DOT Mulls Alternative Drug Testing for Drivers

The Transportation Department wants to give the trucking industry another way to screen drivers for drug use other than urine testing.

In a 31-page proposed rule issued Feb. 28 in the Federal Register, the agency announced that is considering adding oral fluid testing to its approved methods for mandatory drug screening. If finalized, this would give companies the choice of either performing oral fluid tests or urine tests for employee drug screenings.

DOT cited multiple reasons for the proposed addition. This includes the reduced cost of oral tests ($35 versus $50 for urinalysis), the invasive nature of urine collection and the ease of processing oral samples in the office, whereas a urine test requires an outside lab.

“Urine collection requires use of a collection facility, secured restrooms, and other special requirements,” the notice states. “With oral fluids, there is more flexibility regarding the collection site.”

Another bonus is that oral fluid tests are harder to cheat on, something the Department of Health and Human Services noted when it first approved the use of oral fluid tests in 2019, a process that got the ball rolling for DOT’s potential implementation.

“Like HHS, DOT believes that oral fluid testing is likely to be less susceptible to these problems because the oral fluid collection is a directly observed collection,” according to the notice.

Despite these advantages, oral fluid testing does have some drawbacks relative to urinalysis. For example, marijuana can be detected in an oral test for up to 24 hours; in urinalysis, it can be detected anywhere from three days to more than two months later.

USDOT is accepting public comment on the rule until March 30.