The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) intends to raise the minimum drug testing rate from 25% to 50% of employees for random testing, effective January 1, 2019. The reason for this rate increase is because of an increase in the instances of positive tests from less than 1% to greater than 1% in the previous year (2017), which means that the testing rate MUST be increased to 50% from 25% until the positive test results go below 1%.
NOTE: The alcohol testing rate has remained the same.
If your agency has employees that are driving revenue earning vehicles, such as buses, trolleys, or streetcars, or are dispatching, maintaining or servicing these vehicles, they fall under the Code of Federal Regulations Title 49 Part 40 Section 655 Regulations on drug testing. These employees must be enrolled in a drug and alcohol testing program, such as the EIA’s Drug & Alcohol Testing Consortium, under Section 655 and will have to be tested at the new 50% rate.
If your agency has employees that are driving other commercial vehicles (including non-revenue earning buses like school buses) they fall under the jurisdiction of the FMCSA and Section 382 rules. These employees are still being tested at the 25% rate.
How do you determine if your drivers fall under the FTA regulations? The U.S. Department of Transportation provides a list of employees that fall under the jurisdiction of each agency.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Risk Control.