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As a DOT-regulated business, one primary component is staying compliant with drug and alcohol regulations. Complying with these regulations can be challenging for most businesses. And failure to comply can attract significant penalties that can be crippling to the health of such businesses. Most business owners think that these penalties are few and far [...]
For employers of CDL drivers, it is not always clear whether their drivers need to be in an FMCSA drug testing program. On the surface: If you meet one of the following criteria, you will need to have a DOT FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Testing Program: Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) or Gross Combination [...]
In today's compliance-driven landscape, employers operating within the transportation industry must be keenly aware of their obligations under 49 CFR Parts 40 and 382. These regulations, established by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), outline strict requirements for drug and alcohol testing of safety-sensitive employees. Failure to adhere to [...]
While consuming alcohol is legal in all US states for adults over the age of 21, it's illegal for CDL drivers to be have a breath alcohol concentration of .02 or over, while performing safety-sensitive tasks. Alcohol is known to cause an impaired sense of judgment and increased risky behavior on the road, which is [...]
For owner-operators, it’s critical for your business to stay in compliance with government regulations. Here’s an Owner Operator DOT compliance checklist to help you stay on top of the most common compliance requirements. 1) Drug and Alcohol Testing Owner-operators are required to participate in a Department of Transportation (DOT) Drug and Alcohol testing program. A [...]
The answer depends on whether the random selection program is a DOT regulated program or a non-DOT program. DOT has specific requirements. DOT Random Drug Testing In a DOT regulated random testing program, all random tests are supposed to be conducted in the period when the selections were made. An employee selected, for example, in [...]
As an Owner Operator, when you take on employees, your DOT FMCSA requirements change. 1) Written Drug & Alcohol Testing Policy Owner Operators do not really need to have a written substance abuse policy. Employers do. FMCSA regulation Part 382 specifically requires that employers have a written policy that is distributed to each driver. 362.601 [...]
What if a driver is involved in an accident? The rules for Post-Accident Testing state that if a vehicle is towed from the scene of an accident and the driver receives a traffic citation, that the employer must conduct a DOT Post-Accident Drug and Alcohol Test. Rule of Thumb: No ticket, no test. The Post-Accident [...]
DOT auditors are responsible for making sure employer are in compliance with the federal regulations for DOT drug and alcohol testing. We've compiled a DOT audit checklist that represent most of the records a DOT Agency and USCG auditor, inspector, or investigator will usually request and review during a program review. Keep in [...]
What happens in a DOT Audit? When it comes to FMCSA Drug Violations, here is what comes from the FMCSA: 1: Allowing a driver to operate with a suspended/revoked CDL Employers who were fined for allowing a driver to operate with a suspended/revoked CDL paid an average fine amount of $8,991. This is what [...]
