DOT has proposed adding fentanyl to its urine and oral-fluid drug-testing panels and norfentanyl to the urine panel. As of writing, the proposal has not become a final DOT testing requirement. For employers, the key takeaway is to prepare policies, training, vendor workflows, and employee communications without treating the proposal as a current mandate.
In this Article
In this article, we explain the DOT’s proposed addition of fentanyl and norfentanyl to federal workplace drug-testing panels—and clarify that it is not yet a current testing requirement. You’ll learn what could change for urine and oral-fluid testing, how employers can prepare their policies and vendor workflows, and what supervisors and employees should know while the proposal remains under review.
Glossary of Terms
Analyte: A specific drug, drug metabolite, or other substance that a laboratory tests for in a specimen.
Confirmatory Test: A more specific laboratory test used to confirm the presence and concentration of a drug or drug metabolite after an initial test identifies a potential positive result.
Consortium/Third-Party Administrator (C/TPA): A service provider that may help employers manage parts of a DOT drug and alcohol testing program.
Cutoff Concentration: The established level used to determine whether a drug or drug metabolite is reported as meeting the threshold for a test result.
Designated Employer Representative (DER): The employer contact who receives testing information and helps manage the DOT testing process.
Fentanyl: A powerful synthetic opioid that has legitimate medical uses but is also manufactured and distributed illegally. DOT has proposed adding fentanyl to its urine and oral-fluid drug-testing panels.
Legitimate Medical Explanation: A medically valid reason that may explain a laboratory-confirmed drug result, such as the appropriate use of a legally prescribed medication. The MRO evaluates whether a legitimate medical explanation exists under applicable rules.
Norfentanyl: A primary metabolite produced when the body processes fentanyl. DOT has proposed adding norfentanyl to the urine-testing panel, but not to the oral-fluid panel.
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM): A formal federal proposal to create or change a regulation. An NPRM gives the public an opportunity to review and comment on a proposed rule, but it does not create a final compliance requirement by itself.
Synthetic Opioid: An opioid produced through chemical processes rather than directly from the opium poppy. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid.
Is Fentanyl Currently Included in the DOT Drug-Testing Panel?
Fentanyl's presence in safety-sensitive work environments has grown, and so have employers' concerns about it (and rightly so). The issue has become difficult for employers to ignore, particularly when employees work in safety-sensitive positions. Unfortunately, in the case of workplaces regulated by the Department of Transportation, so has confusion about what the DOT actually requires.
The short answer is that the DOT does not currently require fentanyl or norfentanyl as part of its drug-testing panel as of writing. If you are a DOT employer, you should continue to distinguish between the current DOT testing panel and the proposed fentanyl/norfentanyl expansion.
More specifically: The current urine-testing table under 49 CFR §40.85 includes marijuana metabolites, cocaine metabolite, PCP, amphetamines, and specified opioid analytes. Those opioids include codeine, morphine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, and 6-acetylmorphine. Fentanyl and norfentanyl are not listed.
This status could change at any point, and if/when a final rule does eventually arrive, it could contain changes from the proposal as well as specific effective dates, compliance dates, and implementation instructions.
What Is the DOT Proposing to Change?
The 49 CFR Part 40 fentanyl proposal would expand the substances included in DOT testing while also changing certain laboratory and Medical Review Officer procedures. If finalized, it would more closely align DOT testing with HHS federal workplace testing guidelines.
Add Fentanyl and Norfentanyl to Urine Drug Testing
Under the proposal, fentanyl and norfentanyl (a metabolite of fentanyl) would become analytes in the DOT urine panel, in both initial and confirmatory testing. The DOT would include both because testing for the parent drug together with its metabolite can help laboratories detect and interpret any positive results.
Add Fentanyl to Oral-Fluid Testing
The proposal would also add fentanyl to the oral-fluid panel (while, notably, excluding norfentanyl). That distinction can easily get lost when employers hear that DOT is “adding fentanyl”; the proposal does not create identical fentanyl and norfentanyl testing requirements for every specimen type.
