DOT Drug & Alcohol Testing -- An Overview

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has mandated that all employers in transportation industry have strong drug and alcohol testing programs.

With the rising concern about drug use among workers, workplace drug testing is becoming mandatory. For the US Department of Transportation (DOT), safety is the highest priority.  DOT is committed to ensuring that transportation employees are drug and alcohol free. DOT has drug and alcohol testing requirements of safety-sensitive employees employed in the aviation, railroad, public transit, trucking, maritime, and pipeline industries.

The transportation industry drug and alcohol testing program is a critical element of the Department of Transportation’s safety mission.  Pilots, truck drivers, subway operators, ship captains, pipeline controllers, airline mechanics, locomotive engineers, armed security personnel and bus drivers have a great responsibility to the public and DOT is dedicated to ensuring that their performance is not compromised by drugs or alcohol.

Drug Test for Safety-sensitive employees

DOT drug tests are conducted using only urine specimens. The urine specimens are analyzed for the drugs/metabolites such as Marijuana metabolites/THC, Cocaine metabolites, Amphetamines, Opiates and Phencyclidine (PCP). With regular drug and alcohol testing, the  transportation  industry  over  time  has  worked  hard  to  reduce  the  number  of  accidents  and  crashes  directly  related  to  drug  and  alcohol  use. Employees are subject to drug or alcohol testing in the following situations:

*    Pre-employment – DOT allows the employee to perform safety-sensitive functions, only after the employer receives a negative drug test result. This pre-employment test is also applicable, even if the current employee is getting transferred from a non-safety-sensitive function into a safety-sensitive position.

*    Reasonable suspicion - Based on supervisor’s observations regarding the employee’s appearance, behavior, speech and smell, the employee may be required to submit to any drug or alcohol test.

*    Random – DOT employees can also be subject to random drug testing. Employee will be notified about the selection for the random test, just prior to the testing event.

*    Post-Accident - A post-accident test will be required if the employee is involved in any accident or crash during his work.

*    Return-to-duty – In case of any rule violation, the employee has to take a drug /alcohol test before returning to safety-sensitive functions for any DOT regulated employer.

*    Follow-up – In addition to all other DOT required testing, the employer will be responsible to ensure that follow-up testing is conducted and completed.

Safety-sensitive employees are obligated by law to submit to and cooperate in drug and alcohol testing mandated by DOT regulations.

Drug Testing Made Easy with QuikScreen Drug Test Cups

Advanced technologies are now making it possible to test drugs much faster than traditional lab tests. FDA approved QuikScreen Urine Drug Test Cups are proven to provide accurate test results in just five minutes. Completely made in the USA, these test cups are available in custom configurations to meet the testing requirement of any settings. With an 18-24 months shelf life, this leak-free cup includes a temperature strip and an identification label.

The testing procedure is quite simple with this CLIA waived test cup. Just dispense urine directly into the cup.  Check the thermal strip to validate the urine specimen. Read the results at 5 minutes, but should not be interpreted after 30 minutes. QuikScreen drug cup tests are available at a great price in the online stores of leading NY lab equipment suppliers.