Joe Reilly on Drug Testing in America
Curious about the drug screening industry? Looking to get your start in a rewarding career? Trying to navigate the changing landscape of federal and state laws and how they influence your companies drug testing policy? If you have leaned in for any of these questions then you have found the podcast you have been looking for. Join Joe Reilly on this informative and educational adventure in drug screening in America.
Joe Reilly on Drug Testing in America
Pee in a Cup, Keep the Roads Safe
The safety of America's transportation systems hinges on effective drug and alcohol testing programs. This deep dive with host Joe Riley and guest Brandy Helveston, President of Straight Line Mobile Drug Testing, reveals how the Department of Transportation's testing regulations were born from tragedy and now protect millions.
Following devastating accidents in the late 1980s that claimed multiple lives, Congress established the comprehensive DOT testing framework that fundamentally transformed workplace safety across transportation sectors. Today, these regulations impact approximately 8 million employees working for 700,000 employers across trucking, aviation, rail, transit, and pipeline industries.
The conversation clarifies critical aspects of DOT compliance, from the five drug classes being tested (marijuana, cocaine, opioids, amphetamines, and PCP) to the six federally-mandated testing scenarios. Joe and Brandy explain why every DOT-regulated employer needs a trained Designated Employer Representative (DER), how supervisors must recognize impairment, and the severe penalties for non-compliance—including fines reaching $100,000 or complete operational shutdowns.
Transportation employers will particularly value the practical guidance on selecting qualified testing partners, understanding the differences between regulatory agencies, and navigating the specific requirements that apply to their industry. With oral fluid testing on the horizon and electronic record-keeping transforming compliance management, staying informed on these evolving regulations has never been more crucial.
Have a question about DOT testing for your transportation business? Share it with us for a chance to have it featured in an upcoming episode, and don't miss our next conversation about starting a drug testing business with Brandy returning to share her entrepreneurial journey.
Welcome to Episode 3 of Joe Riley on Drug Testing in America. The DOT Required Drug Testing episode with your sponsor Straight Line Mobile Drug Testing and now your host, joe Riley.
Speaker 2:Thank you, jesse. Glad to be here to talk about DOT Required Drug Testing. Dot stands for Department of Transportation. United States Department of Transportation regulates drug testing for employers that are involved with transportation in the US. I'll explain more about that, but I do want to thank our sponsor and our guest, brandy Helveston. Brandy is the president and owner of Straight Line Mobile Drug Testing and Lab Services. Welcome, brandy, as our guest and our sponsor. Tell us a little bit about Straight Line.
Speaker 3:Hi Joe, Thank you for having me. Straight Line Mobile Testing is out of Fort Myers, Florida. We are a 24-7 mobile drug and alcohol testing company. We cover various service areas, West Coast to the East Coast.
Speaker 2:You mean like California to New York.
Speaker 3:I will hop on a plane. Right, not for one collection though we're not driving the transit to California, so a hundred collections.
Speaker 2:you'll fly anywhere right, Absolutely, Absolutely. So, sometimes I get calls from people and I'm a drug testing third party administrator also and we might get a call from somebody need a 200 collection somewhere and uh, brandy, you're my gal to call for that all right, I'm ready awesome.
Speaker 2:So, uh, I'm going to talk about DOT, uh, drug testing today and, um, this all started. This DOT Department of Transportation testing started back in 1991, actually Okay, and there were a couple of incidents that occurred that got Congress's attention and they got their attention to pass a bill called the Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991. Hopefully they didn't have to read that bill through you, that bill, in front of the Senate, but they passed it based on two incidents that occurred. One was the derailment of a New York City subway train. That occurred and people died and people got hurt, injuries, over 200 injuries, over five deaths, and the train operator had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.21 more than 13 hours after the crash. So there's definitely alcohol involved in that New York City subway train crash that killed people and injured people. Also there was in 1987, a Maryland Amtrak Conrail train crash in Chevy Chase, maryland, and six people died and 174 people were injured, maryland, and six people died and 174 people were injured and several crew members tested positive for marijuana. Again, those two incidents got Congress's attention and they passed the Omnibus Transportation Employee Act of 1991, requires DOT-regulated employers, like trucking companies and airlines, to conduct drug and alcohol testing of applicants and employees. The act changed the face of alcohol and other drug testing in the United States and really created our drug testing industry of people like Brandy and I who are in the business of selling drug and alcohol testing. Prior to 1987, there really wasn't any drug testing companies.
