The order directs expedited rescheduling to Schedule III, but the same agency that’s held up oral fluid testing for two years now holds the keys to marijuana testing’s future.
Trump’s marijuana rescheduling could strip DOT of testing authority for 4 million CDL drivers. Without a safety carve-out, the agency that’s kept impaired operators off highways for 34 years loses its legal teeth. Here’s what carriers need to do before the rules change.
The Department of Transportation announced this week it wants to add fentanyl testing to its mandatory drug screening program for commercial drivers, marking the first major expansion of federal drug testing requirements since amphetamines were added in 2017.
The trucking industry’s decade-long push for hair follicle drug testing is reaching a critical inflection point as the Trump administration prepares to address guidelines that have been delayed repeatedly since 2015. Major carriers say hair testing catches 10 times more drug users than urine screens, but face fierce opposition from minority groups and independent truckers who claim the methods are discriminatory.
The FMCSA will still not disqualify a truck driver for failing a hair test for drug use.
The use of hair tests to detect drug use among truckers is one step closer to reality.
White House receives guidelines but DOT, FMCSA still must sign off.
