FMCSA announces testing rate for drugs, alcohol
Photo: Susan Chiang/iStockphoto
Washington – The controlled substances random testing rate for motor carriers will remain at 25 percent during the 2017 calendar year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently announced.
The minimum testing rate was reduced to 25 percent from 50 percent in 2016. FMCSA stated it reserved the right to return the rate to 50 percent if positive tests for drug use equaled 1 percent or higher among drivers.
Federal regulations require motor carriers employing drivers with commercial driver’s licenses to conduct random drug and alcohol testing. The most recent data available from 2014 found that an estimated 0.9 percent of drivers tested positive for drug use, up from 0.7 percent in 2013. An estimated 0.08 percent of drivers tested positive for alcohol use in 2014, down slightly from 0.09 percent in 2013.
“For the safety of everyone traveling on our highways and roads, no driver should ever get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” FMCSA Administrator T.F. Scott Darling III said in a press release. “Commercial motor vehicle companies must comply with the crucial safety responsibility of conducting rigorous drug and alcohol testing programs for all of their CDL drivers.”
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