Truck to Success course to cover drug, alcohol testing

July 31, 2020

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Any driver knows drug and alcohol testing is important, but the complexity of the requirements increases when a driver becomes an owner-operator. Those requirements are a focus area of OOIDA’s Truck to Success course scheduled for Oct. 26-28.

The Truck to Success course is designed to inform professional drivers considering the jump to being owner-operators. The three-day course covers a variety of topics following a logical transition from a company driver to an independent contractor.

There are many required tests, warns Joe Boswell, CMCI representative in OOIDA’s Business Services Department. CMCI is OOIDA’s drug and alcohol consortium. Boswell is scheduled to be a Truck to Success instructor. The required tests include pre-employment, random, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, return-to-duty, and follow-up tests.

In addition, owner-operators must have a random drug and alcohol testing program in place from the first day drivers begin hauling anything, Boswell said.

Every person who operates a commercial motor vehicle of 26,001 pounds gross vehicle weight in interstate, intrastate or foreign commerce is subject to testing. Also, any driver of vehicles transporting 16 or more passengers or hauling hazardous materials is subject to testing. This includes drivers, not just leased or hired drivers.

Every motor carrier must also have a designated employer representative, which can be someone at the company or they can hire a third-party administrator.

Another part of the Truck to Success instruction will focus on the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, which has been in place since Jan. 6. The Clearinghouse is a database for collecting drug and alcohol regulation violations. All drivers seeking employment must register with the Clearinghouse. Boswell will go over the particulars during Truck to Success.

Be more successful, profitable

Truck to Success is scheduled for Oct. 26-28 via Zoom web conferencing.

OOIDA debuted its Truck to Success course in March 2019 as an in-person course. The coronavirus crisis has forced the format to change. Even so, the 2020 course will offer the same in-depth instruction featuring OOIDA in-house experts and others with focused expertise brought in to teach.

The No. 1 goal at OOIDA is to help drivers be more successful and more profitable in their business, and that is the driving force for this course, said OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh.

“Small-business trucking is a very tight profit business,” Pugh said. “There are many overwhelming statistics that show how many small business fail in the first three years. Don’t be a statistic! Truck to Success is a chance to arm yourself with the knowledge you will need to apply to your business to become successful and not be a statistic.”

The Truck to Success curriculum is designed to follow a logical transition from a company driver to an independent contractor.

Registering for Truck to Success

The 2020 Truck to Success course will be offered via Zoom web conferencing. It is scheduled for Oct. 26-28. Tuition will be $250, which is about half the in-person course cost last year, and there won’t be travel expenses.

There are a limited number of logins available for the course. If more than one person wants to view the course from one computer with one login, they are welcome to do so. If a guest needs their own login, there is an additional guest charge of $150.

Attendees will be asked to indicate whether they would like to receive a physical copy of the Truck to Success course materials or an electronic copy.

For more information, click here.

To go directly to the registration form, click here.

Here is a rundown of some of the topics covered during the first day of the 2019 Truck to Success course.