The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is a government organization that is dedicated to supporting the safety of workers who drive for a living. This includes truck drivers and delivery men and women, among other commercial driving occupations. All of the people employed as a commercial driver are required to obtain a commercial driver’s license at the DMV. This test includes testing potential commercial drivers for alcohol or drugs.

If you operate a commercial vehicle that requires you to have a commercial drivers’ license, then you are compelled to submit to alcohol and drug testing. The administrators normally will issue periodic urine, blood, or breath tests for this purpose while you are working. The people who are required to take these tests involve private and for-hire motor carriers (like limousines,) and those who drive for churches.

Anyone who transports for a civic organization like a disabled veterans transportation service of a Boys and Girls’ Club needs to submit to these tests. Anyone who owns a commercial vehicle must be tested as well. Employees who work as a driver for federal, state, or local government must also be tested, and those who assign drivers can require the tests.

Alcohol tests are required any time after a commercial driver gets in an accident. This is regardless of whether or not the commercial driver as at fault in the misfortune. If the driver was not cited for a moving traffic violation, he or she may be allowed to avoid testing, unless the accident included fatality. Commercial licensed drivers must also submit to an alcohol test whenever an official has reasonable suspicion to believe that the employer has been drinking. The test can be called by an employer or supervisor, as well as by law enforcement.

For commercial drivers, it is also permissible to take random alcohol tests. This means that the person issuing the test doesn’t need to have a legitimate reason to issue the checks. The randomized tests help to keep drivers accountable at all times. The testing can be conducted before, during, or just-after a driver’s performance of his or her duties. The driver can be randomly selected to undergo a test, as long as he or she is not always targeted. Employees should be tested in a frequency equal to 10 percent of the driver positions subject to regulations.

In addition, when an individual has violated the alcohol standards at a commercial institution, and returns to work after serving a sentence or suspension, then follow-up tests will be frequent and unannounced. Drivers who are permitted to work again are required by FMCSA to undergo at least 6 tests within the first 12 months back on the job.

All people who have a commercial drivers’ license are expressly prohibited from operating their vehicle while consuming or using alcohol. They are also prohibited from driving with a breath-alcohol-content of .04 percent or higher. While the national BAC level is 0.08, this lower requirement helps to assure more safety on the road for those who are employed. As well, drivers who are operating their vehicle for a commercial purpose are not permitted to drive within four hours of consuming any alcohol.

This means that it is not permissive for a truck driver to stop and drink a beer at a roadside pit stop and then hop back in the truck. The same goes for bus drivers, limousine drivers, and other transportation employees. If you catch someone drinking and then driving a commercial vehicle, you have the right to report this to the police. If you were caught driving with a 0.04 percent BAC in a commercial vehicle, then talk to a DUI attorney for help with your case. You will want someone professional and persuasive on your side during your trial to fight for your innocence and work to get you back on the job!