November 2006
Questions & Answers
Question:
We received a call from the collection site that one of our DOT drivers had a confirmed Breath Alcohol Test (BAT) level of 0.02 and that someone needed to come and pick him up. What is the employer’s responsibility?
Answer:
If your DOT driver had a confirmed BAT of 0.02 or greater but less then 0.04 the driver must be temporarily removed from performing safety-sensitive functions for the employer until the start of the driver’s next scheduled duty period, but must be at least 24 hours following the administration of the test. Regarding the collection site requesting the employee to be picked up, this is a safety and legal precaution, not a DOT requirement. Some employers have chosen to either have a supervisor, co-worker, or driver’s family member drive the employee home, or required the driver to call a taxi at the driver’s expense. This would be a company supervisor’s decision and again can be written into the company policy as to the procedure to be followed. DOT regulations does state no employer shall take any action under this part against a driver based solely on test results showing an alcohol concentration less than 0.04. This does not prohibit an employer with authority independent of this part from taking any action otherwise consistent with law. In other words, it would be up to the employer’s discretion and what is written in the company policy as to the consequences of the employee’s actions. Bear in mind if a DOT driver receives a confirmed alcohol test result of 0.04 or higher, you must immediately remove the employee involved from performing safety-sensitive functions until the driver successfully completes the return-to-duty process.
Annual Trade Show Updates
Recently at the Construction Truck & Equipment Expo and Truck Show Latino all of our C-DATA staff had the pleasure of meeting some of our clients and the opportunity to explain the different programs and services we have to offer both new and existing clients. We received a number of positive responses from those that were able to attend the supervisor training classes for drug and alcohol reasonable suspicion testing per DOT requirements. There were two separate seminars on Saturday sponsored by C-DATA, one in Spanish and the other in English. The class instructor was Dr. Karmen Payne, DCH, MA, CEAP.
The Construction Truck & Equipment Expo and Truck Show Latino will be held again next year, but on October 20th and 21st at the Fairplex in Pomona. It is our intention to offer another DOT Supervisor Training Class so you or your staff may not want to miss the opportunity to attend next year.
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As many of you are aware, this is the time of the year that many renew their drug and alcohol testing programs. Interestingly and probably not surprising we are experiencing a large growth pattern and many companies and owner-operators are coming to us from other drug and alcohol testing consortiums/TPA’s. The main reason we’ve heard so far is, that these other consortiums don’t return phone calls, provide information in a timely manner to the client to satisfy their broker owner-operator files or even CHP BIT inspections. Many don’t offer comprehensive program binders with all the information a company needs to understand their program, get into and stay in compliance. Some consortiums don’t even offer minimally, ID cards or enrollment certificates. A few of these new clients had even indicated that when they asked to meet with their consortium that they were told, NO,
“we only do things through the phone, mail or fax”. So, if your consortium is run like this, you may want to reconsider one that offers a commercial office location with a professional, knowledgeable and dedicated staff, managing a comprehensive drug and alcohol testing program. Plus, we even have frontage commercial truck parking and we’re open 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
We welcome, and in fact, encourage both clients and perspective clients to visit us. Remember, if you have the cheapest program – there’s usually a reason why the program is cheap – just ask them if you can drop by and see where your confidential records are maintained and stored!
Reminder: All C-DATA enrollment expires on December 31st, be sure to get your 2007 Renewal back as soon as possible, renewals are processed on a first come basis.
Urban Myth About Energy Drinks
All You Have Is a Wide-Awake Drunk
It has been suggested so-called energy drinks might reduce the intensity of the depressant effects of alcohol. Users who combine alcohol with an energy drink frequently report a reduction in sleeplessness and an increase in pleasure when these drinks are combined. However, there is little scientific evidence to support this hypothesis.
In a recent study that evaluated the effects of the simultaneous ingestion of an alcohol (vodka) and an energy drink (Red Bull) compared with those who ingested an alcohol or an energy drink alone. Twenty-six healthy volunteers in their early twenties were randomly assigned to two groups that received 0.6 or 1.0 g/kg alcohol respectively.
They all completed three experimental sessions in random order t hat were seven days apart: alcohol alone, energy drink alone and alcohol plus energy drink.
When compared with the ingestion of alcohol alone, the ingestion of alcohol plus energy drink significantly reduced the subject’s perception of headache, weakness, dry mouth, and impairment of motor coordination. However, the ingestion of the energy drink did not significantly reduce the deficits caused by alcohol on objective motor coordination and visual reaction time. In addition, the ingestion of the energy drink did not alter the breath alcohol concentration in either group.
Even though the subjective perceptions of some symptoms of alcohol intoxication were less intense after the combined ingestion of the alcohol plus energy drink, these effects were not detected in objective measures of motor coordination and visual reaction time, as well as on the breath alcohol concentration.
The increase in alcohol tolerance reported by many users of energy drinks could lead young people toward a higher consumption of alcoholic beverages. For this reason, knowledge about the effects of this interaction between alcohol and energy drinks may be relevant to prevention programs.
See: Ferreira, SE, Tulio de Mello, M. Pomperia, S. Souza-Ferreira, MO.: Effects of energy drink ingestion on alcohol intoxication. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 30:598-605, 2006.
Lonnie Johnson
Note that throughout this article, when I refer to the applicable federal regulations, I’m referring to CFR 49, Parts 40 & 382; these regulations can be found in Section 5 of the AADT Company Compliance Manual or in the AADT website at www.aadrugtesing.com under links at DOT Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance at www.dot.gov/ost/dapc or Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration at www.fmcsa.dot.gov.