CDL Drug Testing for Cities and Counties: A Guide for Public Employers

Cities, counties, townships and other public employers with CDL drivers in public works, streets, sanitation, utilities and parks are covered by the FMCSA drug and alcohol testing rules (49 CFR Part 382). Public employers add a few wrinkles of their own: several departments, labor agreements and public records requests. This guide from Diversified Safety & Compliance covers how to run one consistent program. It's a planning aid, not legal advice, and it covers FMCSA CDL testing only.

Who is covered

Any employee who drives a commercial motor vehicle that requires a CDL is covered, whatever department they work in. Government employers are exempt from most other FMCSA safety rules, such as hours of service and vehicle inspection rules, but not from drug and alcohol testing (Part 382) or the CDL rules (Part 383).

One program across departments

• One random pool for the employer. Put CDL drivers from every department in the same pool, and test at the FMCSA minimum rates for the year: for 2026, 50% for drugs and 10% for alcohol (49 CFR 382.305). A DOT drug testing consortium can run the pool and the selections for you.
• One Designated Employer Representative (DER), with a backup, and every department supervisor knows who it is.
• Trained supervisors. Anyone who makes reasonable suspicion calls needs 60 minutes on drugs and 60 minutes on alcohol (49 CFR 382.603). See reasonable suspicion training.
• Testing before the first shift. A verified negative pre-employment test and a full Clearinghouse query before a new driver starts (49 CFR 382.301, 382.701), and a limited query on every driver each year.

Policy and labor agreements

Your drug and alcohol policy has to meet the DOT rules first. Where a collective bargaining agreement adds procedures, such as notice, representation or grievance steps, work with your counsel and the union so the agreement and the policy fit together without changing what DOT requires, such as testing immediately after a random selection.

Public records and confidentiality

Public employers get records requests, council questions and state reviews. DOT drug and alcohol testing records have their own confidentiality rules: an employer generally may not release an individual's test results to a third party without that employee's specific written consent (49 CFR Part 40, Subpart P). Have counsel review how your state's public records law applies, and keep testing records separate from general personnel files. Program-level records, such as random selection rates and training records, are easier to share.

Records to keep in one place

• Random selection lists and testing results
• Pre-employment results and Clearinghouse query records
• Supervisor training certificates
• Driver qualification files, if you keep them. Government employers are exempt from the federal driver qualification rule (Part 391), but many keep files anyway.
• Post-accident and reasonable suspicion decision records

How we help public employers

We run FMCSA CDL testing for cities and counties: the random pool, collections by our own mobile collectors at your shops and yards across Nebraska and Kansas, Medical Review Officer (MRO) review, Clearinghouse queries and supervisor training. See municipal drug testing.