible pattern.
Clearinghouse recordkeeping
The driver must have a Clearinghouse account in order to designate the SAP in the database. Once designated, the SAP indicates that the driver has completed the evaluations and rehabilitation and treatment.
The employer under whose program:
- The return-to-duty test is performed must report the negative result to the Clearinghouse. The driver’s status no longer shows as prohibited once received.
- The follow-up program is completed must report that the last follow-up test was performed.
The employer’s submissions do not require that the driver provide consent.
Driver information is removed when the above steps are reported to the Clearinghouse AND
five years pass since the original violation.
Employer recordkeeping
All records relating to a DOT-drug and alcohol violation must be retained for five years per 382.401. If the driver leaves the motor carrier’s employment prior to the completion of the very last follow-up test, this information must be supplied to the prospective employer per 40.25, and the next employer(s) must pick up where the process left off.
