DOT & Trucking News

Holiday parties and year-end events are starting, and the DOT alcohol prohibitions in 49 CFR Part 382 reach further than many drivers expect. None of these rules has changed; the chance of running into them rises this time of year.

• Four-hour rule: under 49 CFR 382.207, no driver may perform safety-sensitive functions within four hours after using alcohol.
• Under 49 CFR 382.201, a driver with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater may not report for or remain on safety-sensitive duty.
• A confirmation result of 0.02 to 0.039 is not a return-to-duty violation, but 49 CFR 382.505 keeps the driver off safety-sensitive functions until the start of the next regularly scheduled duty period, and never less than 24 hours.
• An employer with actual knowledge of a four-hour violation must keep the driver out of a CMV until the Part 40 return-to-duty process is complete (49 CFR 382.217).

What it means: Remind drivers and supervisors of the four-hour window before holiday events, and be ready to pull a driver from safety-sensitive duty on a 0.02 result even though it is not a testing violation.

Source: eCFR: 49 CFR 382.207 - Pre-duty use

Official reference: eCFR: 49 CFR 382.505 - Other alcohol-related conduct

FMCSA has posted a notice that the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse will undergo scheduled maintenance on Saturday, October 24, 2026, beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. The work is expected to take about three hours, and users may experience intermittent issues while it is underway.

• Saturday, October 24, 2026, from 9 a.m. ET for approximately 3 hours.
• FMCSA describes the effect as intermittent issues rather than a full outage.
• Separately, Pay.gov is unavailable the same day from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET, so query plan purchases should be avoided during that window.

What it means: Employers, C/TPAs and drivers who need to run a query, report a violation or finish a registration step on Saturday should plan around the morning window and retry afterward if the site does not respond.

Source: FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse: Clearinghouse News site notice (retrieved October 24, 2026)

The Department of Health and Human Services has published its periodic list of entities approved to certify Medical Review Officers for federal workplace drug testing programs. HHS approved two certifying entities, effective October 23, 2026.

• American Association of Medical Review Officers (AAMRO)
• Medical Review Officer Certification Council (MROCC)
• Under Subpart M, Section 13.2 of the HHS Mandatory Guidelines, each approved entity must resubmit its qualifications every two years, and HHS must publish the list at least every two years.
• The Mandatory Guidelines that set MRO roles and qualifications took effect October 10, 2023 for oral fluid and February 1, 2024 for urine.

What it means: Employers and C/TPAs checking an MRO's credentials can confirm the certifying body against this list. The notice reaffirms the two existing approved entities rather than adding a new one.

Source: Federal Register: HHS Approval of Entities That Certify Medical Review Officers (published October 23, 2026)

FMCSA has issued its final decision renewing, with modifications, the hours-of-service exemption held by the Association of American Railroads and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. Drivers at named member railroads may exceed the 14-hour and 60/70-hour limits to reach the site of an unplanned event on a main track.

• Effective October 20, 2026; expires October 18, 2030.
• Limited to drivers employed by the 231 member railroads listed in the notice appendix.
• Qualifying events are narrowed to main-track derailments, bridge strikes, collisions, and weather or storm events affecting main-track operations.
• Drivers may extend the 14-hour limit to 17 hours and the 60/70-hour limit by 6 hours, with an 11-hour driving cap and a 300 air-mile radius.
• Carriers must record each use and notify FMCSA within five business days of any crash under the exemption.

What it means: Only the listed railroads may use this relief, and it changes no drug or alcohol testing obligation. Normal HOS rules apply once crews are on scene and for the return trip.

Source: Federal Register: Hours of Service of Drivers; AAR and ASLRRA; Application for Exemption Renewal (published October 21, 2026)

FMCSA has posted a notice on the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse website that Pay.gov services will be temporarily unavailable on Saturday, October 24, 2026, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time. Employers are asked not to attempt to purchase Clearinghouse query plans during this brief interruption in service.

