DOT Agency - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

The FMCSA regulation is 49 CFR Part 382 - Click Here

 

Covered employee:

A person who operates (i.e., drives) a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) with a gross vehicle weight rating (gvwr) of 26,001 or more pounds; or is designed to transport 16 or more occupants (to include the driver); or is of any size and is used in the transport of hazardous materials that require the vehicle to be placarded. 

Types of tests for drugs:

Pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return-to-duty, and follow-up. 

Types of tests for alcohol:

Pre-employment (optional), random, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return-to-duty, and follow-up. 

Definition of accident requiring testing:

Any accident involving a fatality requires testing. Testing is also required in accidents in which one or more motor vehicles are towed from the scene or in which someone is treated medically away from the scene; and a citation is issued to the CMV driver. 

Reasonable-suspicion determination:

One trained supervisor or company official can make the decision based upon specific, contemporaneous, articulable observations concerning the appearance, behavior, speech, or body odors of the employee. 

Pre-duty alcohol use prohibitions:

Four (4) hours prior to performance of duty. 

 

Actions for BACs 0.02 – 0.039:

The employee cannot be returned to duty until the next day or the start of the employee’s next regularly scheduled duty period, but not less than 24 hours following the test. 

Employee training:

Employer must provide educational materials explaining drug and alcohol regulatory requirements and employer’s policies and procedures for meeting regulation requirements. Distribution to each employee of these educational materials and the employer’s policy regarding the use of drugs and alcohol is mandatory. 

Supervisor training:

One-hour of training is required on the specific, contemporaneous physical, behavioral, and performance indicators of probable drug use. One-hour of training is also required on the specific, contemporaneous physical, behavioral, and performance indicators of probable alcohol use. 

 

Other:

Drivers are prohibited from using alcohol for eight hours following an accident (as described above) or until they have undergone a post-accident alcohol test, whichever occurs first.