FMCSA to propose new clearinghouse of positive drug & alcohol tests for truckers
National clearinghouse would store and archive all drug and alcohol violations – including refusals to submit to testing – of all truckers in U.S.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is nearly ready to release a proposal that would establish a clearinghouse of positive drug and alcohol tests for truck drivers, according to Administrator Anne Ferro.
This rule is mandated in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21 Act), something that I have discussed frequently on this commercial motor vehicle safety blog.
The clearinghouse rule would establish a national database that stores the information of all positive drug or alcohol tests of truck drivers and bus drivers, as well as their refusals to take tests.
This proposal is long overdue.
From my own experience as a lawyer who has litigated many horrible truck accident cases involving drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol, it is an idea that needs implementation now.
Many times, when an intoxicated truck or bus driver causes a serious wreck under the influence, it is not their first rodeo with drugs or alcohol. And what’s worse, we’re talking about professional drivers who do not care about endangering the lives of our families.
Having a centralized database would ostracize these bad truck drivers – and probably make them unemployable in states with punitive damages. It would prevent them from being hired to drive any big-rig truck by any decent trucking company that cares about safety. And all motor carriers would then be required to query the database before hiring drivers, so the effect would be widespread and the impact immediate. We would see safer roads and a corresponding immediate decrease in preventable truck accidents – and a decrease in innocent lives lost.
Administrator Ferro expressed the value of the clearinghouse at a recent session regarding the FMCSA’s research at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting.
“[The clearinghouse] will be a very helpful system that will accompany the [requirement], but first we’ve got to get through the proposal phase,” she said, noting that the rule is complete and under review of the FMSCA.