Speaker 2:Okay, so within the United States Department of Transportation there are five agencies that are subject to the DOT drug and alcohol testing. These agencies regulate employers that are in those industries, such as FMCSA, which is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is trucks and buses on our highways. Faa, which is the Federal Aviation Administration, which is airlines and aircraft mechanical facilities. Fra, which is Federal Railroad Administration, which is our railroads, like Amtrak and others. Fta, which is Federal Transit Administration, which is mass transit systems like the New York City subway system and city buses, county buses, wherever you might live. Then there's what's called PISMA, or Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration, which regulates employers that are in the oil and gas pipeline industries. And also, besides those five DOT agencies, the United States Coast Guard, which actually falls under Homeland Security, now does do drug testing and does follow the same regulations as DOT. So we really kind of have six agencies.
Speaker 2:So we really kind of have six agencies and that main regulation is 49 CFR Part 40 that tells us how we do drug testing. And each of those agencies that I just mentioned has their own individual regulation that tells that particular type of business who should be drug tested and when they should be drug tested, and outlines other requirements such as supervisor, training and employee education. Guidance for these programs is provided by the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, or ODAPC, o-d-a-p-c, and they provide all the guidance for DOT, drug and alcohol testing. So since we started this podcast, we're on episode number three right here on DOT regulations.
Speaker 2:I got a lot of phone calls and a lot of emails that said, hey, I loved your podcast, the first one you did kind of like on the overall status of drug testing in America today, and then your second podcast was about, you know, a hot topic, which is marijuana testing in the workplace, and but people said, can you tell me more about DOT required testing? And I said, okay, well, this is a great podcast and we actually got a bunch of questions and I gave the questions over to Brandy and she might have some of her own. But, brandy, let's go ahead and start with the questions we received.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. These are great questions. Question number one what are the key drug testing requirements for employers regulated by the DOT, and does it vary by DOT mode?
Speaker 2:Okay, great question. So DOT mode again is those agencies that I talked about and how we do drug testing. Doesn't really vary, because 49C of our Part 40 is the overall regulation. But who we test and how often we test them and what type of supervisor, training and employee education might be required might vary from agency to agency. The random rates of random testing might vary.
Speaker 2:But what are the key drug testing requirements? Well, we have to follow strict rules. Collectors need to be trained and qualified. Folks that collect urine specimens. Currently, urine is the only specimen we use for DOT drug testing. The laboratory that receives the specimen must be certified by SAMHSA, the United States Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. The test results must go from a lab to a medical review officer who is a licensed physician. That reviews the results and they rule out any prescription medications that the donor may be taking through an interview with the donor so that they don't get called positive when maybe they're taking Adderall or codeine or some type of prescription that could cause a positive. Another key drug testing requirement is that everything is confidential and that records are kept very confidential and that in DOT we're really only testing for five classes of drugs and not any more and not any less, which are marijuana, cocaine, opioids and PCP, penicillin, amphetamines, five drugs, and those are kind of the key drug testing requirements.
Speaker 3:Great, thank you. How often do DOT regulated employees need to be tested for drugs and alcohol? This is a good question.
