TOW NEWS &
Regulations

newsUpdates

August 2010


Questions & Answers

Question - Will my drug testing program with AADT be compliant in other states and in interstate work? What if I move to another state?

Answer -The answer to both questions is – Yes.
American Alliance Drug Testing has always been a nationwide Consortium/Third Party Administrator (C/TPA) and has provided professional services consistent with federally mandated DOT FMCSA drug and alcohol testing since its inception in 1995. California like most states, adopted the federal regulations associated with drug and alcohol testing (also 1995). Specifically, it adopted DOT FMCSA Title 49 CFR Parts 40 & 382 (the primary federal regulations), so you have been covered anywhere in the United States since we started. Your program with AADT would be compliant in any state and even Canada, it doesn’t matter where a C/TPA is located, what matters is how professionally the business is run.

Clients Beware - Recently, we received a number of complaints from members who had received cold calls from salesmen from competing C/TPA’s. The stories are all about the same; a salesman asks a number of questions about your drug testing program and than makes some very inaccurate and confusing comments about “your drug program is not being in compliance with federal regulations.” This is nothing more than lies and deception. We are all experiencing some very tough times, and some businesses are adopting unscrupulous and very unprofessional methods to sell their products. So please be careful, if by chance you have received a call like this, we would like to hear from you.
Call 800-820-9314 and ask for Sandy.

New AADT Online Payment Feature

All of those who have been asking us to get current with the computer era….You can now pay your AADT invoices online. We have been working on ways to make it convenient for our clients and have now launched our new online bill pay feature as part of this effort. With the rising cost of postage, you do not need to waste a stamp and paper.

It’s as easy as logging on to our website at aadrugtesting.com. Then, using your I.D. and password that you will create, go to the “Pay Invoice” option on the website menu on the left side.

You will need your invoice number to make a payment. This site is secured, so you do not have to be worried about your credit card information getting into the wrong hands. Be aware that to keep this information secure, the system will not store your payment information; you will have to reenter the card number each time you make a payment.
Thank you from the AADT Staff

DOT Publishes Final Drug Testing Rule Changes, August 13Effective October 1, 2010 (6-weeks)

The following is a summary of the Final Rule Changes in 49 CFR Part 40:

  1. The Department is required by the Omnibus Transportation Employees Testing Act (Omnibus Act) to follow the HHS requirements for the testing procedures/protocols and drugs for which we test.

  2. Primary laboratory requirements in this final rule include:
    - Testing for MDMA (aka. Ecstasy);
    - Lowering cutoff levels for cocaine and amphetamines;
    - Conducting mandatory initial testing for heroin;
  3. The Department brought several testing definitions in-line with those of HHS.

  4. Each Medical Review Officer (MRO) will need to be re-qualified including passing an examination given by an MRO training organization - every five years. The Final Rule eliminated the requirement for each MRO to take 12 hours of continuing education every three years.

  5. An MRO will not need to be trained by an HHS-approved MRO training organization as long as the MRO meets DOTs qualification and requalification training requirements.

  6. MRO recordkeeping requirements did not change from the five years for non-negatives and one year for negatives.

  7. The Final Rule does not allow the use of HHS-Certified Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities (IITFs) to conduct initial drug testing because the Omnibus Act requires laboratories to be able to perform both initial and confirmation testing but IITFs cannot conduct confirmation testing.

  8. The Final Rule is effective October 1, 2010.

Read the full Rule changes here.

- From DATIA Headquarters