Reminder: Renewal season is quickly approaching; renewal notices will be going out the first week of October. Please be sure to thoroughly check that all the information we have listed is correct, make any needed corrections and return all forms, including the service agreement signed by an authorized company representative or in the case of an owner-operator it must be the owner-operator’s signature. Last year we had to return and re-process over 900 renewals that were incomplete.

Fact or Fiction - Common Misunderstandings within
Drug Testing

This month we want to focus on clarifications to commonly asked questions, such as….

“Why do I always get selected for a random test, I know other truckers that never get picked!”

This is a statement that we hear quite often and of course I can only speak for AADT/C-DATA when it comes to the testing process. As outlined in the Department of Transportation FMCSA 49 CFR Parts 40 & 382, for each federally regulated testing pool we are required to test a minimum of 50% for drugs and 10% for alcohol. So in order to insure that everyone within the testing pool is in compliance we must continue to select until we can guarantee that the required minimum percentage will be met by the end of the year.

When you have individuals that do not test in a timely manner it does increase the burden on the others that are compliant. Therefore, it has become AADT/C-DATA’s policy to require every company whether an owner-operator or company with drivers to sign a service agreement at the time of enrollment and each year at renewal. Within that agreement it states they must be accessible at all times for testing and will be made inactive and ineligible for any of AADT/C-DATA’s programs if they fail to test. This is our policy to remove the “bad apples” from the pools, which will insure that we do not over-test our clients that do follow the regulations and our policy.

Again, the best answer I can give you is that at least within our programs you have comfort in knowing we offer a quality program and the reassurance that you are compliant with DOT requirements associated with testing. It’s also important to note that if you are with a program that charges by the test that these company pools are probably being tested in excess of 65% or more, far higher than the 50% requirements. This is something that many trucking companies and owner-operators are not aware of, also if the consortium is not removing those that do not test from their testing pools those that are complaint with testing are picking up the slack to meet the percentages.\

“It’s no fair; I’ve been picked two, three or four times in one year!”

Throughout the years, we find ourselves defending the random testing process over and over. The fact is, in most cases, it had been 12, 18 to 24 months since the client’s last random selection. But this is not to say that a client of ours may not have had multiple selections in one year. Each time we investigate such a claim, we find that it has never been close to being true. In some cases, a client or driver may have been required to do a pre-employment test at the time of enrollment since it was their first time in a safety sensitive position or they had more than a 30 day lapse of enrollment between programs and they had considered that pre-employment as a random.

As defined in the federal requirements our random selections are strictly computer generated by “auto ID numbers” that the computer issues. It is not selected by an individual’s name, social security numbers, company, or past testing history. We are not able to manipulate the program to personally pick any one particular individual or override their selection for the next time. The regulations require that after each selection the individual must go right back into the random selection for the next time. Each time we make a selection, we only enter the amount of randoms to be selected and the computer randomly pulls from every active entry in that random pool. So basically, it works the same as playing the lottery; it’s all in the luck of the draw!

“All you want is my money!”

This is another statement that has absouletly no merit. With each of AADT/C-DATA’s enrollments you do not pay anything extra for your intital random drug or alcohol testing. In fact, this is one of the things that are purposely set-up in the program pricing as an economic convenience to our clients. They do not have to pay anything extra when they are selected for either drug or alcohol random testing regardless of how many times they are selected nor do they pay any out of pocket expense at the collection site.

So as you can see, unlike many other random programs available, by requiring additional random testing we would not have anything to financially gain. We are aware of other C/TPA programs that are “pay by the test” and do test anywhere from 65% to 100% of their testing pools because again they have everything to gain. Believe me, it’s much easier on a C/TPA to do that since they wouldn’t have to closely gauge the percentage of testing as we do to insure that our client’s are not unfairly inconvenienced by having to over-test or pay additional unnecessary collection fees. Then you have the few others that do charge a flat yearly rate, but seemingly do not do the required percentage of testing.

