OK...I found the documents that I was looking for. It is CFR Title 49, parts 40 ("Procedures for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs", revised as of October 1, 2005) and 219 ("Control of Alcohol and Drug Use", revised as of October 1, 2005). The sections that relate to the "random drug testing" appear to be 219.601 through 219.603 although there may be other sections that apply or have a bearing on these sections. Like most CFRs and/or FRA documents, it can be hard to read the entire document and completely understand it...Unfortunately, that's just the way that they're written. Both the FRA and the USDOT (and probably the BLET and UTU as well) have "Question and Answer" (FAQ, etc.) pages regarding drug testing...The FRA's can be found at http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/Content/504 while the USDOT's can be found at http://www.dot.gov/ost/dapc/qanda.html. There's also a page on the USDOT site (http://www.dot.gov/ost/dapc/rates.html?prog) that has the "current" random testing rates (minimum percentages) that were established for 2006. BTW: The entire CFR for Title 49 (covering transportation) can be found at http://www.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/cfrassemble.cgi?title=200549. Gotta love the web... So what's the bottom line here regrading "random drug testing"? I think that Charlie nailed what's actually happening...The individual carriers interpret the requirements and no two of them are exactly the same interpretation. As far as I can tell (from what little I read of the CFR), there are no standardized (from railroad to railroad) testing practices...One railroad may test the entire crew of a given train/job on a given day while another may test only the engineer on any given day and the conductor on the next day (or next week, etc.). The FRA "requirements" are minimum requirements so if a given railroad tests more frequently (or a larger percentage of employees subject to the "Hours of Service" laws/regulations), and the "plan" has passed with the FRA's approval, and the railroad meets the minimum percentages for "random drug testing" (as set forth by the USDOT)... That probably explains the varying answers that we've had to this question. The real answers may lie in the individual railroads HR policies and/or procedures as to how a given railroad conducts it's drug testing to include both "pre-employment" and "random" testing. Personally, I've been tested (randomly...) before I started my tour of duty, during (not for cause or incident/accident) and at least once on a day that I wasn't scheduled to work (based on "my number" coming up as the "random" number for the day).
Our "randoms" are based on random computer picks of jobs and particular days. I have also seen them be based on the first train crew to arrive or go on duty after a certain time. So if you get picked, it's like hitting the lottery, so to speak. One guy got tested 3 times in 1 week because the jobs he filled off the extra board all got picked for testing. I have been tested both ways, beginning of the trip and at the end. The beginning trip test I had was breath only.
I recall a time when I was still working in the yard, there was a crew working in Eola(IL)West Yard on 2nd shift. There was a minor derailment. This particular crew had a student switchman,still on his 60 day "derail". Well, the carrier "whiz-quizzed" this crew and the student blew dirty! Seems he had had a beer or two with his lunch before coming to work. He was sent home immediately, he talked on the phone with the union griever who was in charge of the students. This guy(now retired) told him,in so many words, to forget a railroad career and that there was probably nothing he could do or say to save this students job. Never saw this student again. Some guys just never get the message, I guess. Charlie
We had an engineer called off the sub list(relief day),they were real short & he came in.On a random he got bagged.Samething,had a couple of beers with lunch,forgot & paid for it with his job.
The good ol' "wiz quiz" the people at the Buisness Health Network are quite nice:biggrin2: Had a rash or events a few years back and was on a first name basis:embarrassed: I was a switchman at the time, broken rail here, missaligned switch there:worried: Bad things are said to come in three's, well three derailments in three weeks should qualifymg:
===================================================== Jayzuzzz Joe, LOL! Did you have guys running for the fone to mark off once they saw you were on the crew???? LOL All kidding aside, I'm glad that none of them were serious enough to cause injury! Charlie
=====================================================Did the carrier hold investigations on them? Charlie
2 of them. First one was a car picked a switch after about 20 cars went over it. Tried to say it was run-through. Next night, we ran out of a track onto the lead into the side of another train. Engineer took the hit I think. Company was trying to get him anyway. After getting off that engine, we went out to get another coal train, and in process of yarding, a hopper pocket came open on a road crossing and the cars rode up and off the track when we shoved back. This all occurred in my first year.
Let me tell you, that it is a sinking feeling you get when you are on the ground waiting for a shove to come to you and you watch the cars start to bounce on the ties or ballast. We had a photograph on the employee bulletin board showing a huge derailment in a railyard somewhere. there were cars laying all over, trucks and wheelsets scattered on top of each other. In the photo there was a man picking his way thru the wreckage while talking on his radio. One of the many pundits we have on the seniority roster wrote the following caption. "That'll do West Yard, take it your way!" ROFLMAO!!!! So typical of a day in the life of a railroader!!! "Charlie"
