FMCSA maintains 25% drug testing rate

Excerpt from Transport Topics article:

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced Dec. 13 that it will maintain the current controlled substances random testing rate at 25% for motor carriers during 2017.

The agency in 2016 lowered the minimum annual drug testing rate to 25% from 50% the prior year in response to improved positive drug test rates for truck and bus drivers.

FMCSA requires motor carriers to randomly test their pool of drivers for drugs and alcohol at the nationally prescribed percentage rate.

Federal regulations require that if for two consecutive calendar years the positive rate as estimated by a Management Information System data survey for controlled substances is less than 1%, the agency has the discretion to lower the annual testing rate to a minimum of 25% of a carriers’ driver positions.

If the positive test rate is higher than 1%, the testing rate will automatically revert to 50%, the agency said.

See the full article from Transport Topics online.

Note from MTAC: MTAC’s vendor partner Fleet Screen is the new third party administrator for the MTAC drug and alcohol testing consortium. They provide great customer service while testing at the rate specified by FMCSA. Contact the MTAC office for information on how to get in the MTAC drug and alcohol testing consortium.