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Regulatory Guidance

Welcome to the FMCSA Guidance Portal. This web portal is a searchable, indexed database that contains and links to all guidance documents in effect from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The guidance documents lack the force and effect of law, unless expressly authorized by statute or incorporated into a contract.

To comment on any guidance document, or to request issuance, reconsideration, modification, or rescission of any guidance document, please identify the guidance document in your request and send it to: FMCSAguidance@dot.gov. NOTE: The FMCSAguidance mailbox is not intended to serve as a mailbox for general inquiries. For inquiries that go beyond the limited purpose of the FMCSAguidance mailbox, please call FMCSA's Information Line (800-832-5660) or visit FMCSA's "Contact Us" page to send your inquiry to the appropriate mailbox.

Subject Agency Identifier Topic Issued Date
A consignee, consignor, or other party is a motor carrier employer for purposes of 49 CFR parts 382 through 399. FMCSA-D&A-382.307-Q03 Drug & Alcohol Testing – Reasonable Suspicion
Are the reasonable suspicion testing and training requirements of §§382.307 and 382.603 applicable to an owner-operator who is both an employer and the only employee? FMCSA-D&A-382.307-Q04 Drug & Alcohol Testing – Reasonable Suspicion
A driver has tested positive and completed the referral and evaluation process up to the point of being released by the SAP for a return-to-duty test. FMCSA-D&A-382.309-Q01 Drug & Alcohol Testing – Reasonable Suspicion
The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA)regulations are written on an annual calendar year basis. Will foreign motor carriers, using this system, work from July 1 to June 30, or is everything to be managed on a six-month basis for the first year a FMCSA-D&A-382.403-Q01 Drug & Alcohol Test Results Reporting
May employers who are subject to other Federal agencies’ regulations, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, etc., allow those agencies to view or have access to test records required to be prepared and mai FMCSA-D&A-382.405-Q01 Drug & Alcohol Testing Records - Access
How should an employer compute the number of random tests to be given to ensure that the appropriate testing rate is achieved given the fluctuations in driver populations and the high turnover rate of drivers? FMCSA-D&A-382.305-Q14 Guidance on how to account for fluctuations in driver population when computing the number of random tests to be given
Must a motor carrier respond to a third-party administrator’s request (as directed by the specific, written consent of the driver authorizing release of the information on behalf of an entity such as a motor carrier) to release driver information that is FMCSA-D&A-382.405-Q02 Drug & Alcohol Testing Records - Access
May employers allow unions or the National Labor Relations Board to view or have access to test records required to be prepared and maintained by parts 40 and/or 382, such as the list(s) of all employees actually tested? FMCSA-D&A-382.405-Q03 Drug & Alcohol Testing Records - Access
May an employer or consortium include non-U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)-covered employees in a random pool with U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)-covered employees? FMCSA-D&A-382.305-Q15 Employers placing non-DOT -covered employees in a random pool
May an employer (motor carrier) disclose information required to be maintained under 49 CFR part 382 (pertaining to a driver) to the driver or the decision maker in a lawsuit, grievance, or other proceeding (including, but not limited to, worker’s compens FMCSA-D&A-382.405-Q004 Drug & Alcohol Testing Records - Access