Tim Thoelecke, the founder of InOut Labs, attended the 2019 Substance Abuse Program Administrators Association conference in Philadelphia from September 17 to 20th.

“To serve our clients the best way possible,” says Thoelecke, “we need to be up-to-date on the latest regulations and trends in the drug testing industry.” The industry is evolving to deal with a number of issues, so these conferences are invaluable.

Conference attendees learned from each other and listened to experts on many topics:

  • CBD and marijuana drug testing
  • Legalized marijuana and how it affects the workplace and employers
  • The FMCSA Clearinghouse – a new federal requirement for employers of CDL drivers
  • Emerging technology for roadside drug testing
  • Opioids and workplace safety.
  • Post-accident drug testing, OSHA and legal marijuana
  • Updates from the US DOT, FMCSA and
  • Quest Diagnostics data from its annual Drug Testing Index Industry Insights

Among the highlights was a detailed presentation of the FMCSA Clearinghouse. A new federal requirement, the Clearinghouse is a national database of all drug and alcohol violations for CDL truck drivers. Beginning January 6th 2020, every employer must be registered with the Clearinghouse and start reporting and querying. 

Every new hire must be queried in the Clearinghouse, and employers are required to perform an annual query of all existing drivers.

Service agents in the industry like InOut Labs have seen many dangerous drivers slip through the cracks. The Clearinghouse is a huge burden on C/TPAs like InOut Labs, as well as on employers, but the benefits to public safety are immeasurable.

InOut Labs is far ahead of most other service agents in terms of being prepared to help their clients with Clearinghouse services.

Highlights from the Drug Testing Index Industry Insights include the following.

The following industries saw year-over-year double-digit increases in positivity between 2015 and 2018 

  • Transportation & Warehousing (34.5%)
  • Other Services (except Public Administration) (33.3%) 
  • Wholesale Trade (20.0%)
  • Retail Trade (14.9%)
  • Construction (13.2%) 
  • Administrative Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services (12.2%)

The Construction industry showed the highest positivity rate for cocaine and, for 2018, was more than 40% higher than the national rate. Construction also showed year-over-year increases in methamphetamine positivity (increasing 20% from 2015 to 2018) and was more than 30% higher than the national positivity in 2018.

Public Administration continued to exhibit increases in cocaine positivity in 2018 as well as year-over-year increases between 2015 and 2018.

Between 2015 and 2018, four sectors saw year-over-year increases in amphetamines positivity: 

  • Finance and Insurance (17.8%)
  • Utilities (17.2%)
  • Educational Services (13.7%)
  • Retail Trade (12.1%). 

Amphetamines may include methamphetamine as well as valid prescriptions.

InOut Labs is a national provider of employee drug testing services. For information about InOut Labs or the FMCSA Clearinghouse, go to inoutlabs.com or call 847-657-7900.