As a side bar story, I was at a C/TPA management training seminar when the instructor explained that you do have to have the minimum of 50% for drug and 10% for alcohol in a valid test, and a couple managers within the room said I thought you just had to send out that many I didn’t know you had to actually have a valid test for each one. So in actuality everyone that was enrolled within those programs was out of compliance for the year, as the regulations state the even if you use a C/TPA the ultimate responsibility is on you!

Each time one of our client’s tests, we are invoiced by the collection site for the drug screen collection or breath alcohol test, laboratory and medical review officer. We then research to insure the test result was received in our central database, all the information is correct and that it reported to the correct account. If anything is not correct, we have to make sure every effort is made to get everything corrected. This can be very time consuming, especially considering we have over 450 authorized collection sites and over 12,000 drivers/employees in our testing pools.

“I am too busy to test, this is an inconvenience!”

“I am not going to loose a $400, $500 or $1000 day to test.” Really, the only reasonable reply to that statement is that this is a requirement that comes with the occupation. Although we do understand the unfortunate inconvenience related to random testing, in order to make the random process effective the DOT doesn’t really consider “convenience” a factor in the requirements. We did not write the regulations; we provide a service to let you know what is required. What you choose to do is really your responsibility and the consequences ultimately affect you, whether it is in the form of a fine or potential loss of your operating authority. The only effect it has on AADT/C-DATA is that you will be made inactive in our random program and ineligible for any of our future services.

In conclusion

As you can see from some of the comments, questions and complaints that our AADT/C-DATA Team receives, it takes commitment and dedication to continue to offer the outstanding service that they do with a smile each and every time. Of course, these complaints are few compared to the many positive comments we get from our clients and it is those compliments that are always greatly appreciated and make what we do worthwhile.

Also, I would like to congratulate the three newest members of our team, Sandy Medina, Veronica Hernandez-Ramirez and Victoria Femath for successfully completing their certified collector training in late August as well as their training in reasonable suspicion of controlled substance and alcohol misuse.

Designated Employer Representative (DER)
Proper Etiquette of Notification of a Random

We all know no one likes to ask someone to go pee in a cup, but finding the proper way to handle this type of situation is very important on the effects of the outcome of the request. For instance, by making too big of a joke out of it, the employee knows the company doesn’t take the program seriously. Acting too much like the Secret Police, and the employee believes the company is too suspicious of everyone and trying to hard to find a positive no matter what.

So, to help find the right balance for a DER or testing supervisor, a couple of experts in proper etiquette and protocol where solicited for there opinions.

Cindy Grosso, founder of the Charleston School of Protocol & Etiquette in Charleston, SC believes “The Skill of diplomacy is saying what you want in a way that’s not offensive or accusatory of a person,” Ms. Grosso says. “No one should be offended if you say it right.”
She also suggests using a card to read citing the federal regulation. “This shows employee’s that you are not picking on them, but asking them to do something required by law.”

Margaret Ann Pritchard of Manners & Protocol in Brentwood, TN suggests, “Treat the employee with respect, but be honest that the test is an important condition of employment, and, don’t sugar-coat the request to give employees the impression that the test is less important than it really is and not a critical part of their position.”But, that doesn’t mean the situation still can’t be handled with some humor.

A few key things for DERs and testing supervisors to keep in mind:

• Never notify the employee by intercom, radio or in front of the group.
  
• If working with others, take the employee aside to inform him that he has been chosen for testing.
  
• Never give them advanced notice, once you have notified them they must precede immediately to the collection site.
  
• Have a written list of who is scheduled for testing and what type of test (alcohol, drugs, or both).
  
• Show the employee the notification so they know you are not just singling them out without a valid method of selection.
  
• Notify the employee face-to-face, so you can answer any questions and be certain they were actually notified. Also properly instruct them on what steps they need to take to complete the random process.

“The skill of empathy also needs to be used,” Ms. Grosso says, who recommends acknowledging to employees that the request, while necessary, is in itself unpleasant. In the end, social awkwardness should never keep a DER and testing supervisor from professionally executing their duties in a manner that affects the testing program”.