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We want to notify our FTA recipients whose
random testing program combines their
safety-sensitive employees into one random
testing pool with Federal Motor Carrier
Administration (FMCSA) safety-sensitive CDL
holders that the following notice applies:
FMCSA lowered the Controlled Substances Random
Testing Rate for Calendar Year 2016.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCSA) today announced that it will lower the
random testing rate for controlled substances
from the current 50 percent to 25 percent for the
upcoming calendar year, effective
January 1, 2016. FMCSA conducts a random
survey to ensure compliance with the set testing
rates, known as the Management Information
System (MIS) or MIS survey. According to federal
regulations, when the data received in the MIS for
two consecutive calendar years indicate that the
positive rate for controlled substances is less
than one percent, the FMCSA Administrator has
the discretion to lower the minimum annual
testing rate. While the MIS survey resulted in a
positive rate of less than one percent for the 2011
and 2012 testing years, the Acting Administrator
chose to maintain the 50 percent rate for another
year. The 2013 testing year also showed a
positive rate of less than one percent, so after
three years, the Acting Administrator approved a
lower testing rate. If at any time the positive rate
for controlled substances exceeds one percent,
the testing rate will revert back to 50 percent.
For a copy of today's announcement, see:
The practical effect of this change is that in prior years the higher FMCSA random rate needed to be met if you combined your FTA safety-sensitive employees into one federal pool with your FMCSA safety-sensitive employees. Now that same combined pool may test at the minimum rate of 25%.
The random alcohol testing rates remain the same.
Any questions, please contact Bev Krieger or Linda De Herrera at Precision Compliance, Inc.
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