Speaker 2:Yeah, excellent question. So everybody in the DOT program, when they come to work or move into a DOT regulated covered position, needs a pre-employment test. So maybe I work for the airline but I work, you know, sweeping the floor okay, and now I get a job as a pilot? Okay, so I'm in a covered position. I need a pre-employment test. Or I'm a truck driver and I just graduated truck driving school and I get a job with JB Hunt or some other trucking company. I need a pre-employment drug test. Typically they can do it, but employers typically do not do pre-employment alcohol testing. If I have an accident based on certain criteria, I need a drug and alcohol test. If there's reasonable suspicion, determined by a trained supervisor, that I could be potentially impaired, I need to have a reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol test.
Speaker 2:Dot agencies require that the employers do random testing and this is where the random testing rates might vary. For example, federal Mortar Carrier Safety Administration is 50% annually for drugs and 10% annually for alcohol. Faa is 25% annually for drugs, 10% annually for alcohol. We typically do those quarterly. So if we had 100 employees in that random pool we're typically at 50% we're going to be doing about 12 to 13 employees per quarter. Then also, someone who's had a violation, had a positive test or a refusal to test, is required to have a return to duty test after rehabilitation and required to have a schedule of follow-up testing after rehabilitation. So there's different types of reasons for tests and how often they get tested is going to depend on, obviously, once for pre-employment, how lucky they are for randoms and hopefully they don't have an accident. Hopefully they don't have reasonable suspicion, hopefully they don't have reasonable suspicion, hopefully you don't have a violation and have to do return to duty and follow-up testing great thanks.
Speaker 3:That's why it's important to know your agencies and you know the rules that are behind it. Fmcsa is different from you, know, faa. Let's say good thank you. What types of drug testing are required by the DOT, for example, urine, oral fluid or hair?
Speaker 2:Okay. So, interestingly enough, we've been testing with urine since this all started and we continue to test for urine. However, oral fluid is on the horizon, it's just not here yet. We're almost there. We're almost at the finish line. We're DOT. They've actually already approved oral fluid testing as a concept, but the laboratories must get SAMHSA certified for doing the oral fluid testing and that's a very rigorous process to actually implement that at the laboratory. So for drugs we use urine currently oral fluid in the future and for alcohol we use a breathalyzer machine, an evidential breath alcohol device, which must be on an approved list that's published by NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For alcohol we can use an instant saliva alcohol device, but if that test is positive, it must be confirmed with an actual evidential breath alcohol testing device and it must be a device that is approved. I get calls sometimes from some people, brandi, that say well, I bought this $100 breathalyzer on Amazon, and what do you think happens then?
Speaker 3:well, that's not gonna work it's not gonna work. I'm gonna work, not an approved device that's exactly and your certification is device specific, you know. So if you want to be certified, be certified to do calibrations it must be on that specific machine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I get people that call me up and they want to get training for alcohol testing. I said what device do you have? They said I don't have one. Well, you need a device first before I can train you on that device. Absolutely Right, Right.
Speaker 3:And I know we're all patiently waiting for oral fluid. Yep and don't you offer the oral fluid training.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So you know, they finally came out with the actual oral fluid device that's going to be used. It's called the Quanticell 2. And it's kind of a split specimen device. You're going to put these two pads that are kind of stuck together in your mouth and get enough saliva and when they come out of the mouth they're going to break into two different pads of saliva and go into two different tubes so that we have a split specimen. So we've trained probably about 200 people. Nice, I believe you were trained.
Speaker 2:I was as a trainer, obviously also.
Speaker 3:I was.
Speaker 2:I was in New York last month. I trained a whole bunch of people that worked for the New York City subway system and the bus system. So that was exciting. System and the bus system so that was exciting. But as we actually get laboratories approved for testing, there'll be over 20,000 collectors all over the United States that are looking for training, and so folks like me and folks like you, brandy, will be able to help those folks out?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. We're excited about it too. What should employers do if an employee tests positive for drugs or alcohol?
