Drug and alcohol testing for TCP drivers

Every charter-party carrier must provide a controlled substance and alcohol testing program for its drivers before the Commission will issue or renew authority (Public Utilities Code 5374; General Order 157-E, Part 10). Which program applies depends on the size of the vehicles each driver operates.

The CPUC program or federal rules?

• Drivers of vehicles seating 15 or fewer, including the driver, fall under the Commission's program, which is built on the federal testing rules in 49 CFR Parts 40 and 382 (Rules 10.01 and 10.02). For this program, those vehicles count as commercial vehicles.
• Drivers of vehicles seating 16 or more fall under the federal Department of Transportation testing rules.
• A driver already covered by federal testing does not also need the Commission's program. If every one of your small-vehicle drivers is covered federally, the Commission's program does not apply to you.

The six tests

• Pre-employment (49 CFR 382.301), for controlled substances only; a pre-employment alcohol test is not required. A negative result from an earlier job does not count as your pre-employment test (Rule 10.03).
• Random (382.305).
• Post-accident (382.303).
• Reasonable suspicion (382.307).
• Return-to-duty (382.309), before a driver who violated the rules drives again.
• Follow-up (382.311), after the driver returns.

An alcohol test is negative only below 0.02 percent breath alcohol concentration, and drivers must show a valid California driver's license at the time and place of testing (Rule 10.02).

Random testing rates

The Commission's program adopts the federal random-testing rule, 49 CFR 382.305. For 2026 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration kept the minimum annual random rates at 50 percent of average driver positions for controlled substances and 10 percent for alcohol, unchanged since 2020. Small fleets and owner-drivers usually meet this by joining a consortium that runs a shared random pool.

The rest of the program

• Educational materials that explain the testing rules and your own policies and procedures (382.601).
• Telling drivers what help is available for alcohol and drug problems (382.605).
• Training for supervisors on recognizing reasonable suspicion (382.603).
• Custody and control forms that are substantially similar to, but distinct from, the federal drug-testing and DOT breath-alcohol forms (Rule 10.02).
• You pay for the program. You may require a driver who tests positive to pay for rehabilitation, return-to-duty and follow-up testing (Rule 10.04).
• Results are confidential and released only as federal rules allow (Rule 10.05).

Records to keep ready

The CHP asks to see these at a bus terminal inspection, so keep them in one file:

• Your written testing policy, and each driver's signed receipt showing they were given it.
• The supervisor's reasonable-suspicion training certificate.
• Each driver's hire date and pre-employment test result.
• The annual summary of testing results (the MIS report) from your testing provider.
• For drivers under federal rules, such as commercial-license bus drivers: enrollment in the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and an annual Clearinghouse query for each driver.

Choosing a consultant

The Commission's application instructions require a drug and alcohol consultant that its License Section has accepted, from the list on its forms page. A consultant on that list must be able to run random testing and pre-employment testing, and provide educational materials, a written company policy, supervisor training and an employee assistance program.

If you drive under your own authority

A driver-applicant is anyone applying for authority who will also drive under it. On a new application, the medical review officer or your consortium administrator must send your pre-employment drug test result directly to the Commission. On a renewal, they send your most recent drug and alcohol results (Rule 10.06). Arrange this before you file, or the application waits on it.