WASHINGTON – Six large trucking companies have petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for exemptions that would allow them to use hair testing in lieu of urinalysis to comply with pre-employment drug testing regulations for drivers.
The exemption request, outlined last month in a pre-publication Federal Register announcement, was filed by J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., Schneider, Werner Enterprises Inc., Knight Transportation Inc., Dupre Logistics Inc. and Maverick Transportation.
The petitioners, most of them members of the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security, contend that if FMCSA grants them exemptions, drug users could be “more readily identified” because the companies could then share failed hair-test results with other firms when they inquire about former drivers and applicants.
Current federal regulations do not allow transportation companies to share these results.
All of the companies making the request currently conduct the pre-employment tests with both urine and hair samples, but they have complained for some time that doing both tests is redundant and costly and that hair testing is more reliable.
Fewer than 30 commercial motor vehicle companies employ hair testing for pre-employment drug testing, including the petitioners.
The FAST Act highway bill passed in late 2015 by Congress includes a pathway to permitting hair testing, but only after the Department of Health and Human Services establishes federal standards for such testing, a process that could take years.
Meanwhile, the petitioners are asking FMCSA to allow them to share the results of the hair testing they already conduct in addition to the required urine tests. They say that because the agency plans to create a drug and alcohol clearinghouse to keep records of commercial drivers who fail or refuse to take drug and alcohol tests, this is the perfect time to include hair-testing results.
The alliance said hair tests cost $75, compared with $35 for urine tests, but they are worth the extra cost because they are more effective at identifying lifestyle drug users. Being forced by FMCSA to also pay for the less-effective urine test is redundant.
The petitioners say that drivers who pass urine exams sometimes fail hair tests. That means they could potentially be hired by companies that only conduct urine tests, resulting in a less safe industry.
