The U.S. DOT’s Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance (ODAPC) sends out bulletins about important updates. Below are some updates from the past few months that may be of interest to Clearinghouse users.

Employers: Download the Revised Employer Handbook

For the first time in ten years, DOT’s Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC) updated their publication, What Employers Need to Know About DOT Drug and Alcohol Testing: Guidance and Best Practices.

Here are some of the more substantive changes that DOT made to their handbook for employers:

• Supervisors and service agents should know the difference between DOT and non-DOT testing forms.
• Owner-operators don’t need to have supervisor reasonable suspicion training.
• Service agents don’t make collection site refusal determinations.
• C/TPAs are also considered service agents.
• They’ve clarified DER responsibilities pertaining to employee refusals at collection sites.

All of the changes made to the employer handbook are listed at the end of document—along with the page numbers where the changes can be found.

Download the ODAPC Employer Handbook →

DOT Update on Use of Marijuana

On December 18, 2025, the President of the United States issued an Executive Order directing the Department of Justice to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug.

Many people have asked how this affects DOT’s longstanding restrictions on marijuana use by people employed in safety-sensitive transportation positions—pilots, school bus drivers, truck drivers, train engineers, ship captains, aircraft mechanics, among others.

For now, the DOT drug and alcohol testing process has not changed. Marijuana remains a Schedule I drug until it is rescheduled. It is still unacceptable for people who work in safety-sensitive transportation positions to use marijuana. Until the rescheduling process is complete, the Department of Transportation’s drug testing process and regulations will not change. Labs, Medical Review Officers, and substance abuse professionals should continue to follow 49 CFR part 40.

DOT is closely following the rescheduling of marijuana and will continue to update the transportation industry as changes occur.

The Department’s guidance on medical and recreational marijuana and CBD are also still in effect.

Read DOT Notice on Testing for Marijuana →

Are you subscribed to ODPAC Bulletins?

Per §§ 40.121(b)(3) and 40.281(b)(3), medical review officers (MROs) and Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs) must subscribe to receive email updates from the U.S. DOT Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC). Employers of CDL drivers are also strongly encouraged to sign up to receive these updates, as subscribing will help you keep current on any changes to DOT drug and alcohol guidelines.

If you are not receiving these updates, subscribe today.

Subscribe to ODAPC Updates →

Posted: 2/25/26