newsUpdates

April 2008

Questions & Answers

Question – In a pre-employment situation, either DOT or non-DOT, is the employee ever allowed to leave the collection site if they cannot provide a sample?

Answer – For a DOT collection, section 40.191 states that “As an employee, you have refused to take a drug test if you: (2) fail to remain at the testing site until the testing process is complete; Provided, that an employee who leaves the testing site before the testing process commences (see §40.63 (c)) for a pre-employment test is not deemed to have refused to test.” Again this only pertains to DOT pre-employment testing. For all other testing the employee is not to leave the collection site and may be required to remain up to 3-hours once the first unsuccessful collection has commenced. Refer to insufficient amount §40.193.
In regards to pre-employment testing for non-DOT, you should refer to the employer’s policy on refusals to test.

“What Makes Our Company and Services Different than Any Other Consortium/Third Party Administrator (C/TPA) in the Drug and Alcohol Testing Business?”

“Why would I use your services?”

This is a question we have been asked many times and when you sincerely contemplate the answer, in some areas there isn’t much of a noted difference between AADT and other legitimate drug testing C/TPA’s, but in many other areas there actually is no comparison. We are truly in a league of our own.

Unfortunately, all too often clients just see the base cost and do not weigh the benefit factors. But when it comes down to the bottom line, our services are not only built on offering an excellent product at competitive prices, but a sense of pride in not just taking from, but giving back to the industry that supports our business, association and families. And as an added benefit, we are helping in the overall safety factor that surely benefits the general public.

Outside of the basic services which other C/TPA do for profit, I honestly do not know of one other California or even nationwide based C/TPA that does all of the following within a non-profit environment:

All of these services come at no extra cost to our clients!
So yes, other Consortium/CTPA’s offer drug and alcohol testing programs at a comparable price or cost, but do they really even compare?

Other Services That AADT Offers That May or May
Not be the Basic Services Offered By Other C/TPA’s:

We Are Always Listening …
We are always looking to improve our services and encourage feedback from our clients and industry enforcement.

With each enrollment, every company is given a comprehensive Company Compliance Manual whether you are an owner-operator or a company with employees. Although some of the manuals content may not pertain to you at the time (owner-operator versus employers), it is everything you will need to aid you in understanding and compiling with your drug and alcohol testing program.

We now have added a “Refusal to Test Documentation Form” (Form 106). This form is to be used by the employer when questioning the employee whether he/she has tested positive, or refused to test on any pre-employment drug or alcohol test administered by an employer to which the employee applied for, but did not obtain, safety sensitive transportation work covered by DOT agency drug and alcohol testing rules during the past 2-years. 49 CFR Part 40.25(j). Although the DOT regulation only states you have to “ask” and nothing about receiving written documentation, we have added this as one of the forms within our Company Compliance Manual and on our website and they are downloadable forms for employers to have formal documentation requirements for their employment files.

Various documents are constantly being added and updated on our website. We encourage everyone to frequently visit our website at aadrugtesting.com for the latest forms, collection sites and industry information updates. If you have any questions or need assistance accessing our site, please contact us at (800) 820-9314.

We Are Here To Help!

 

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.