Received A Letter From DOT Compliance Group? What Next?

It is not at all puzzling to find out that you have been getting letters from DOT Compliance Group regarding your compliance requirements with the Department Of Transportation and the penalties that you might face if you do not follow the instructions given in that very letter. This is a very common occurrence and a lot of businesses receive such alerts. This means that you are not alone in this.

If you are a commercial driver license holder or probably a company that operates and handles fleets of commercial vehicles, you will be required to follow the various guidelines laid down by the DOT and the FMCSA to remain compliant and to be able to do business legally without any hassles. If your commercial driver license holder employees operate a vehicle which is over 26,000 lbs in weight or a passenger vehicle the capacity of which is 16 persons or more, they will come under the spectrum of industries and businesses that have to be DOT compliant at all times.

But the question is what do you do when you receive a letter from DOT Compliance Group saying that you might not be compliant in the first place? What do you do when you get to know that you are way past your biennial status update with the Department Of Transportation? 

You are bound to get nervous but not because you have failed to stay compliant but because no other company should be privy to this kind of information unless you are working with them with regards to your biennial updates and DOT compliance.

A Few Things That You Should Do Right Away In Response To The DOT Compliance Group Letter That You Have Received

Find Out Whether You Are Already DOT Compliant Or Not Without Any Delay

Get in touch with your DOT Compliance Group representative to know better about your status and to find out whether your business is 100% compliant or not. In case you are not DOT compliant, you need to get a random drug / alcohol testing program to be implemented at your workplace. For the purpose of doing this you will have to enroll in a DOT compliance program with any of the reputable compliance service providers in the city. You will get complete peace of mind by knowing that the company is performing the necessary procedures to make your employees and supervisors compliant with the regulations laid down by the Department Of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Find Out If You Are Ignoring Any Violations On Your Part

The letter that you have received from DOT Compliance Group may be pointed at informing you about the various standards established by the Department of Transportation in several areas of oversight. In such a situation you will have to understand that violation on your part of any of these standards is going to lead to serious consequences for your business. If the letter clearly intends to make you aware of your status and keep you well informed of your compliance requirements, you are required to scrutinize your company status and take the necessary steps to remain in compliance.

Be Informed About The 6 Testing Situations Required By The Department Of Transportation

Pre-Employment

This is when there is no previous drug test on file with regards to the employee

Random Test Selection

This is when the employees are randomly selected from a pool of information created for the purpose of testing for drug and alcohol abuse at the workplace

Post Accident

This test will be required for moving violation citation and fatality, including medical treatment for any of your employees resulting out of an accident

Reasonable Suspicion

Reasonable testing is done when there is reasonable suspicion regarding any supervisor or employee that they might be using drugs or alcohol at the workplace

Return To Duty

This is the testing required when the previous test had turned out positive in order to make sure that the employee is in their senses and suitable enough to return to their safety-sensitive position

Follow Up

This testing is carried out again on a random basis to ascertain whether the employee who has returned to their duty is compliant or not

Looking for a reliable DOT compliance consortium near you? You have access to more than 10,000 approved testing locations. This includes all the 50 states across the country and all you have to do is get in touch with a DOT Compliance Group representative. The rest will be handled by the DOT Compliance Group team and you can be on your way within the same day.