DOT Drug Testing Requirement

Drug testing is mandatory for every employee engaged in safety-sensitive operations in the transportation industry.

Types of drug screening in DOT test
Urine specimens collected for drug test are analyzed against the following controlled substances:

• Cocaine metabolites
• Marijuana metabolites/THC
• Opiates (Including Codeine, Heroin (6-AM), Morphine)
• Phencyclidine (PCP)

For alcohol testing, breath and saliva specimens are analyzed to check alcohol concentration.

Instances covered under federal drug testing requirement

Pre-Employment

A driver is subject to a drug test when hired by an organization. Only those employees are certified to perform safety-sensitive operation whose drug test result is negative.

Random

As per DOT regulations, an employer can randomly select any employee for testing and every employee should have an equal chance to be chosen for testing. A driver is informed just prior to this testing event. In case, a driver is failed to show for the test, it will be marked as a refusal. 

Reasonable suspicion

The driver should submit a test either, drug, alcohol or both if a supervisor requests due to some reasonable suspicion based on his/her observation. 

Return to duty

If a driver test results are positive and is failed to comply with drug and alcohol regulations, then he/she should take this test prior returning to safety-sensitive service. 

Post Accident

This post-accident test is required when a driver is involved in an accident event that meets a particular criterion of DOT agency. The driver should be available for this test and is not allowed to refuse it. 

Follow-up

SAP (Substance Abuse Professional) will determine the amount of follow-up testing a driver needs to undergo during his/her return to duty. The employer will be conducting and observing this test and is liable to ensure it is completed by the driver. 

In case of failure in DOT testing, the driver should be removed immediately by the employer.  In some cases, a driver may lose his/her license/certification. 

Testing Process

Driver must follow the regulations associated with drug and alcohol testing procedure mentioned as follows:

• The driver should report immediately to the collection site when given a notification for testing. 
• For drug testing, a urine sample is tested. In case of any problem while testing, retesting will be performed under direct observation. 
• A time interval of three hours is allotted to the driver to provide the urine sample. 
• When testing is performed, the MRO (Medical Review Officer) will be notified for report evaluation. MRO declares results as positive/ negative/refusal/cancelled.