Compliance and Regulatory Update: December, 2017

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Compliance and Regulatory Update: December, 2017

Drug Testing Changes

Synthetic Opioids Added

Beginning January 1, 2018, the U. S. Department of Transportation is revising the drug testing protocol to include four semi-synthetic opioids: oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydrocodone, and hydromorphone.Although these are prescription drugs, commonly known as OxyContinÂ®, VicodinÂ®, PercocetÂ®, DilaudidÂ®, etc.,the recent rise in opioid addiction indicates that they are likely to be abused and used without medical oversight.

The revision of the drug-testing panel harmonizes DOT regulations with the revised HHS Mandatory Guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Federal drug-testing programs. You will need to review your DOT Substance Abuse Policy and change the verbiage from “opiates” to “opioids”. Also, if you have a non-DOT testing program you can choose to utilize the new DOT 5-panel test. Contact your drug test provider for details.

When the proposed change was announced earlier this year, the D.O.T. received 52 comments, most of which (41) supported the change in the interest of promoting transportation safety. Some of the opposing commenters were concerned that a driver who was taking a legally prescribed opioid could potentially be treated as a drug abuser if they tested positive. However, the Medical Review Officer who reviews each positive drug test will issue negative test results if it is confirmed that the driver has a current valid prescription. “Since we already have opiates in the DOT-regulated drug testing panels, adding semi-synthetic opioids to the panel is not a radical change for these highly trained medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy,” the DOT said.

It was also suggested that other substances such as synthetic cannabinoids should be added. The D.O.T. does not have the authority to determine which substances can be added to the drug test panel. This determination is made by Health and Human Services and becomes part of their mandatory guidelines.

Commuting to Work

FMCSA To Study Drivers’ Commute

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has asked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval to survey drivers about their commute to work. This is in accordance with Section 5515 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST) which requires that FMCSA conduct a study on the safety affects on drivers with commutes that exceed 150 minutes.

The purpose of the survey is to gather information about the prevalence of excessive commuting distances. The survey will also quantify the number and percentage of drivers, their time spent commuting, and the method of transportation used. In addition FMCSA will also study the impact that this has on safety and fatigue.

Previous studies on non-commercial vehicle drivers have found that drivers who have long commute times were more likely to have poor cardiovascular health, be less physically active, and have higher blood pressure.

The survey will take place online and a random sample of 12,000 drivers will be chosen from the CDLIS system. The list will be subdivided into those who haul freight and those who haul passengers. Drivers will be notified by mail about the online survey and will receive follow up reminders. The survey is expected to take 20 minutes and drivers will be paid $10 upon completion. The expectation is that 4.7% will actually take the survey which will result in around 500 responses which is deemed adequate.

ELD Mandate Has Arrived

Soft Enforcement Period

After many years of discussion, review, and delays, the ELD rule will take effect December 18th for those drivers who currently complete a record of duty status. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has granted a 90 day waiver for trucks hauling agriculture and livestock loads.

Beginning on December 18, 2017, a driver using an ELD must have the following items available during a roadside inspection:

— A user’s manual for the driver describing how to operate the ELD;

— An instruction sheet describing the data transfer mechanisms supported by the ELD and step-by-step instructions to produce and transfer the driver’s hours-of-service records to an authorized safety official;

— An instruction sheet for the driver describing ELD malfunction reporting requirements and recordkeeping procedures during ELD malfunctions; and

— A supply of blank driver’s records of duty status (RODS) graph-grids sufficient to record the driver’s duty status and other related information for a minimum of 8 days. If the ELD malfunctions the driver is required to begin a paper log for that day and recreate the previous seven days as well.

During a transition period ending April 1, 2018, a failure to equip a truck with an ELD that is discovered during a roadside inspection will be written up as a violation, but it will not be posted to the carrier’s safety profile and will not affect their CSA score. This is not to be construed as a “free pass” to delay compliance because it is considered a violation and fines could be issued.

During this period the driver will not be placed out of service for failure to have an ELD provided they have a record of duty status that is accurate and current. Beginning April 1, 2018, such a vehicle would be placed Out Of Service. Based on that the violation would have to be corrected prior to moving the vehicle.

Also keep in mind that with ELDs the supporting document requirements have changed. Since driving time is automatically recorded when the truck moves, the focus on supporting documents is to substantiate On-Duty Not Driving time.

You can learn more by using this link.