Commercial Drivers and Drug Testing – Pt. 1

The Department of Transportation enacted the Controlled Substances and Alcohol Use Testing and Education program to help employers protect the public against drivers who use controlled substances during their work. We will discuss the act in two parts. This part will focus on the actual regulations and who is subject to the act. Part 2 will discuss compliance and consequences of non-compliance.

Nationally, drivers must comply with the following:

• .04 is the maximum blood alcohol level for persons operating a commercial motor vehicle.
• The driver cannot possess any non-manifested (listed) drugs or alcohol in his vehicle.
• No on-duty use of drugs or alcohol permitted, including avoidance of use within four hours before operation or eight hours following an automobile accident.
• Cannot refuse either a random or post-accident drug or alcohol test.

Commercial Motor Vehicle Definition - Under the rules, a commercial motor vehicle is one that has a gross combined weight (GCW) of more than 26,000 lbs.; that is made to carry 16 or more passengers (including driver); or that is used to transport hazardous material.

Persons Subject to the Act - Any person who operates a commercial motor vehicle must follow regulations. Affected persons include, full-time, regularly employed drivers (included self-employed operators); casual, intermittent or occasional drivers; leased drivers and independent owner operator contractors who are either directly employed by or under lease to an employer who operates a commercial motor vehicle at the direction of or with the consent of an employer. It’s important that businesses be aware that any person who operates a commercial motor vehicle must comply with the act, regardless whether the person has a commercial driver’s license.

• While waiting to be dispatched
• During equipment inspection
• Anytime at a vehicle’s controls
• During a vehicle’s loading/unloading
• During a vehicle’s repair

Compliance with the Act involves testing for alcohol use as well as for use of marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, PCP and opiates. Drivers are required to tell their employers when they are using any therapeutic or prescription drugs. Testing must be performed prior to offering employment, within a certain time after an accident, and at random times. If justified, testing can be ordered for a driver. However, that can only take placed if a trained person has a reasonable suspicion that the driver is affected by drugs or alcohol.