Additionally, the proposal does not make oral-fluid testing available for every operational situation; rather, it just changes what would be included in the oral testing panel, in the situations in which it would already be used.
Current DOT Panel vs. Proposed Fentanyl Expansion
Data table
Testing Area
Current DOT Status
Proposed Change
Urine testing
Fentanyl and norfentanyl are not currently listed in §40.85.
Add fentanyl and norfentanyl as analytes.
Oral-fluid testing
Fentanyl and norfentanyl are not currently part of the DOT oral-fluid panel.
Add fentanyl, but not norfentanyl.
Employer action
Follow the current DOT-required panel.
Prepare for possible implementation after a final rule.
Why Is DOT Considering Fentanyl Testing?
DOT specifically cited transportation-safety concerns and information about fentanyl-related overdose deaths when explaining the proposed expansion. Case in point: during a nationwide drug testing index run in 2025, in the general U.S. workforce population, fentanyl positivity in random urine drug tests was 1.13%, compared with 0.14% in pre-employment testing.
Though the index targeted the working population in general (as opposed to specifically DOT-regulated industries), for the DOT, the risks of fentanyl overdose in safety-sensitive work environments is too great to ignore.
What Would the Proposal Mean for Employers?
Do Not Treat the Proposal as a Current Mandate
Treat the fentanyl change as proposed rule, not a compliance deadline.
Continue following the DOT drug testing requirements that are currently in effect; a final rule may differ from what DOT proposed in September 2025, and any binding change would need to be evaluated based on that final language.
Review Drug-Testing Policy Language
Prepare for a possible change without prematurely adding fentanyl to your federally regulated panel.
For instance, look for policy references to the “DOT five-panel,” fixed lists of substances, overly broad definitions of opioids, or wording that could blur the line between DOT and non-DOT testing.
Coordinate With Testing and Compliance Partners
A future DOT drug testing policy update would involve more than editing a handbook: Your laboratory, MRO, electronic ordering systems, administrators, and other compliance partners could all have a role.
In the event that a proposal is finalized, confirm your updated panel codes, laboratory readiness, MRO workflows, ordering processes, employee notices, internal training, and result-reporting procedures before implementing your policy changes.
Separate DOT and Non-DOT Decisions
If you do want to implement fentanyl testing before the DOT proposal becomes policy, you can do so by integrating said testing within a separate non-DOT program. But whether that makes sense will depend on your state and local laws, company policy, employee classifications, collective bargaining terms, laboratory capabilities, and legal advice.
How Should Employers Update Their Drug-Testing Policies?
Step 1 — Audit Existing Policy Language
Start by finding every place where your policy describes tested substances, covered employee groups, specimen types, testing triggers, verification procedures, consequences, confidentiality, and recordkeeping.
To reiterate: At this point in time, your goal is not necessarily to change the policy, but to find the places that might need attention if the proposal becomes final.
A policy audit matrix designed to help employers evaluate their readiness for the DOT’s proposed fentanyl drug-testing changes. The checklist covers testing panels, MRO verification, supervisor training, employee communications, recordkeeping, and vendor relationships, with columns explaining what to review, why it matters, current status, and recommended actions.
Step 2 — Prepare Conditional Future-State Language
Rather than prematurely inserting fentanyl into a DOT policy, consider if any of your policy language can flexibly and proactively refer to DOT fentanyl/norfentanyl testing, if and when that policy takes effect
This sort of structure may make future regulatory changes easier to manage, while still allowing employees to receive appropriate notice when a material change occurs.
Step 3 — Build an Implementation Checklist
Preparing a process now can save time later. The final details, though, should wait for a final rule.
Your readiness checklist should include the following:
Verify that the fentanyl rule remains proposed before taking action.
Monitor DOT and ODAPC announcements.
Identify every policy reference to the DOT drug testing panel.
Separate DOT and non-DOT testing decisions.
