Federal Law requires all CDL drivers operating CMV to be enrolled in an approved Drug & Alcohol program that provides random testing. The new drug testing panel has been expanded, effective as of January 1, 2018, to include synthetic opioid drugs like Vicodin, OxyContin, Lortab, Norco, and common pain killers used by many truck drivers. This is important to you because some of your drivers may be prescribed these drugs and they will need to be on records as cleared for duty.
Your drivers will be required to provide a urine sample at initial sign up to establish a baseline. All of your drivers will then be part of a random pool of which 50% of the pool will be subject to testing at random. This is an excellent program to monitor all of your drivers and may be something you want to incorporate as a company-wide program, not just CDL drivers.
The FMCSA is enforcing this regulation through the use of the newly formed Clearinghouse. As an Employer, you are obligated under this regulation to not allow drivers behind the wheel if they are unsafe and not monitored for D/A according to FMCSA safety regulations. This is important and can expose your company to significant liability if your CDL drivers are not currently enrolled in a Drug & Alcohol Random testing program. It is too late to avoid penalties if they should get in an accident or you are audited by the USDOT. All CDL drivers should be pre-tested before hiring and be part of a random testing pool throughout their employment. If any of your CDL drivers are not enrolled already under your USDOT number we encourage you to get them in an approved program immediately so you can show proof of enrollment when registering your company with the Clearinghouse. The medical card physical does not satisfy this requirement and is a separate requirement under the Law. Please take the time to follow-up on this requirement as it is currently a high priority for the FMCSA.
The Drug & Alcohol program we offer will provide a proper start to your company Drug Program. We provide the documents you need to be compliant under the new FMCSA requirements.
