DOT Drug Testing Easily Beaten, Oversight Limited, Compliance Lacking

The Department of Transportation's efforts to reduce truck and bus crashes by making sure that drivers are not using illegal drugs are being hampered by "a significant lack of compliance" by motor carriers and limited oversight by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, preliminary reports issued by the Government Accountability Office Nov. 1 found.

Compliance is especially lacking among small carriers and self-employed drivers, according to the GAO testimony on the integrity of drug testing programs before the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. The testimony and a related report on urine collection centers are part of a GAO project expected to be complete in May 2008.

Violations of drug testing protocols are noted in more than 40 percent of FMCSA's safety audits of newer motor carrier operations conducted since 2003, and more than 70 percent of the compliance reviews conducted on carriers already in the industry in 2001, the agency said.

GAO's investigation into the drug testing program also found that FMCSA's oversight activities are limited in quantity and scope. Only newer motor carriers are subject to safety audits. Carriers that were in business earlier than 2003 are covered by FMCSA's compliance review system, which examines the performance of only about 2 percent of carriers each year.

While illegal drug use is not among the most frequently cited factors associated with large truck crashes, studies show that use of illegal drugs can severely impair driving ability. Crashes involving trucks and buses account for 13 percent of all highway deaths each year, the report said.

Since 1988, federal regulations have required commercial drivers to submit urine samples to be tested for drugs. The testing covers five drug categories--marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and phencyclidine (PCP).

FMCSA data shows that between 1.3 percent and 2.8 percent of drivers tested positive for the presence of illegal drugs from 1994 to 2005. Concern exists that some drivers may be escaping detection, the report said.

Drug Testing Compliance

Issues of compliance with drug testing programs extend to the companies that collect urine samples, GAO said. In a separate report, GAO details an investigation in which the agency created fictitious trucking companies and bogus driver's licenses to see whether 24 urine collection sites were following agency protocols.

Investigators posed as truck drivers and gained access to all 24 sites "demonstrating that a drug user could send someone to take a drug test in their place using false identification," the report said.

In 22 of the 24 urine collection sites, the company did not adequately follow the protocols GAO was examining. For example, in 75 percent of the sites, drivers had access to items that could be used to adulterate or dilute the specimen. Using drug-masking products purchased on Web sites, GAO investigators used adulterants at four sites and substituted synthetic urine at four other sites "without being caught by site collectors," the report said.

BNA's Transportation Watch: Monday, November 5, 2007

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