Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Dec. 26, 2022:
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has denied a request from the Trucking Alliance to "amend the definition of actual knowledge to include the employer's knowledge of a driver's positive hair test, which would require such results be reported to the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and to inquiring carriers.”
Trucking companies who have "actual knowledge" of a driver's positive urine drug test are currently required to report that test result to the Clearinghouse.
In its application for exemption, the Trucking Alliance said it believes that because hair testing is more reliable and accurate than urine testing, it is the “appropriate drug testing method for preemployment and random testing protocols.”
In denying the petition, FMCSA said it lacks the statutory authority to grant the exemption request to amend the definition of actual knowledge to include the employer's knowledge of a driver's positive hair test.
The Department of Transportation, including FMCSA, is required to follow the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Mandatory Guidelines for technical and scientific issues related to testing for controlled substances. Because HHS has not yet issued final guidelines for hair testing, FMCSA cannot grant the exemption.
The FAST Act transportation bill, signed into law by President Obama in December 2015, allows for hair follicle drug testing as a DOT-approved method, but not until HHS establishes guidelines for testing. The FAST Act mandated that those guidelines be developed within a year of the FAST Act becoming law, but HHS did not publish proposed guidelines until September 2020. HHS has not yet issued a final version of those guidelines.
