Fleets Seek Immediate Hair-Testing Action by FMCSA
J.B. Hunt is one of several carriers petitioning the FMCSA to allow hair-testing results in lieu of urinalysis to comply with pre-employment drug testing regulations for truck drivers. Photo: Drivewyze
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J.B. Hunt is one of several carriers petitioning the FMCSA to allow hair-testing results in lieu of urinalysis to comply with pre-employment drug testing regulations for truck drivers. Photo: Drivewyze
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Rather than wait for a rulemaking, several major motor carriers have petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for exemptions that would allow them to use hair-testing in lieu of urinalysis to comply with pre-employment drug testing regulations for truck drivers.
The petitioners are Maverick Transportation, Knight Transportation, J.B. Hunt Transport Services and Dupré Logistics, all members of the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security (aka Trucking Alliance), along with two unaffiliated companies. While all of these businesses use hair-testing protocols, the Trucking Alliance estimates that fewer than 30 U.S. transportation/logistics firms employ hair testing for pre-employment drug testing.
The petitioners contend that if FMCSA grants exemptions to these companies, drug users could be “more readily identified” because these transport/logistics companies could then share failed hair-test results with other firms when they inquire about former drivers and applicants. Currently, federal regulations do not allow transportation companies to share these results.
While the FAST Act highway bill passed last year includes a pathway to permitting hair-testing, it is a winding and potentially long one. The provision authorizes hair-testing as an acceptable alternative to urinalysis in pre-employment screening for use of controlled substances and when conducting random testing for use of controlled substances if the operator was subject to hair-testing during pre-employment testing.
However, as the conference committee that signed off on the FAST Act stated at the time, “FMCSA has informed the conferees and the conferees agree that nothing in section 5402 authorizes the use of hair testing as an alternative to urine tests until the Department of Health and Human Services establishes federal standards for hair testing.”
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