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49 CFR 382.301: Pre-employment drug testing

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49 CFR 382.301: Pre-employment drug testing
Law read on2026-11-06[1]

49 CFR 382.301 addresses testing before a driver first performs safety-sensitive functions for an employer, including drivers the employer intends to hire or use. Under 49 CFR 382.301(a), controlled substances testing is a prerequisite to that work unless the employer uses the exception in 49 CFR 382.301(b). Section 382.301(a) prohibits the employer from allowing the work without receiving a verified negative controlled substances test result from the MRO or C/TPA, subject to that exception.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

49 CFR 382.301(b) ties the exception to recent participation in a qualifying testing program, testing or random-program history, and the absence of specified violation records at known prior employers. Section 382.301(c) adds verification and documentation requirements for employers using the exception. Section 382.301(d) separately permits pre-employment alcohol testing under stated conditions. Applicability comes from 49 CFR 382.103, while 49 CFR 382.107 supplies definitions relevant to the testing requirement.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Contents

What the cited provisions say

Under 49 CFR 382.301(b), the driver must have participated in a controlled substances testing program meeting this part's requirements within the previous 30 days. Under 49 CFR 382.301(b)(2), while participating in the program qualifying under paragraph (b)(1), the driver must either have been tested for controlled substances within the past six months or have participated in random controlled substances testing for the previous 12 months, measured from the application date. Section 382.301(b)(3) requires the employer to ensure that no known prior employer has records of a violation of this part or another DOT agency's controlled substances use rule within the previous six months.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Under 49 CFR 382.301(d), optional alcohol testing must cover every covered employee before initial safety-sensitive work, including transfers, and treat safety-sensitive employees alike. Section 382.301(d) requires testing after a contingent employment or transfer offer, using part 40 procedures, and prohibits starting safety-sensitive functions unless the test indicates an alcohol concentration of less than 0.04.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Who and what the provisions cover

49 CFR 382.103(a) applies to service agents and to persons operating commercial motor vehicles in commerce in any State, and their employers, when subject to the specified United States, Mexican, or Canadian commercial licensing requirements, subject to 49 CFR 382.103(d). Under 49 CFR 382.103(b), an employer employing himself or herself as a driver must comply with both employer and driver requirements; an employer employing only himself or herself as a driver must implement a random alcohol and controlled substances testing program with two or more covered employees in the random testing selection pool.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

49 CFR 382.107 includes regularly employed, occasional, leased, and independent owner-operator drivers in its driver definition. Under 49 CFR 382.107, an employer is a person or entity employing one or more employees, including a self-employed individual, that is subject to DOT agency regulations requiring compliance with this part; the term identifies the entity responsible for overall implementation of DOT drug and alcohol program requirements, includes its personnel who take personnel actions resulting from applicable violations, and excludes service agents. Section 382.107 treats actual performance, readiness, and immediate availability as performing a safety-sensitive function; its safety-sensitive definition includes dispatch waiting unless relieved from duty, vehicle inspection, driving, loading work, and attendance upon a disabled vehicle.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Conditions and exceptions

49 CFR 382.103(c) makes the general exceptions in 49 CFR 390.3T(f) inapplicable to this part unless 49 CFR 382.103(d) specifically provides otherwise. Section 382.103(d)(1) excludes employers and drivers required to comply only with part 655 testing requirements. Section 382.103(d)(2) excludes those a State must waive from part 383, including the listed military and active duty U.S. Coast Guard personnel.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Under 49 CFR 382.103(d)(3), a discretionary State exemption from part 383 is required for the listed farm and emergency vehicle categories. Section 382.103(d)(3)(i) requires farmer control and operation, transport of agricultural products, machinery or supplies to or from a farm, use within 241 kilometers (150 miles) of the farm, and no for-hire motor carrier operation except the referenced exempt motor carrier category. Section 382.103(d)(3)(ii) requires emergency vehicles necessary for preserving life or property or executing emergency governmental functions, with audible and visual signals and exemption from normal traffic regulation. Section 382.103(d)(4) separately excludes operators of covered farm vehicles as defined in the referenced 49 CFR 390.5.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

49 CFR 382.301(c)(1) requires an employer using the exception to contact the driver's testing programs and retain their names and addresses, participation verification, part 40 conformity verification, and verification of qualification under this part, including no controlled substances testing refusal. Section 382.301(c)(1) also requires the last controlled substances test date, results from the previous six months, and other subpart B violations.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

49 CFR 382.301(c)(2) requires an employer using, but not employing, a driver more than once a year to obtain that information at least once every six months and maintain the records under 49 CFR 382.401. Section 382.301(c)(2) requires a pre-employment controlled substances test if participation in a program complying with this part and part 40 cannot be verified. Section 382.401(c)(2)(vi) identifies documents generated in verifying prior employers' test results for the exception among required records. Section 382.107 defines alcohol concentration as grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath indicated by an evidential breath test.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Source date and limits

This entry uses primary regulatory text saved on 2026-11-06 from the eCFR material attributed to the National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register. That date identifies the saved sources, not verification of the law today. The statute-only scope here is limited to the supplied federal regulatory units. Judicial interpretation, case-specific application, and legal advice are outside this general reference entry.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

The saved text of 49 CFR 382.401(c) identifies record categories but does not supply retention periods from other subsections. References in 49 CFR 382.301 to part 40 and subpart B do not provide the full text of those provisions in this source set. The covered farm vehicle definition referenced by 49 CFR 382.103(d)(4) is also not supplied. This entry therefore does not reconstruct those omitted requirements or definitions. The separately supplied definitions in 49 CFR 390.5T are not substituted for the testing-specific definitions in 49 CFR 382.107.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

On related publications

Law checked on against the primary sources cited below. Statutes and rules change; read the current official text before relying on a deadline or rule.

References

  1. abcdefghijklm "49 CFR 382.103, Applicability". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  2. abcdefghijkl "49 CFR 382.107, Definitions". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  3. abcdefghijkl "49 CFR 382.301, Pre-employment testing". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  4. abcdefghijkl "49 CFR 382.401, Retention of records". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  5. abcdefghijkl "49 CFR 390.3T, General applicability". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  6. abcdefghijkl "49 CFR 390.5T, Definitions". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record