If you have a drug or alcohol violation in the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, you may know that you need to complete the return-to-duty process before returning to safety-sensitive work.
What may be less clear is who is responsible for each step and what actually gets reported to the Clearinghouse.
As a Substance Abuse Professional, or SAP, my role is an important part of that process, but I am not responsible for every Clearinghouse entry. Understanding where the SAP’s responsibilities begin and end can make the process much easier to navigate.
First, What Does It Mean to Designate a SAP?
After a drug or alcohol program violation, a CDL driver must select a DOT-qualified SAP to begin the return-to-duty process.
If you are working for an employer, your employer is required to provide you with a list of qualified SAPs. You are not required to choose someone from that list. You may select a qualified SAP based on your own research.
Once you have contacted a SAP and established that you will be working together, you must log in to your FMCSA Clearinghouse account and designate that SAP.
Your SAP then accepts the designation through the Clearinghouse.
This is an important step. Until the designation is completed and accepted, your SAP cannot enter your return-to-duty information into your Clearinghouse record.
The SAP Makes Two Entries in the Clearinghouse
There can be confusion about what a SAP reports. The SAP is responsible for two specific entries in the FMCSA Clearinghouse.
1. Date of the Initial SAP Assessment
The first entry is the date your initial SAP assessment is completed.
During the assessment, the SAP evaluates your situation and determines what education and/or treatment you must successfully complete as part of the return-to-duty process.
The SAP then provides you with recommendations and monitors your progress toward meeting those requirements.
2. Date You Are Eligible for Return-to-Duty Testing
After you complete the education and/or treatment requirements, you return to the SAP for a follow-up evaluation.
If the SAP determines that you have successfully complied with the recommendations, the SAP enters the date you became eligible for return-to-duty testing into the Clearinghouse.
Notice the wording: eligible for testing.
That does not mean you have completed the return-to-duty process, and it does not mean the SAP sends you for the test.
Who Orders the Return-to-Duty Test?
For most CDL drivers, your current or prospective DOT-regulated employer must send you for the return-to-duty test.
You cannot simply order your own DOT return-to-duty test and have the result count toward completing the federal process.
If you are not currently employed, you may need an employer willing to move forward with you through this portion of the return-to-duty process.
There are different requirements for owner-operators. An owner-operator must use a designated consortium/third-party administrator, or C/TPA, to fulfill applicable employer responsibilities.
What Does the Employer Report?
Once you have been determined eligible for return-to-duty testing, the reporting responsibility shifts.
The employer is responsible for reporting the negative return-to-duty test result to the Clearinghouse. When the required negative RTD result is reported, the driver's Clearinghouse status changes from “prohibited” to “not prohibited.”
The employer is also responsible for ensuring the SAP's prescribed follow-up testing plan is carried out and for reporting the successful completion of that plan to the Clearinghouse.
An employer may designate a C/TPA to perform certain Clearinghouse functions on its behalf. However, using a C/TPA does not eliminate the employer's responsibility for compliance.
For owner-operators, a designated C/TPA fulfills required employer functions under the Clearinghouse rules.
What About the Follow-Up Testing Plan?
As part of the return-to-duty process, the SAP develops a follow-up testing plan.
The plan is provided to the appropriate employer, but the plan itself is not entered into the Clearinghouse by the SAP.
Follow-up testing is separate from an employer's regular random testing program. DOT rules require a minimum of six unannounced follow-up tests during the first 12 months after the employee returns to safety-sensitive duties, although a SAP may prescribe additional testing over a longer period when appropriate.
The employer is responsible for ensuring the required follow-up tests are completed.
A Simple Way to Remember Who Does What
Think of the Clearinghouse process this way:
DRIVER: Selects and designates a qualified SAP.
SAP: Reports the initial assessment date and the date the driver becomes eligible for return-to-duty testing.
EMPLOYER: Directs the driver to the return-to-duty test, reports the negative RTD result and administers the SAP's follow-up testing plan.
C/TPA: May perform authorized Clearinghouse functions on behalf of an employer. Owner-operators are required to designate a C/TPA for applicable employer responsibilities.
Each person has a different role, and those roles work together to move the process forward.
You Don't Have to Figure It Out Alone
A Clearinghouse violation can affect your career and your livelihood, and it is completely understandable to have questions about what happens next.
My job as a SAP is not to judge you or make the process more difficult. My job is to provide a professional evaluation, explain what is required, develop appropriate recommendations and help you understand your responsibilities as you work through the DOT return-to-duty process.
Your job matters. Your future matters.
If you need to begin the return-to-duty process or have questions about working with a DOT-qualified Substance Abuse Professional, contact Return to Duty SAP Services.
This article is intended for general educational purposes and does not replace applicable DOT regulations or guidance. Requirements may vary depending on the circumstances of an individual case.