“Every month that passes without certified oral fluid testing is another month when federal workers with paruresis face anxiety, discrimination, and career barriers.”
By Kastalia Medrano, Filter
The Department of Transportation will require “directly observed” urine drug testing in federal workplace situations where saliva testing has been called for, but is not possible. The clarification to DOT drug and alcohol testing procedures is the latest development in the trucking industry’s years-long push for oral fluid testing as an alternative to urine testing.
The new rule was published in the Federal Register on May 11, and will take effect June 10.
Truck drivers, who are subject to an inordinate number of federal regulations, don’t choose their method of drug-testing—their DOT-regulated employers do. The campaign for implementation of oral fluid testing has been led by the American Trucking Association (ATA), which argues that it’s necessary to “keep impaired drivers off the road and uphold the trucking industry’s commitment to safety.”
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) approved lab-based oral fluid testing in 2019, and DOT finalized its own regulations authorizing employers to choose this as an alternative to urine testing in 2023. But actual implementation requires at least two laboratories that are
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