October 15, 2002
Ms. Kaye Kirby
Office of Bus and Truck Standards Operations
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Department of Transportation
400 Seventh Street, Room 8301
Washington, DC 20590
Re: Docket #FMCSA-2001-9664
Dear Ms. Kirby:
I am writing to follow up on our conversation of September 17, 2002 regarding the status of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) congressionally mandated drug test results study. The study, which was mandated in Section 226 of the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (signed into law on December 9, 1999), was required to be submitted to Congress by December 9, 2001. To date, the report has not been submitted and the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA) cannot emphasize to you enough the importance of the study and the need to establish a means of tracking verified positive drug and alcohol testing results for drivers subject to controlled substance testing by 49 CFR Part 382.
A look at the comments from the FMCSA’s July 9, 2001 request for comments (Docket No. FMCSA-2001-9664) on the feasibility of developing a database of verified positive test results for covered drivers, verifies that both the transportation industry and the drug and alcohol testing industry see great merits in establishing such a database. Employers and service providers alike routinely encounter the problem of covered drivers testing positive for controlled substances for one employer only to quit and begin working for another employer within days without competing the required education/treatment, and follow-up testing. This situation, which occurs more than one might think, clearly does not improve motor carrier safety.
On behalf of the members of DATIA, I request that the FMCSA make the completion and submission of its required drug test results study a top priority for the sake of public safety. I will follow up with you in the next two weeks to determine the status of the report and its expected release date. If you have any questions in the meantime, I can be reached at 800-355-1257 or lshelton@wpa.org.
Sincerely,
Laura E. Shelton
Executive Director
CC: Mr. Joseph M. Clapp, Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Hon. Thomas Daschle, Majority Leader, United States Senate
Hon. J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, United States House of Representatives
Hon. Ernest F. Hollings, Chairman, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Hon. Norman Mineta, Secretary, Department of Transportation
Hon. Don Young, Chairman, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, United States House of Representatives