• Window: Saturday, October 24, 2026, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET
• Affected: purchasing Clearinghouse query plans, which is processed through Pay.gov
• No other Clearinghouse functions are listed as affected

What it means: If you need query plan credits for pre-employment or annual queries this weekend, buy them before 6 p.m. ET Saturday or wait until after 8 p.m. ET, so a purchase attempt does not fail mid-transaction.

Source: FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse: Clearinghouse News site notice (retrieved October 23, 2026)

FMCSA has posted a notice on the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse website that CDL verification will be unavailable during a one-hour maintenance window. The work is on the Commercial Driver Licensing Information System (CDLIS) Gateway, which the Clearinghouse uses to confirm driver CDL details.

• Thursday, October 22, 2026, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
• During that hour, Clearinghouse users will not be able to verify driver CDL information.

What it means: Employers, C/TPAs and drivers with a Clearinghouse task that depends on CDL verification, including registration steps and queries, should finish it before 8 p.m. ET or try again after the window closes at 9 p.m. ET.

Source: FMCSA: Clearinghouse News site notice (retrieved October 22, 2026)

FMCSA has expanded the hours-of-service waiver it issued in September for interstate carriers hauling gasoline and diesel. Administrator Derek Barrs signed the expansion on October 14, 2026, adding fuel ethanol and denatured ethanol, plus heating oil carried in a compartmentalized load with the other covered fuels.

• Covered fuels: diesel, gasoline, ethanol and denatured ethanol. Heating oil qualifies only at no more than 75% of a single compartmentalized cargo tank shipment.
• Driving is capped at 16 hours in any 24-hour period, with six consecutive hours in a sleeper berth every 24 hours (or eight hours off duty without one).
• Drivers must hold a valid CDL with required endorsements, must not be under an out-of-service order, disqualification or loss of driving privileges, and must carry a copy of the waiver.
• Carriers must report any crash involving a waiver driver within two business days. The waiver expires December 16, 2026.

What it means: The waiver loosens driving limits, not driver qualification. A driver in prohibited status in the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse still may not perform safety-sensitive functions and cannot run under it.

Source: Transport Topics: FMCSA adds ethanol, heating oil to fuel hauler waiver (published October 21, 2026)

Official reference: FMCSA: Hours of Service Waiver for the Transportation of Fuel

Carriers adding CDL drivers for peak shipping season must clear two steps before a new hire performs safety-sensitive functions. Under 49 CFR 382.301, the driver must take a DOT controlled substances test, and the employer must have received a verified negative result from the MRO or C/TPA before using the driver. Under 49 CFR 382.701(a), the employer must also run a full pre-employment Clearinghouse query, which requires the driver's specific consent.

• A pending or unresolved result is not a basis to dispatch the driver. The verified negative has to be in hand first.
• The 382.301(b) exception is narrow: the driver must have been in a conforming program within the previous 30 days, tested within the past 6 months or in a random pool for the previous 12 months, with no known violation in the previous 6 months, plus the records listed in 382.301(c).
• Pre-employment alcohol testing is optional, but an employer that chooses it must test all safety-sensitive employees, test after a contingent offer, and bar safety-sensitive work at 0.04 or higher.

What it means: A short-notice seasonal hire does not shorten these steps. Build the collection, the MRO verification, and the full query into the start date rather than after it.

Official reference: 49 CFR 382.301, Pre-employment testing and 49 CFR 382.701, Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

FMCSA has published the September 2026 Clearinghouse Monthly Summary Report, covering Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse data as of October 1, 2026. Reports for January through September 2026 are now all posted.

• 218,977 CDL/CLP drivers were in "prohibited" status, out of 360,759 drivers with at least one violation recorded since January 2020.
• 174,051 of those prohibited drivers (79.5%) had not begun the return-to-duty process.
• Another 24,402 (11.1%) were eligible for a return-to-duty test but had not taken it.
• Marijuana metabolite remains the most-reported substance, with 24,078 positives so far in 2026.
• 6,569,739 unique drivers have been queried since the Clearinghouse launched.