Speaker 2:Well, that's a great question, because once somebody tests positive for drugs or alcohol, the employer calls us or calls you and says what do I do now? And you're supposed to know what you're going to do now. You're supposed to know what the regulations say as an employer. But employers rely on folks like Brandy and me as TPAs to get guidance, and we're happy to provide guidance. So the first thing that you have to do when you know that somebody's positive for drugs or alcohol is remove them from the safety-sensitive position. And that means as a DER designated employer representative who's in charge of the program at the company must be available to receive a phone call on an alcohol positive, because somebody could be sitting at a clinic somewhere and test positive for alcohol and the truck's out in the parking lot. They can't drive that truck back. They're positive for alcohol.
Speaker 2:So the first step is removal from the safety sensitive position. The second step is the employer must provide to that person a list of substance abuse professionals what we call SAPs so that they can engage the services of their SAP to go through a rehabilitation program. And they have to go through that program in order to be eligible to come back to work in a DOT safety sensitive position. That means they have an initial evaluation, they're prescribed treatment and or education and then they have a final evaluation. Then they'll need a return to duty test. If the company is going to take them back, they don't have to. They might have terminated them, but they still have to give them that list of SAPs. And if it was pre-employment, they didn't hire them but they still had to give them that list of.
Speaker 2:SAPs and if it's FMCSA, that individual driver also gets reported to the FMCSA clearinghouse which puts a prohibited status on that driver and sends that prohibitive status over to the state driver's license bureau. And not only can that person not go back to work until they go through the SAP program, their CDL license is going to be downgraded until they have that return to duty test and that gets them off the prohibited list.
Speaker 3:Right, right, Okay. Can you explain the role of the designated employer representative DER, in DOT drug testing programs?
Speaker 2:So every company that's regulated by the DOT, whether they know it or not, they are required to have a designated employer representative or a DER. That is the person in charge of the DOT drug and alcohol testing program. That is a person that must have authority to remove somebody from a safety sensitive position.
Speaker 2:That is a person that must be available 24-7, if you operate 24-7, to get results, and you may have more than one DER, because maybe you're on vacation and somebody's the backup DER. That can happen. Now, a lot of times, dot regulated companies will call us up trucking companies or aircraft maintenance facilities and we'll say, well, who's your DER? And they'll say what's a DER? They don't even know what it is. So if you're out there and you get a job somewhere and they say, well, you're going to also be the DER, you're going to be the safety manager and you're going to do this, this and this, but you're also going to be the DER. If you don't know what that is, we offer training, what we call designated employer representative DER training, where you can learn how to be the DER for your company. It's not hard, but it's like any job. If you've never done it before, you definitely need some training. I think you've even taken that training, Brandy, correct?
Speaker 3:I have. I have. What'd you think of it? It was great. It was great, it's very and it has a lot of information. It definitely describes exactly what a DER is and what your role is.
Speaker 2:Okay, excellent.
Speaker 3:What are the penalties for noncompliance with DOT drug testing requirements?
Speaker 2:Okay, so penalties and fines and maybe be putting out of service, which means you're out of business if you're noncompliant. So every new like in the trucking industry, every new trucking company gets what's called a new entrant audit or a new entrant exam, where a DOT inspector which might be a state highway patrol person they come out and they say, okay, let's make sure that you're meeting all of the regulations. And there's a whole bunch of safety regulations and hours of service regulations and mechanical and equipment regulations. But let's also look at the drug and alcohol testing regulations. Okay, you got six drivers. Do you have six pre-employment tests that are negative?
Speaker 2:No, we didn't know we had to do that. And do you have a random testing program? No, we don't know we had to do that. And do you have a random testing program? No, we don't know we had to do that. And do you have a policy? No, we didn't know we needed a policy. Well, you need all those things. And on that new entrance exam they're going to give you like 30 days to get all that. And that's when somebody, a trucking company, might call me, or might call you Brandy and say hey, might call you Brandi and say, hey, can you set me up with a DOT drug and alcohol testing program, and can you get me a certificate of compliance by this afternoon?
Speaker 3:I will set you up, yes, but not by this afternoon.
