Massive new national drug testing database for commercial truck & bus drivers
Commercial drivers who use drugs will have a tough time keeping a job or finding a new one, once a new federal drug database goes live Oct. 1. The Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is under development by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) , which is accepting public comments until April 21.
The American Trucking Associations supports the bill and has been pushing for its passage for some time. ATA president Bill Graves in July 2012 said “The long overdue national clearinghouse will be a far more effective way to address the ongoing problem of some commercial drivers evading testing program rules.”
The clearinghouse (private company) will compile a database of commercial drivers' positive drug and alcohol tests, as well as any refusals to submit to testing. Prospective employers would be required to obtain written permission to access the applicant’s data, but a refusal would most likely exclude an applicant from further consideration.
Private, third-party USDOT drug and alcohol testing laboratories also would be required to report summary information annually. This information would be used to help identify companies that do not have a testing program. (A private corporation paid by the gov't. will conduct the drug/alcohol tests? Hmmm. nothing fishy here, move along. This is 100% B/S our gov't. wants to spy on our every movement.)
To ensure the privacy of drivers involved, each CDL holder would need to provide his or her consent, before an employer could access the clearinghouse.
Drivers who refuse to provide this information could still be employed by the truck or bus company; however, they could not occupy safety-sensitive positions, such as operating a commercial motor vehicle.
Summary of Major Provisions:
The proposed rule would revise 49 CFR part 382, Controlled Substances and Alcohol Use and Testing to establish the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. It would require employers and service agents to report information about current and prospective employees' positive drug and alcohol test results to the Clearinghouse. In addition, it would require employers to search the Clearinghouse for positive drug and alcohol test results, and refusals to test, on an annual basis for current employees and as a part of the pre-employment process for prospective employees. Finally, this proposal would require laboratories to provide FMCSA with annual summary reports on the testing activities of FMCSA-regulated motor carrier employers for whom they have provided testing services.
Reporting positive test results and refusals to test would create a database employers could check to determine whether current or prospective employees are prohibited from operating CMVs under the DOT drug and alcohol screening program. This would diminish or eliminate the problem of a currently-employed commercial-driver's-license (CDL) holder testing positive for illegal drug or alcohol use with a second employer or another potential employer while continuing to operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) under his or her current employment without the current employer knowing and acting on the positive test.
It would also diminish or eliminate the problem of a driver with previous positive tests seeking and obtaining work without prospective employers knowing and acting on that information. This could occur if a driver is fired for a positive test but does not inform prospective or future employers about the previous positive test result. Thiscould also occur if a new driver entering the workforce tests positive for drugs or alcohol during a pre-employment test, waits for the drugs to leave his/her system, then takes and passes another pre-employment test and gets hired without the employer having any knowledge of the previously failed pre-employment test.
Currently motor carrier employers are required to implement DOT drug and alcohol testing programs for CDL holders and they must provide FMCSA with a summary of their annual drug and alcohol testing results. To improve employers' compliance, the proposed rule would require all laboratories performing DOT drug and alcohol testing for FMCSA-regulated employers to file annual summary reports identifying the motor carrier employers for whom they performed testing services. The FMCSA would use the data provided by the laboratories to identify employers of CDL drivers that do not have an active drug and alcohol testing program
FMCSA proposes to establish the Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (Clearinghouse), a database under the Agency's administration that will contain controlled substances (drug) and alcohol test result information for the holders of commercial driver's licenses (CDLs). The proposed rule would require FMCSA-regulated motor carrier employers, Medical Review Officers (MROs), Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs), and consortia/third party administrators (C/TPAs) supporting U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) testing programs to report verified positive, adulterated, and substituted drug test results, positive alcohol test results, test refusals, negative return-to-duty test results, and information on follow-up testing. The proposed rule would also require employers to report actual knowledge of traffic citations for driving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) while under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs. The proposed rule would establish the terms of access to the database, including the conditions under which information would be submitted, accessed, maintained, updated, removed, and released to prospective employers, current employers, and other authorized entities. Finally, it would require laboratories that provide FMCSA-regulated motor carrier employers with DOT drug testing services to report, annual, summary information about their testing activities. This rule is mandated by Section 32402 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.
The process, according to a posting by the FMCSA, would “increase highway safety by ensuring CDL holders, who have tested positive or have refused to submit to testing, have completed the U.S. DOT’s return to duty process before driving [commercial motor vehicles] in interstate and intrastate commerce.” It will also help ensure that employers are meeting drug and alcohol testing responsibilities, according to the FMCSA. (Predictably the government's reason for spying on EVERY commercial driver in the U.S. is... to "increase highway safety".)
The testing and other requirements would apply to all commercial license holders, including school bus drivers, according to School Bus Fleet.
http://www.govtech.com/transportation/Feds-to-Launch-Drug-Test-Database-for-Commercial-Drivers.html
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/news/news-releases/2014/RELEASE-14-02-12.aspx