National Clearinghouse for Driver Drug and Alcohol Testing

History Included in New Highway Bill

There is a well-known loophole in the federal drug and alcohol testing requirements for commercial drivers that is being exploited by some drug-abusing drivers. When a driver moves from one trucking company to another, some “positive” drug and alcohol test results are not being discovered by the hiring company because these “positive” results are self-reported and not centrally tracked. As a result, the hiring company may not be aware of a driver’s past “positive” drug test results and could be hiring a driver who has not been evaluated, treated and cleared to return-to-duty by a substance abuse professional.

CCTA and AADT has urged both the State Legislature of California and Congress since 1999 to authorize and fund the development and deployment of a centralized clearinghouse, with appropriate privacy safeguards for drivers, and strict access controls for authorized users. We have also urged inclusion of positive alcohol test results in a clearinghouse since both drug and alcohol testing are required as part of DOT’s commercial driver regulatory program.

Hopefully, the new highway bill will allocate the necessary resources to finally bring this concept to fruition after 14 years of industry lobbying.