Speaker 2:Well, it depends what time Maybe it's first thing in the morning, but here's what I say. I say, okay, well, I can do what I need to do, but there are a bunch of things that you need to do, and if you do all those things in the next hour, then, yeah, I probably could get you set up. And one of them is going to be to pay for your program there you go.
Speaker 2:And another one is going to be to send me your list of drivers and to start sending, call Brandy and start testing those drivers, right?
Speaker 3:Because they need pre-employment testing.
Speaker 2:But to get back to the crux of the question, what are the penalties? They could be fines. Usually fines start at about $11,000. The major airlines all get it audited every single year for their drug and alcohol testing programs. I've been to aircraft mechanical facilities that get audited. Sometimes we do mock audits for airlines or for aircraft mechanical. I've seen fines of $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, and $100,000 because of noncompliance, because it's a safety issue and somebody could die because you're not in compliance and therefore they're going to penalize you. And if it's really egregious and it's negligent and you've been told to get in compliance and you haven't, they can put you out of service. They can basically deny your ability to operate for a period of time. So that can be very, very serious and the cost of hiring somebody like Brandy or myself to help manage the drug and alcohol testing program is minimal as compared to what the fines are.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, absolutely. How should employers handle reasonable suspicion drug testing under DOT regulations?
Speaker 2:Okay, so reasonable suspicion refers to the fact that somebody might possibly be impaired at work. We might think they are. We might guess that they are. We don't know for sure. How would we know for sure, brandy?
Speaker 3:Supervisor training is always wonderful.
Speaker 2:Right, but what's the fact that tells us that? Yes, they were impaired?
Speaker 3:Well, they need a collection done.
Speaker 2:The outcome of the test. Exactly so, here's where it starts. Done the outcome of the test. Exactly so, here's where it starts.
Speaker 2:Dot regulated companies are required to have their supervisors trained in reasonable suspicion, signs and symptoms of being under the influence of drugs, as well as the harmful effects of drugs, as well as signs and symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol, as well as the harmful effects of alcohol. And that training is one hour of each and we combine it into a full two-hour training. So any supervisor who is supervising DOT-regulated employees is required to have that supervisor training. And for some of the agencies it's recommended that they have recurrent training. They don't say exactly how often, but I say about every two years is probably good. The FAA actually requires recurrent training. They don't say how often, but again, I say about every two years.
Speaker 2:So now the supervisor's trained and they're comfortable in observing somebody and they have a checklist to check things off, like staggering slurred speech, the smell of marijuana, the smell of alcohol being belligerent, stumbling, crashing the truck all types of things that they can check off and say well, I checked off more than two things here. This is definitely potentially reasonable suspicion. It doesn't necessarily mean they are impaired. But we have to find out the truth, and we find out the truth with the drug and alcohol test. I have a lawyer friend, bill Judge, who has done presentations for many, many years on reasonable suspicion and he always said that anything more than a hunch is reasonable suspicion. So it's kind of like the old saying. You know, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true, but if it looks like impairment, it probably is impairment.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Okay. He also relates it to a football field and he says you know, if being straight and sober is the zero yard line, if they get over the five yard line, that's reasonable suspicion and supervisors shouldn't feel bad about taking somebody for a reasonable suspicion test and it comes back negative. It was a safety issue and we wanted to rule out that whatever we were seeing and hearing and smelling was not drugs or alcohol. So it's always about being a safety issue.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and the supervisor training is so good because it really helps them identify is Susie just being silly today or is Susie really impaired? So that training is very important.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and also prevents things like sometimes I get a phone call that says well, bob's acting funny today. Can we do a reasonable suspicion test on him? Well, acting funny is not necessarily reasonable suspicion, okay. Well, actually, sometimes they actually say Bob's acting funny, can we do a random test on him? Okay?
Speaker 3:Well, there's nothing random about that.
