Alcohol testing
Breath testing on site, at the thresholds the rules turn on.
Alcohol testing answers a narrow question: what is the concentration right now. That makes it useless if it happens hours later, which is exactly why bringing the technician to the site rather than sending the employee across town matters more here than anywhere else.
How it runs
Screen, wait, confirm.
A DOT alcohol test is a two stage process performed with an evidential breath testing device by a trained technician.
The screening test comes first. A result below 0.02 ends the matter and is reported as negative. A result of 0.02 or above requires a confirmation test, performed after a waiting period of at least fifteen minutes and no more than thirty, on an evidential device that prints a result with a sequential test number.
The two thresholds carry different consequences. At 0.02 or above but below 0.04, the employee must be removed from safety sensitive duty for a defined period. At 0.04 or above, it is a violation, and the return to duty process with a Substance Abuse Professional becomes mandatory before that employee performs safety sensitive work again.
The waiting period is not administrative padding. It exists so that residual alcohol in the mouth, from a recent drink, mouthwash or reflux, does not produce a confirmation result that misrepresents what is in the bloodstream.
The two numbers
threshold
Removal from safety sensitive duty
threshold
Return to duty process required
Timing is the whole game
Blood alcohol falls over time. A test performed three hours after the event measures something different from the event itself. For post-accident and reasonable suspicion situations, the speed of getting a technician on site is not a convenience, it is the difference between a usable result and an unusable one.
Choosing a method
Breath and EtG answer different questions.
One measures right now. The other measures whether someone has been drinking at all over a longer period. Picking the wrong one wastes the test.
Evidential breath testing
Measures current alcohol concentration. This is what DOT regulated testing requires and what post-accident and reasonable suspicion situations call for. Performed on site, with a printed confirmation result.
- Immediate result
- DOT accepted
- On-site
EtG testing
Detects ethyl glucuronide, a metabolite that remains present well after alcohol itself has cleared. Useful for abstinence monitoring in court ordered and treatment contexts. It is not a substitute for breath testing in a DOT program and does not measure impairment.
- Longer window
- Abstinence monitoring
- Not DOT alcohol
Related services
Other collections we run
DOT Drug & Alcohol Testing
49 CFR Part 40 collections for FMCSA, FAA, FRA, FTA, PHMSA and USCG employers.
Non-DOT Workplace Testing
Company policy panels from 5 to 12 substances, built around North Carolina law.
Random Testing Programs
Consortium administration, selections, and the records an auditor asks for.
Mobile & On-Site Collections
We drive to your yard, plant or office. Your crew never leaves the property.
Next step
Need a technician on site quickly?
Post-accident and reasonable suspicion alcohol testing is time critical. Call rather than email if the clock is already running.