What it means: A prohibited driver cannot perform safety-sensitive functions until an SAP evaluation and a negative return-to-duty test are complete, so employers should verify status before returning anyone to driving.

Source: FMCSA: Clearinghouse Monthly Summary Reports, 2026 Archive (data as of October 1, 2026)

With winter weather and holiday traffic ahead, carriers and drivers should review DOT post-accident testing duties. Under 49 CFR 382.303, a crash involving a commercial motor vehicle on a public road can require alcohol and drug testing of a surviving driver.

• Testing is required when the accident involved a human fatality and the driver was performing safety-sensitive functions.
• If the crash caused an injury immediately treated away from the scene, or disabling damage requiring a tow, a test is required only if the driver is cited for a moving violation: within 8 hours for alcohol, 32 hours for drugs.
• Alcohol tests not given within 2 hours require a written explanation on file; attempts stop at 8 hours for alcohol and 32 hours for drugs.
• A driver subject to testing must stay readily available or may be deemed to have refused. Necessary medical care comes first.

What it means: Employers must give drivers post-accident instructions before they drive, and law enforcement test results can satisfy the rule if the employer obtains them.

Source: eCFR: 49 CFR 382.303, Post-accident testing

FMCSA has asked the Office of Management and Budget for emergency approval of a new information collection requiring documentation before a driver training provider is listed on the Entry-Level Driver Training Provider Registry, and each time a provider adds a location. OMB received the request September 21, 2026, and it is still pending.

• Providers would submit lesson plans for theory and behind-the-wheel training, proof of compliant training vehicles, instructor qualifications and CDLs, proof of state authorization to train, and facility documentation.
• FMCSA would review the documents for compliance before listing the provider, under 49 CFR 380.703(a)(7).
• FMCSA says a provider issued a Notice of Emergency Removal can currently self-certify with new details and be relisted, letting removed providers, in the agency's words, "reincarnate and reapply."
• FMCSA estimates 2,000 responses a year and has a broader ELDT rulemaking under way (RIN 2126-AD00).

What it means: Carriers and recruiters hiring entry-level drivers should keep verifying that the provider on a driver's ELDT certificate is currently listed in the Registry.

Source: Transport Topics: FMCSA seeks emergency review of chameleon CDL schools (published October 16, 2026)

Official reference: OMB: FMCSA ICR 202609-2126-001

FMCSA announced on October 15, 2026 that all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. territories now meet its revised DataQs requirements. DataQs is the system drivers and carriers use to request review of federal and state roadside inspection and crash data they believe is inaccurate.

• Three-stage review: an initial review that cannot be decided solely by the officer who issued the record, reconsideration by independent subject matter experts, and a final review by a senior decision-maker or independent panel.
• Deadlines: 21 days for the initial review, 21 days for reconsideration, and 45 days for the final review.
• States must review requests filed within 3 years of an inspection and 5 years of a crash, and every decision, especially a denial, must state the evidence reviewed and the next step.

What it means: A driver or carrier challenging an inspection or crash record now has defined deadlines and an appeal path in every state. Records that remain on file continue to appear in Pre-Employment Screening Program reports used in hiring.

Source: FMCSA: All 50 States Have Implemented Reformed DataQs Review Process (published October 15, 2026)

Official reference: Federal Register: Revisions to DataQs Requirements for MCSAP Grant Funding

A brief outage at one ELD provider prompted questions to OOIDA's compliance staff about what a driver must do when an electronic logging device stops working. Federal rules set specific steps that begin as soon as the malfunction is found.

