Employers hear “DOT” and “Non-DOT” constantly, and the distinction matters more than most realize. The two are not two flavors of the same test. They are separate programs with separate rules, and mixing them up creates problems for both.
Who is covered by DOT rules
A DOT test applies to an employee who performs a safety-sensitive function under one of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s operating agencies: the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (commercial drivers who need a CDL), the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard. Each agency defines which positions are safety-sensitive. If an employee is in one of those positions, the DOT rules apply regardless of what the company’s own policy says.
Everyone else is Non-DOT. A forklift operator in a warehouse, an office manager, a nurse, a laborer on a construction site and the owner of a landscaping company are all tested, if at all, under the employer’s own written policy or, for individuals and courts, under the ordering party’s requirements.
What the DOT rules require
DOT testing follows 49 CFR Part 40, a detailed federal procedure. The elements that matter most to an employer:
- Drug specimen type. DOT regulations authorize urine and oral fluid. Oral fluid is not yet available, because it requires at least two HHS-certified oral fluid laboratories and that minimum has not been met, so DOT drug tests are currently urine specimens analyzed at an HHS-certified laboratory.
- Alcohol testing. Screening may use an approved alcohol screening device (ASD) or evidential breath testing device (EBT) where Part 40 allows. A screening result of 0.020 or greater requires a confirmation test on an approved EBT.
- Forms. The Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form for drug tests and the DOT Alcohol Testing Form for alcohol tests. These are never used for Non-DOT tests.
- Review. Laboratory results are reviewed by a Medical Review Officer before the employer sees them.
- Test reasons. Pre-employment, random, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, return-to-duty and follow-up, each with its own triggers and timing.
- Personnel. Collectors, screening test technicians and breath alcohol technicians must meet training requirements.
What Non-DOT testing allows
Outside the DOT rules, the employer’s policy governs. That opens up options a DOT program does not have:
- Rapid, instant or point-of-collection screens with a preliminary result on-site (never permitted for DOT drug tests)
- Hair and segmented hair testing for a longer look-back
- EtG testing for recent alcohol use
- Expanded panels beyond the DOT drug classes
- Employer-chosen cutoffs and procedures
None of those methods may be used for a DOT-regulated test. An employer who runs both programs must keep them separate: DOT-covered employees on the federal forms and DOT procedures, everyone else on the non-federal forms under the company policy.
Common mistakes
- Using a rapid test for a CDL driver’s pre-employment test. It does not satisfy the DOT requirement, and the driver cannot be placed in a safety-sensitive role on that result.
- Putting a Non-DOT employee’s test on the federal form. The form is reserved for DOT tests.
- Assuming a company policy can loosen DOT requirements. It cannot; it can only add Non-DOT requirements for non-covered employees.
- Forgetting the Clearinghouse. FMCSA employers have separate query and reporting obligations that are not part of the collection itself.
How mobile collection fits
Both programs can be collected on-site. We bring the federal forms and DOT-compliant procedures for covered employees and the non-federal forms and chosen methods for everyone else, often in the same visit. See our DOT testing and Non-DOT testing pages, or request mobile testing.