Free download: the reasonable suspicion policy section
Two pages. Page one is the section itself, ten numbered clauses with blanks for the company name, the DER, and the collection site, and a shaded block for company rules under independent authority. Page two is a checklist of the 12 required topics, a certificate of receipt, and a program contacts box. Built from the eCFR text, not legal advice.
Prefer to skip the form? Open the PDF directly.
The 12 required topics, and where reasonable suspicion fits
Section 382.601(b) lists what the materials must discuss “in detail.” Reasonable suspicion is not a line item; it is spread across the list. The third column shows where the section on this page does the work.
| Required topic | Where reasonable suspicion fits | |
|---|---|---|
| (1) | The person designated to answer driver questions about the materials | Name the DER. The same person keeps the current list of trained supervisors. |
| (2) | The categories of drivers subject to Part 382 | Who can be sent for a reasonable suspicion test. |
| (3) | Enough about safety-sensitive functions to show when the driver must be in compliance | Defines the window in which alcohol observations can support a test. |
| (4) | Driver conduct prohibited by Part 382 | What the supervisor is looking for: 0.04 or greater, on-duty use, use within four hours before duty, controlled substances use. |
| (5) | The circumstances under which drivers are tested, including post-accident | Reasonable suspicion is one of the six test types; say who decides and on what basis. |
| (6) | Testing procedures that protect the driver and the integrity of the test | Transport, the two-hour and eight-hour alcohol windows, the written record. |
| (7) | The requirement that the driver submit to the tests | The driver stops work and goes to the collection site when directed. |
| (8) | What constitutes a refusal, and the consequences | Failing to appear, leaving the site, no sufficient specimen without a medical reason. |
| (9) | Consequences of a violation, including immediate removal and Part 40 subpart O | What follows a 0.04 or greater, a verified positive, or a refusal. |
| (10) | Consequences of an alcohol result of 0.02 to 0.039 | Off safety-sensitive functions until the next duty period, at least 24 hours. |
| (11) | Effects of alcohol and drugs; signs and symptoms; how to intervene | The driver-facing side of what supervisors are trained to observe. |
| (12) | What is reported to the Clearinghouse | Positives, 0.04 or greater, refusals, actual-knowledge reports, SAP completion, return-to-duty and follow-up milestones. |
The section, clause by clause
Ten clauses. Each one tracks a specific paragraph of the rule so that a driver, a supervisor, or an investigator can see where it comes from.
What each clause of the template does
- 1. Purpose and authority
- 49 CFR 382.307
- One sentence: the company requires reasonable suspicion testing of drivers as provided in §382.307, and this section says when, who, and what follows.
- 2. Who may make the determination
- 49 CFR 382.60349 CFR 382.307(c)
- Only a supervisor or company official trained under §382.603. The DER keeps the current list. The person who makes an alcohol determination does not conduct the alcohol test.
- 3. Basis for the determination
- 49 CFR 382.307(a)–(b)
- Specific, contemporaneous, articulable observations of appearance, behavior, speech, or body odors; chronic and withdrawal effects count for drugs. A coworker’s report prompts a look, not a test.
- 4. When alcohol testing may be directed
- 49 CFR 382.307(d)
- Only on observations made during, just before, or just after the period of the workday the driver performs safety-sensitive functions.
- 5. Driver obligations
- 49 CFR 382.211
- Stop, go to the collection site as instructed, complete the test. Refusing, not appearing, leaving early, or failing to provide a sufficient specimen without a medical explanation is a refusal, treated as a violation.
- 6. Procedure
- 49 CFR 382.307(e)–(f)
- Notify and remove the driver; the company arranges transport; alcohol test within two hours, reasons recorded, attempts stop at eight; drug collection as soon as practicable; the supervisor signs the written record within 24 hours or before results, whichever is earlier.
- 7. While results are pending
- 49 CFR 382.307(e)(2)
- No safety-sensitive functions until an alcohol test reads below 0.02 or 24 hours pass. The rule says nothing about holding a driver pending a drug result, so that rule, if you want it, goes in the independent-authority block.
- 8. Results and consequences
- 49 CFR 382.50549 CFR 382.50149 CFR 40.28549 CFR 382.705
- Negative: back to duty, no action on the observations alone. 0.02 to 0.039: next duty period, at least 24 hours. 0.04 or greater, verified positive, or refusal: immediate removal, SAP evaluation and return-to-duty process, follow-up testing, Clearinghouse report.
- 9. Records
- 49 CFR 382.401
- Secure location, controlled access. Decision documents two years, refusals five, supervisor training records for tenure plus two years.