• The driver must note the malfunction and give the motor carrier written notice within 24 hours.
• The driver must reconstruct the current 24-hour period and the previous 7 consecutive days on graph-grid paper logs, unless those records are already held or retrievable from the ELD, then keep logging on paper until the device is back in compliance.
• The carrier must correct the malfunction within 8 days of discovery or driver notice, whichever comes first. A request for more time goes to the FMCSA Division Administrator for the carrier's home State within 5 days.
• Carriers must keep an ELD information packet in the truck with malfunction instructions and blank graph-grids for at least 8 days (49 CFR 395.22(h)).

What it means: During a malfunction the driver has to hand an inspector manually kept records of duty status, which is only possible if blank paper logs are already on board. Check the packet now, not at roadside.

Source: Land Line: What to do if your ELD stops working (published October 14, 2026)

Official reference: 49 CFR 395.34: ELD malfunctions and data diagnostic events

The comment period has closed on FMCSA's proposed rule to codify the English language proficiency (ELP) driver qualification requirement as an out-of-service violation. FMCSA received 2,203 comments by the October 9, 2026 deadline and is reviewing them before deciding how to proceed.

• Docket No. FMCSA-2026-0826, RIN 2126-AC99; proposed rule published August 10, 2026
• The rule would align the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations with the ELP tolerances already in CVSA's North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria, and responds to a CVSA petition
• OOIDA filed in support on October 9; Land Line reports most comments came from drivers backing strict enforcement

What it means: Roadside ELP out-of-service enforcement continues unchanged while FMCSA reviews the comments. A failed roadside check still takes a driver out of service today, so carriers should keep confirming that drivers meet the 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2) standard.

Source: Federal Register: FMCSA, English Language Proficiency; Out of Service Criteria (published August 10, 2026; comments closed October 9, 2026)

Also reported by Land Line: English proficiency a life-and-death safety standard, OOIDA says (published October 12, 2026)

State police in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont are running a coordinated three-day traffic enforcement operation called Wicked Safe from October 13 through October 15. Patrols target aggressive driving, excessive speed, distracted driving, impaired driving and other high-risk behavior. Massachusetts State Police said its Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section will assign 30 troopers to inspect large trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles during the operation.

• Impaired driving is one of the named enforcement targets
• Priority roadways in Massachusetts include Interstates 90, 91, 84, 93, 95 and 395, plus Route 146
• Commercial vehicle inspections are part of the operation, so any violations found will appear on inspection reports

What it means: Drivers running the Northeast this week face a higher chance of inspection. Before dispatch, confirm each driver carries a valid medical examiner's certificate and that driver qualification files and hours-of-service records are current.

Source: Land Line: Northeast states plan Wicked enforcement blitz (published October 12, 2026)

Official reference: Massachusetts State Police: State Police Partners Announce Operation Wicked Safe to Target Dangerous Driving

Hurricane Isaias came ashore in southwest Florida as a Category 2 storm, and Southeast state emergency declarations have triggered temporary relief from federal hours-of-service rules for carriers and drivers giving direct assistance to the relief effort. FMCSA lists Florida Executive Order 26-202 (October 6 through November 5) and Alabama's second supplemental state of emergency (October 9 through November 8). Georgia has a shorter hours-of-service waiver for emergency response loads, including petroleum products, through October 14.

• Relief under 49 CFR 390.23 is capped at 30 days unless FMCSA extends it
• The exemption reaches only 49 CFR Parts 390-399; it does not waive CDL, drug and alcohol testing, hazmat, size and weight, or registration and tax rules
• Coverage lasts only while the emergency continues and the driver is providing direct assistance

What it means: A driver hauling relief loads may be released from HOS limits, but your testing program does not pause. Random selections, pre-employment and post-accident tests, and Clearinghouse queries stay due on schedule.

Source: FMCSA: Emergency Declarations, Waivers, Exemptions and Permits (updated October 9, 2026); Land Line: Hurricane Isaias triggers trucking waivers across the Southeast (published October 12, 2026)

Official reference: 49 CFR 390.23

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration administrative law judge has paused the proceeding that would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The stay, issued September 29, 2026, lets the judge weigh adding a new Government Accountability Office report on federal drug scheduling to the record, with responses due October 13, 2026. None of it changes DOT drug testing.

