I Told My Driver He Was Selected. Why Does He Have to Go Right Now?
Your driver has to leave for the test the moment you tell him he was selected. Urine testing catches most drugs for only two to three days, so a driver given a few days' notice can wait it out, and your random program stops catching anything.
This article is for the owner or designated employer representative (DER) of a small fleet. Most random-testing problems we see aren't caused by drivers. They're caused by how the employer delivers the notice.
The rule
Under 49 CFR 382.305(l), a driver selected for a random test must go to the collection site immediately after being notified. If he's doing safety-sensitive work other than driving, he stops and goes as soon as possible.
The rule doesn't define "immediately" in hours. That leaves room for interpretation, and that room is where programs fail. Read it the way an auditor will: the only delay is the time it takes to get there.
Why it matters: the detection window
Most drugs show up in urine for about two to three days. Give a driver until next week and he can stop using, wait, and test clean. The test happens, the paperwork looks fine, and the program has caught nothing. See Drug test detection window basics.
Two different moments: selection and notice
You learn who was selected when the draw runs. The driver's clock starts when you tell him, not when you were told. You can wait to notify him until a day he's available during the selection period. Once you tell him, he goes now.
So don't tell him until he can go right then. A "heads up" is advance notice, and advance notice defeats the test.
The mistakes that break it
- Telling him the day before, or Friday for Monday.
- Letting him finish the route or the load first.
- Sending a text and not following up. If he doesn't go, you have a refusal decision to make, not a reminder to send.
- Notifying him again after he ignored the first notice. The first ignored notice already counts as a failure to appear (40.191(a)(1)). Every re-send adds to the record that you let it slide.
- Treating the order's expiration date as his deadline. The expiration date on a test order just shows how long the collection site can use it. It has nothing to do with when he must test. His deadline is now.
A real example
One company we served was lax about when its drivers tested. Drivers were notified, ignored the notice, were notified again, and tested when they got around to it, if ever. They knew the company wouldn't treat a no-show as a refusal.
Then FMCSA audited the company. The auditor asked us, as the company's C/TPA, for every random test order we had created. The pattern of orders that expired uncollected was all the evidence the auditor needed. It showed the company was not requiring drivers to test immediately. FMCSA revoked the company's operating authority.
Whether the company meant to give drivers extra time doesn't matter. What matters is that its random program couldn't detect drug use. Drivers were given days, sometimes weeks, to get clean before they tested.
What an auditor asks for
- Your random selection lists for each period.
- When you notified each selected driver: date, time, how, and by whom.
- Your C/TPA's test orders and collection times. The gap between notice and collection is what the auditor reads. Your C/TPA has to produce these records on request.
- What you did when a driver didn't show.
You need the same record to report a no-show. A failure-to-appear refusal can be reported to the Clearinghouse only with a record made at the time showing when the driver was notified, plus the time, date and site he was told to go to (382.705(b)(3)). Without that record, you can't report the refusal, and the auditor sees that too.
How to notify a selected driver
- Pick a time he can go right then, during the selection period.
- Tell him directly, by phone or in person, and give him the site.
- Send it in writing at the same moment (a text or email) with the date, time and site. That's your record.
- Confirm he arrived. If he doesn't go, decide whether it's a refusal. Don't send a second notice.
What TrueTest does
- Places the order the same day at a collection site near your driver, or at our Elk Grove Village location.
- Keeps every order and collection time so your records answer the auditor's question.
- Gives you the SAP list and can file the refusal in the Clearinghouse once you've designated TrueTest as your C/TPA with permission to report, and sent us the documentation.
Questions DERs ask
How long does my driver have to get to the test?
Only the time it takes to get there. The rule says immediately after he is notified.
Can I tell my driver a day ahead so he can plan?
No. That's advance notice, and it lets a drug user wait out the detection window. Notify him when he can go right then.
My driver is out on the road. What do I do?
Wait to notify him until he can reach a site, within the selection period. Or tell him while he's out and send him to a collection site near where he is.
Is an expired test order a refusal?
No. The order's expiration date isn't the driver's deadline. A refusal happens when he doesn't go after being told to.
Want a random program that holds up in an audit?
We run DOT consortium / random-pool management for small fleets and owner-operators, with every order and collection time on record.