Consult legal counsel about policy, state-law, and labor considerations.
Confirm laboratory readiness for any future panel changes.
Test vendor and ordering-system changes before launch.
Assign an internal owner for implementation.
Wait for final effective and compliance dates before describing the change as mandatory.
Document implementation decisions and approvals.
Step 4 — Communicate Without Creating Confusion
Employees should not have to decode regulatory language to understand what applies to them.
If you choose to explain the DOT proposed rule, you should plainly explain what they have proposed, what they currently require, what could change, and when employees can expect more information.
And, because medication questions can be sensitive, employees should also know where confidential questions belong rather than feeling as though they need to explain prescriptions informally to a supervisor.
How Should Supervisors Be Trained?
Reinforce Reasonable-Suspicion Fundamentals
Supervisors should not be expected to possess the expertise of a physician or drug-recognition expert.
Instead, train them to focus on observable, timely conduct that could indicate impairment, such as appearance, behavior, speech, coordination, alertness, and work performance.
Then, direct them to the appropriate medical responses if they suspect an emergency.
Refresh Testing and Documentation Procedures
Supervisors should know who has authority to make a testing determination, when an employee needs to stop safety-sensitive work, how transportation will be arranged, what documentation must be completed, and who needs to be contacted.
Prepare Supervisors for Employee Questions
Employees may ask several common questions, and your team should have an answer for them.
For instance, if they ask if DOT is testing for fentanyl now, your supervisors should have a short, approved answer: fentanyl testing has been proposed for the DOT panel, but it is not currently a mandatory DOT analyte.
They may also ask if their fentanyl prescription would cause them to fail a drug test. Advise your supervisors away from parsing through whether their prescription explains a laboratory result, and refer them to the MRO.
Frequently Asked Questions About DOT Fentanyl Drug Testing
No. Fentanyl and norfentanyl are not included in the current §40.85 urine-testing table. DOT has proposed adding them, but that proposal has not become the current DOT testing panel.
No. The September 2, 2025 fentanyl action is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. DOT's current Part 40 rulemaking page continues to identify that action as an NPRM.
Norfentanyl is a metabolite of fentanyl. Under the proposed rule, norfentanyl would be included in the urine-testing panel alongside fentanyl.
No. DOT proposes fentanyl for both urine and oral-fluid testing, whereas norfentanyl is proposed for urine testing only.
No. Employers should continue using the federally authorized DOT panel and complying with current DOT drug testing requirements. An employer should not independently add a substance to a regulated DOT test and then represent that expanded test as DOT-required.
Depending on applicable law and policy, an employer may be able to include fentanyl in a separate non-DOT program. Because state laws, collective bargaining agreements, employee classifications, and written policy requirements can differ, employers should conduct an appropriate legal and policy review before making that change.
Regulatory change is easier to manage when the pieces of your program already work together.
DISA helps safety-sensitive employers manage DOT drug testing, including testing programs that involve pre-employment, random, reasonable-suspicion, post-accident, return-to-duty, and other regulated circumstances. DISA also provides broader DOT and transportation compliance solutions for employers operating under federal transportation requirements.
And because a future fentanyl rule could affect more than the laboratory panel, DISA can support the surrounding program as well. That includes drug and alcohol policy creation, reviews, compliance training, and supervisor reasonable-suspicion training, as well as Medical Review Officer services for the review and verification of applicable drug-test results.
Contact DISA to review your DOT drug-testing program, prepare for potential fentanyl panel changes, and keep your compliance workflows aligned as rulemaking develops.
DISA Global Solutions aims to provide accurate and informative content for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The reader retains full responsibility for the use of the information contained herein. Always consult with a professional or legal expert.
Chris Eichenberg
Vice President of Transportation Sales
DISA Global Solutions
Chris Eichenberg is the Vice President of Transportation Sales at DISA Global Solutions, Inc., where he plays a critical role in advancing the company's position as a leader in safety and compliance solutions for the transportation industry.
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