Your DOT Drug Program Service Agents

Today we’re starting a blog-post series covering the roles of what the DOT/FMCSA call “Service Agents.”

The FMCSA describes Service Agent as “...any person or entity, other than an employee of the motor carrier, used to help implement the DOT/FMCSA drug and alcohol testing regulations.”

When you think of Service Agents (SA) here’s who we’re talking about:

The trained urine collector (at your local collection site) who takes your employees through the approved urine collection process for DOT drug screening.

The alcohol technicians trained to perform DOT approved alcohol screening and confirmation services using Approved Breath Alcohol Testing devices with your employees having alcohol tests.

The laboratory that is responsible for processing your employees’ collected urine specimen according to the federal guidelines required by the DOT.

The doctor who serves as a Medical Review Officer (MRO) reviews results, researches and makes determination about positive results and reports your urine drug screen results to your company.

The substance abuse professional that follows DOT guidelines to work with an employee who has violated the testing regulations or gotten a positive result, or come forward to request help with a related problem and helps them get back to work.

The third-party administrator (TPA) that helps coordinate any number of services for you including random selections, notifications, reports, for individual employers and those with drivers in a consortium pool.

According to the the FMCSA you can hire service agents to help with many different aspects of your DOT regulated drug program but they still hold you 100% accountable for compliance with the regulations.

So obviously it’s crucial you understand the role and responsibilities of the Service Agents you work with, what they do, what you still need to do, and how to work with them.

Mydrugtestingprogram.com is Service Agent-TPA that helps our clients with their DOT drug and alcohol testing programs including setting up with other service agents such as collection sites, lab, and MROs.

Keep watching for the new entries in the Service Agent series helping you get to know what you need to about each.