• Marijuana stays prohibited for safety-sensitive employees subject to DOT testing, including CDL drivers, even where state law allows it.
• Under 49 CFR 40.151(e), an MRO must not verify a test negative because a physician recommended a Schedule I drug under a state "medical marijuana" law.
• A separate April 2026 order moving FDA-approved and state-licensed medical marijuana products to Schedule III is unaffected by the stay.

What it means: A marijuana-positive DOT test still brings the same consequences: removal from safety-sensitive duty, a Clearinghouse violation, and the return-to-duty process before driving again.

Source: Heavy Duty Trucking: Marijuana and Trucking's Drug-Testing Dilemma (published October 5, 2026)

Official reference: eCFR: 49 CFR 40.151

FMCSA has granted a five-year exemption letting carriers that operate Level 4 automated driving system (ADS)-equipped commercial motor vehicles use cab-mounted warning beacons instead of placing warning triangles or fusees around a stopped truck. Aurora Operations, Inc. requested it; it also covers other carriers running Level 4 ADS CMVs that notify FMCSA first.

• Effective October 7, 2026; expires October 7, 2031 (Docket FMCSA-2026-0958)
• Waives 49 CFR 392.22(b), 393.25(e) and 393.95(f) for qualifying vehicles
• OOIDA and truck safety groups opposed the request

What it means: Nothing changes for conventional trucks. Drivers must still place warning devices within 10 minutes of stopping on a roadway or shoulder.

Source: Federal Register: Exemption From Aurora Operations, Inc (published October 9, 2026)

Also: Land Line: FMCSA exemption gives driverless trucks a green light

The Food and Drug Administration published a final order on October 6, 2026, effective the same day, that removes the premarket notification (510(k)) requirement for drugs-of-abuse test systems intended for use in federal drug testing programs. The order amends 14 device classification regulations in 21 CFR part 862, including test systems for amphetamines, cannabinoids, cocaine, methamphetamine and opiates (Docket FDA-2026-N-4268).

• Industry groups, including the American Trucking Associations and the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association, had argued the 510(k) requirement was blocking laboratories from obtaining federal certification for oral fluid and hair testing.
• FDA states in the order that it does not oversee federal drug testing programs and does not decide whether oral fluid or hair testing may be used in them.

What it means: Nothing changes today for DOT-regulated testing. Oral fluid results still cannot be used because no laboratory is yet HHS-certified for oral fluid, and hair is not an authorized DOT specimen. The order clears one obstacle ahead of that lab certification.

Source: FDA: Medical Devices; Exemptions From Premarket Notification: Class II Devices; Certain Clinical Toxicology Test Systems (published October 6, 2026)

Also reported: Transport Topics: FDA clears path for oral fluid, hair drug tests (published October 8, 2026)

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has released results from Operation Safe Driver Week, its annual driver-behavior enforcement blitz, held in July 2026. Agencies from 36 states, seven Canadian provinces and Mexico took part, interacting with 8,083 drivers and issuing 2,604 unsafe-driving tickets, 1,956 of them to commercial drivers.

• Speeding was the most common commercial-driver citation, at 342.
• Other frequent citations: failure to obey a traffic control device (319), failure to wear a seat belt (270), and texting or handheld phone use (136).
• Twenty-two commercial drivers were cited for use of, or impairment by, drugs or alcohol, and six for operating while ill or fatigued.
• Reckless, careless or dangerous driving, this year's focus area, drew 33 tickets, 22 of them to commercial drivers.

What it means: A roadside impairment citation can put a driver's fitness for duty in question and bring reasonable-suspicion testing into play, so carriers should make sure trained supervisors know the referral steps before a call comes in from the roadside.

Source: Land Line: Truckers hit with nearly 2,000 tickets during Operation Safe Driver Week (published October 8, 2026)