FMCSA Grants Temporary 90-Day Waiver for Certain Pre-Employment Testing Requirements

On June 5, 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA” or “Agency”) issued a three-month waiver in response to the “economic emergency” created by the Covid-19 pandemic, relieving employers of the obligation to conduct pre-employment drug testing of commercial motor vehicle drivers who have been furloughed for more than 30 but less than 90 days.

Normally, if the driver has been furloughed or laid off for more than 30 days and was not subject to random controlled substances testing, the employer must conduct another pre-employment test before placing the driver in a safety sensitive position. Now, the employer can forego the testing, provided certain other standard requirements are still met.

As they say, the devil is in the details. Employers wishing to take advantage of this waiver are encouraged to read the FMCSA’s web post closely to insure they are complying with its terms, conditions and restrictions. The FMCSA was able to justify issuing this waiver from a safety perspective because of the existence of the Clearinghouse, which went live in January 2020, as it provides employers with “a useful new tool for identifying drivers’ drug and alcohol program violations that did not exist at the time the Agency enacted the original 30-day limit for the exception found in § 382.301(b).”

This 90-day waiver expires September 30, 2020. After that, employers will need to revert to following the original 30-day rule.