The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration holds motor carriers and drivers responsible for meeting safety standards and regulations. Carriers can find their data stored on FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS), which they use to track the number, severity, and date of safety violations, as well as crash and inspection data. Data is derived from unsafe driving, crash indicator, Hours of Service (HOS) compliance, vehicle maintenance, controlled substances/alcohol, hazardous materials compliance, and driver fitness. The FMCSA makes available a compliance manual to help companies operating CMVs comply. The FMCSA Compliance Manual can be downloaded here.

Depending on industry requirements, employers can choose to screen for alcohol in their drug testing panel. Alcohol use can be detected in a urinalysis between 12-48 hours after consuming.

Drug and alcohol testing helps identify alcohol and both prescription and illegal drugs in an individual’s body. Drug and alcohol testing is a common practice for employers for pre-employment, as well as random, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return-to-duty, follow-up drug testing, etc. Drug and alcohol testing can be conducted through a variety of testing methodologies, including oral-fluid, urinalysis, and hair, each offering a different window of detection which is especially beneficial when combined with two or more testing methodologies.

An electronic Custody and Control Form, also known as an eCCF, is an electronic version of the traditional document used for drug test ordering, specimen collection processing, and chain of custody documentation for workplace drug testing. ECCFs offer additional benefits, such as speeding up turnaround times by up to 25% and preventing common user errors associated with paper forms.

If you’re not yet utilizing eCCFs, it’s easy to get started! Simply click on the yellow “WalkMe” button at the top of DISAWorks or DISA360, then select “Order a Drug Test (eCCF)”. The guided WalkMe process will take you step-by-step through the entire process. Learn more here (Insert our blog link: https://disa.com/news/how-to-get-started-using-eccfs

A well-designed occupational health program is key to ensuring that your organization and employees stay safe while on the job. Companies that follow best practices in occupational health can appreciate:

DISA partners with FormFox, the nation’s leading provider of Electronic Custody and Control Forms (eCCF) and electronic workflow solutions, to provide integrated solutions for workplace drugs of abuse testing and occupational health services. As a result, common collector errors and omissions are avoided, while also shortening the entire drug testing cycle by instantaneously delivering the electronic CCF and related data to key stakeholders like the MRO, TPA, Employer and Lab.

Employers who have actual knowledge that a driver has used alcohol or controlled substances in violation of Subpart B of Part 382 must report such violations to the Clearinghouse, in accordance with § 382.705(b)(4). Service agents, such as a consortium/third-party administrator (C/TPA), acting on the employer’s behalf may also report actual knowledge violations, as long as they comply with the reporting requirements in § 382.705(b)(4). Actual knowledge, as defined in § 382.107, is based on the employer’s direct observation of the employee, information provided by the driver’s previous employer(s), a traffic citation for driving a CMV while under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances, or an employee’s admission of alcohol or controlled substances use, except as provided in § 382.121.