DOT drug tests really aren’t different than any other kind of drug test. I hear from a fair number of people who have to take them, worried that they’re harder to pass. But the only thing that makes them different is the fact that the requirements for a DOT drug test are set at the federal level.
What Is A DOT Drug Test?
For those who may not know, DOT stands for ‘Department of Transportation’. People who have to take a DOT drug test include anyone who drives a large truck or bus for a living, and any workers who are remotely involved with those vehicles – which is basically anyone in the same company.
A federal agency called the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has about a hundred pages of regulations that both employers and labs have to follow when administering DOT drug tests. But fortunately, most of those regulations cover details about the paperwork that has to be done. The drug tests themselves are basically carried out just like they are for any other employer. Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take them seriously – it just means that you don’t have any extra cause for concern just because you’re taking a DOT drug test as opposed to any other kind.
Does The Dilution Method Work For DOT Drug Tests?
Since the FMCSA requires that a DOT drug test be a urinalysis, then yes, dilution will work fine. At least, it will be if you happen to be a pot smoker.
You’ll be given a standard 5-panel test that looks for other toxins as well, so if you do more than just smoke pot you’ll need to be aware of their detection periods and plan accordingly. For most other drugs besides weed, detection periods are measured in days, not weeks. THC cannabanoids are kind of in a class by themselves because of the way they’re stored in the body (in your fat cells), which is why marijuana use can be detected so much longer than other drugs.
What’s The Best Way To Pass A DOT Drug Test?
Federal regulations require that a lab tech observes you while you’re giving your specimen, so substitution is pretty much impossible, whether it’s a powdered urine kit or a friend’s clean pee. And you should definitely never even attempt to use synthetic urine, just because labs have too many ways to detect that now.
So if substitution isn’t an option (it isn’t for most people, in any situation), that leaves dilution as your only real option. But it’s what I generally recommend to anyone taking a piss test anyway, because when you do it right you’re genuinely able to give a clean specimen right on the spot, without all the stress of trying to use substitution without getting caught.
In any situation where you know your test will be unsupervised, substitution (with something besides synthetic urine) is a guaranteed pass, so in that case you should go for it. But in the case of a DOT drug test, or anytime you think you’ll be observed, dilution is a really close second as far as reliability goes.
July 5th, 2009 at 6:54 am
DOT tests only use GC/MS if the initial test at 50ng/ml is positive. The difference is they also do the initial test at a lab. Only if that is positive is the split specimen sent to a second lab for GC/MS testing. I took a DOT test this past Monday morning and haven’t heard from an MRO yet (that’s good!). It is now the following Sunday morning.
July 6th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I PASSED! My boss told me this morning the results came back negative. THANKS DEE!!
Regarding my previous comment, this is verbatim from FMCSA Title 49 Part 40 (the law):
§ 40.87 What are the cutoff concentrations for initial and confirmation tests?
(a) As a laboratory, you must use the cutoff concentrations displayed in the following table for initial and confirmation drug tests. All cutoff concentrations are expressed in nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). The table follows:
Type of Drug or Metabolite – (1) Marijuana metabolites
(i) Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THC)
Initial Test 50
Confirmation Test 15
(b) On an initial drug test, you must report a result below the cutoff concentration as negative. If the result is at or above the cutoff concentration, you must conduct a confirmation test.
(c) On a confirmation drug test, you must report a result below the cutoff concentration as negative and a result at or above the cutoff concentration as confirmed positive.
(d) You must report quantitative values for morphine or codeine at 15,000 ng/mL or above.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Brian, that is AWESOME that you passed your test, thanks for letting me know!!! You made my day. :-)
And I also owe you a huge thank you for the great info on FMCSA regulations, you can be sure I’ll add it to my e-book to help out other folks who have to take DOT tests.
December 9th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
This is the greatest site ever created. I think I’m in love.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
LOL, I’m glad you like it!
December 25th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
the way i understand dot drug tests are not observed unless you have already failed.
January 17th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
I have taken DOT drug tests on several occasions (being a trucker) and not all of them are the same in terms of what they want. I had to take a random UA for an LTL (less than truckload) carrier and I smoked 5 times a day for months, when test time came I had 3 hours notice and drank about a gallon of water with no vitamins and I passed with no problem, then I switched to an Over the road carrier, went for my pre-employment and did the same thing and was told it was dilute-negative and told to take another one, diluted it again, and was told to take another one, then got fed up and used someone elses pee and passed. But beware, some companies are different in their requirements. I would agree with Dee and use some vitamins to yellow up your piss. I have never tried it but it seems like it would make sense if your dilute-negative. And some companies consider dilute-negative an automatic Positive, SO BEWARE!
January 17th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
I also know an older trucker who takes 1 hit on a friday night comes up clean with at home test 2 AND 3 days later (he uses at home tests on regular basis for knowledge purposes.) Obviously the best way to come up clean is dont smoke. but taking a A HIT or 2 once a week is the best way to enjoy cannabis without much worries and always with atleast 2 days prior to your work week beginning for obvious reasons, most companies wont have you test on the weekend. But I say, USERS BEWARE, nothing is fool proof.
January 17th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
I was just reading up on some false positives for drug tests and it says that Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) can cause a false positive for marijuana THC Any comments?
January 17th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Jay,
Yeah I’ve read that too about the B-2 creating a false positive, but all I can say is that in 3 yrs of doing this I’ve never heard of ONE single person that that actually happened to. Until I hear from someone that can give me a first-hand account, I have to assume that it’s just another rumor that somehow got started and just won’t die.
January 18th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Thank you for the fast response, I appreciate your input, maybe sometime I’ll try it at home a few times, I purchase the at home tests from ebay for 1 to 2 dollars each so doing some experiments wont be expensive, I have tried the First Check before and they seem like good tests, but I do recommend purchasing the cheap ones in bulk from the computer because the first checks run up to 17 bucks each…OUCH! but yeah, I’ll give it a shot at home some time…as of right now though I am clean and havent done anything in well over a month. Thank you DEE, have a good one.
January 26th, 2010 at 4:00 am
Dee I dont enjoy canabis anymore but i was wondering what you know about passing a DOT test for loritabs I have cronic back pain so right now im depedent on them what can i do? Keep up the good work brother