Speaker 2:Okay If he is showing signs and symptoms, things that you see, things that you hear, things that you smell, not just acting funny and not that just somebody said hey, bob's drunk.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Or Bob smoked a joint.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:The supervisor must observe it and the training is great for that.
Speaker 3:And document, document everything. Just observe it and the training is great for that, as you mentioned and document, document everything. Absolutely, absolutely Awesome. This is great. What advice do you have for DOT-regulated employers when selecting a drug testing provider?
Speaker 2:So every DOT employer unless they're a real major company needs a third-party administrator, a TPA drug testing provider, to help them with their drug and alcohol testing program, to get guidance, to make sure everything's being done within the regulations. So there's lots of people out there that sell and service drug testing. Now my advice first would be who not to go to? Okay, Now, my advice first would be who not to go to. Okay, Don't go to your local urgent care center to get your DOT program. They do know how to collect urine, but they know nothing about the regulations in most cases.
Speaker 2:Go to a professional drug and alcohol testing company that has a website that can answer your questions, can tell you that they have trained professionals, can give you references that might be listed with the Better Business Bureau. Check your references. Do your homework, Get quotes. Look at pricing. The cheapest one isn't always going to be the better. The cheapest one may not have insurance and if something bad happens't always going to be the better. The cheapest one may not have insurance and if something bad happens, that's going to be terrible, absolutely so check references. Talk to talk to the people. Make a phone call and talk to brandy, or talk to me or talk to one of my team members and see what kind of comfortable feeling you got. Do we know what we're talking about?
Speaker 3:right. Have you have? What companies? Have you done policies you know for?
Speaker 2:you know, you can always ask those questions absolutely, absolutely so, um brandy any other questions that you have, or um, no, they.
Speaker 3:They gave you very good questions. They covered everything.
Speaker 2:Okay, these are great and I want to thank you, Brandy, and Straight Line Mobile Testing and Lab Services as our sponsor for today's episode. Tell us just real briefly about what does Straight Line do?
Speaker 3:Straight Line Mobile Testing is in Fort Myers, florida. We are a 24-7 mobile drug and alcohol testing company. We cover all the way from Miami to Fort Myers Beach service area all of Florida if we need to.
Speaker 2:Excellent and you help people with their DLT compliance needs. We do.
Speaker 3:We also offer consortium for CDL holders clearinghouse return to duty test clearinghouse return to duty test.
Speaker 2:We also do policy creation, updating policies, going through policies making sure that they, you know, are within state law and everything looks good, excellent, excellent. Again, thank you for being a sponsor and DOT required. Drug testing is a hot topic because there's probably about 8 million DOT-regulated employees throughout the nation, maybe about 700,000 DOT-regulated employers, so we thought this was a great topic. Thanks for listening in. We hope that you come back to the next episode, which is going to be what you need to know about starting a drug testing business, and we're really honored that Brandy's going to be back with us, because she just started her drug testing business back in 2024. And she's really doing well with the new business, so she's going to share her experiences on the next episode on starting a drug testing business.
Speaker 2:We're excited about that one Absolutely Other topics that may come up. We're looking for you to send in some ideas about topics we are going to cover. What's a five-panel drug test? What's a 10-panel drug test? What are some of the other drug test panels, which there's literally hundreds of them and understanding all of that, and then another episode which we talked briefly about today is the reasonable suspicion of impairment leading to a drug test. So I would like you to let us know your questions, let us know your suggestions for future topics. Please share this podcast, please ring the bell, subscribe, tell your friends about it.
Speaker 2:In the industry post it on your post it on your social media, make a comment. Uh, jesse, anything else I'm supposed to say that's perfect, joe, you nailed it. You nailed it all right after only three episodes. You got it down so you can close us up, jesse. I think that's it for today, yeah yeah, thanks so much for tuning in.
Speaker 1:and once again, uh, like share, subscribe, click the bell. And uh till yeah, thanks so much for tuning in. And once again, like share, subscribe, click the bell and until next time. Thank you so much, guys, thank you.