- 10. Company rules under independent authority
- 49 CFR 382.601(c)
- A shaded, labeled block for everything that goes beyond the federal minimum, with a checkbox for the most common addition: holding the driver out until the MRO reports.
Independent authority: label it or lose it
Part 382 sets a floor, not a ceiling. An employer may adopt stricter rules: discipline for an alcohol result between 0.02 and 0.039, a hold on safety-sensitive duty until the MRO reports, termination on a first violation. The regulation permits all of that on one condition: the policy must clearly and obviously describe each such rule as based on the employer’s authority independent of Part 382. 49 CFR 382.601(c)
Distribution and the signed receipt
- Give the materials to every driver before testing begins, and to every driver later hired or transferred into a position that requires driving a commercial motor vehicle. 49 CFR 382.601(a)(1)
- Give written notice to representatives of employee organizations that the materials are available. 49 CFR 382.601(a)(2)
- Have each driver sign a statement certifying receipt, keep the signed certificate, and give the driver a copy if you like. 49 CFR 382.601(d)
- File the policy, the materials, and each signed receipt with the program’s education and training records. 49 CFR 382.401(c)(5)
The policy tells drivers what will happen. The training tells supervisors how to make it happen. Both have to exist before the first reasonable suspicion determination, because the person who makes it must already be trained. 49 CFR 382.307(c)
Related guides
- Reasonable suspicion checklist and observation form: the form clause 6 refers to, as a free PDF.
- Who does what in a reasonable suspicion test: the DER, collector, MRO, and SAP named in the contacts box.
- When a driver refuses a reasonable suspicion test: the refusal definition behind clause 5.
- Reasonable suspicion training certificate: what the record behind clause 2 must show.
Frequently asked questions
Does FMCSA require a separate reasonable suspicion policy?
No. Reasonable suspicion is one part of the educational materials and policy that 49 CFR 382.601 requires every employer to give its drivers. The rule lists 12 topics the materials must discuss in detail, and reasonable suspicion runs through several of them: the circumstances under which drivers are tested, the testing procedures, the duty to submit, what a refusal is, and the consequences. The template on this page is written as a section you drop into that larger policy.
Who must receive the policy, and when?
Every driver, before alcohol and controlled substances testing begins, and every driver later hired or transferred into a position that requires driving a commercial motor vehicle. The employer must also give written notice to representatives of employee organizations that the materials are available.
Does the driver have to sign anything?
Yes. Each driver must sign a statement certifying receipt of the materials, and the employer must keep the signed certificate. The employer may give the driver a copy. The template includes a certificate of receipt for exactly this purpose.
Can our policy require testing or discipline below the federal 0.04 alcohol threshold?
Yes, as a company rule based on the employer’s own authority. Part 382 itself bars action under the regulation on an alcohol result below 0.04, but it allows additional employer policies and consequences, provided they are clearly and obviously described as resting on the employer’s independent authority. A zero-tolerance rule that is not labeled that way reads as a federal requirement, which it is not.
Can the policy keep a driver off duty until the drug test result comes back?
Yes, under independent authority. The federal rule holds the driver out only on the alcohol side, until a test reads below 0.02 or 24 hours pass after the determination. A rule that also holds the driver out pending the MRO’s controlled substances result is a company rule and belongs in the labeled independent-authority block, which is where the template puts it.
Must the policy name the trained supervisors?
No. The rule requires the materials to identify the person designated to answer driver questions about them. Naming the DER there, and saying that the DER keeps the current list of supervisors trained under §382.603, keeps the policy accurate as supervisors come and go without reprinting it.
Is the template legal advice?
No. It is template language built from the text of 49 CFR Part 382 and Part 40 as published on the eCFR in October 2026, for an employer to adapt to its own operation. Fill the blanks, decide which independent-authority rules you actually want, and have counsel review the result before distributing it.
Sources
Every citation on this page was checked against the eCFR text current as of October 30, 2026.
- 49 CFR 382.601 — Employer obligation to promulgate a policy
- 49 CFR 382.307 — Reasonable suspicion testing
- 49 CFR 382.603 — Training for supervisors
- 49 CFR 382.211 — Refusal to submit to a required test
- 49 CFR 382.201 — Alcohol concentration (0.04)
- 49 CFR 382.213 — Controlled substance use
- 49 CFR 382.501 — Removal from safety-sensitive function
- 49 CFR 382.505 — Other alcohol-related conduct
- 49 CFR 382.401 — Retention of records
- 49 CFR 382.705 — Reporting to the Clearinghouse
- 49 CFR 40.23 — Employer actions after verified results
- 49 CFR 40.285 — When a SAP evaluation is required
