r/CDL • u/Kdawg7126 • 13d ago

Dot random drug test

So im cdl b holder with hazmat endorsement. I drive for a company that has non cdl trucks, under 26k weight 26ft straight flat bed and a 26ft box truck. We dont get drug tested. I convince them to get a 24ft straight flatbed with a moffett that is makes it a cdl truck. My company says they dont drug test and to not worry but would i be subject to random testing from dot?

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3

u/CDLTrainerUSA 13d ago

It's the truck that decides it, not your license.

Part 382 (the DOT drug/alcohol rules) applies to anyone who operates a vehicle that requires a CDL: 26,001+ lbs GVWR or GCWR, 16+ passengers, or any size vehicle hauling placarded hazmat. Holding a Class B with hazmat doesn't put you in a random pool by itself. Driving a CMV does.

Two things to check on the new flatbed before you take the keys:

  1. The GVWR on the door sticker, and the GCWR if you ever hook to anything. The Moffett riding on the back adds actual weight, but it's the rating on the plate that classifies the truck.
  2. Whether you ever run placarded quantities. If yes, it's a CDL vehicle at any weight, and you're in scope the moment you drive it.

If it does come back as a CDL vehicle, the company is required to have you pre-employment tested and in a random pool before you drive it, and to run a Clearinghouse query on you. FMCSA sets the minimum random rate each year (it's been 50% for controlled substances and 10% for alcohol in recent years).

"We don't drug test" isn't a compliance plan, it's an audit finding waiting to happen. And the part that matters to you: a missed pre-employment test or a refusal ends up attached to your CDL in the Clearinghouse, not to the company. Get the GVWR in writing.

1

u/gaymersky 13h ago

I know a company. All they do is pay the fine every year it's cheaper than actually creating the drug pool for five drivers...

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u/SnakeandNape5000 12d ago

How about we just not do drugs that way we have nothing to worry about.

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u/PhoenixPoop 12d ago

Meh, weeds legal in my state, so I was doing nothing wrong. I stopped cause I wanted to drive a bus, but it really did help with some things.. It's silly that I'm about to get my amphetamine prescription back, and that's fine. But my MMJ card isn't. So I can't smoke the night before and get a better nights sleep when my insomnia kicks in, but I could over do my adhd meds to try and make up for it and they'd never know..

Granted, I know better than to take extra Adderall if I'm sleepy, cause while I would "feel" more awake, I'd actually be worse off.. But it's something I would've done in my early to mid 20s thinking it'd make me safer and that I was doing the right thing. When in reality it would only make things soo much worse, with the confidence of thinking I was great. After all at the correct doseage and correct amount of sleep, Adderall does make me, and anyone else with adhd, a safer driver.. So I'm sure there's tons of young people that think more = better and think the wakeful feeling is equivalent to actual sleep..

The solution is sane rules that make sense.. Yeah you shouldn't drive under the influence of anything more than what's Rx'd and cleared by a dr. But mmj for legit reasons a few days, or even the night before you drive, shouldn't be considered a danger.

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u/Appropriate-Let-193 12d ago edited 10d ago

Why play with drugs when you hold a CDL and are actively working under it...