Waynes World - October 2006

THIS MONTH, WAYNE STARTS AN INFORMATIVE
THREE-PART SERIES COVERING...

THE INS & OUTS OF JOINING
A CONSORTIUM
By Wayne Schooling

Implementing a Controlled Substances Use and Alcohol Misuse Program is a significant undertaking. It involves planning, contracting, administrative, legal and monitoring efforts, which even some large employers may find among the most complex and demanding elements of their safety programs. Small employers may be even more seriously challenged.

One common method of reducing these challenges and their associated costs is to join a consortium for testing and related services. The term consortium is defined by the FMCSA as including, but not limited to, a group of employers who join together to administer DOT drug and alcohol testing programs. FMCSA encourages employers to consider the possible business advantages of joining a consortium. Moreover, the FMCSA requires individual owner/drivers to be in a random pool with two or more persons.

The regulations allow you to join a consortium comprised of employers of any transportation modes subject to DOT testing regulations. If you’re smart, you will pick a consortium that is accredited. If the consortium is nationally accredited, that is even better. Employers who join a consortium generally do so for one or more of the following reasons: lower costs, greater expertise and reduced administrative burden. Let’s look at each of these advantages more closely.

LOWER COSTS. Like all businesses, controlled substance testing labs incur overhead costs as part of doing business. The same is true of collection sites, BATs, MROs and SAPs. When only a relatively few tests are conducted or a few drivers are evaluated, these costs on a per unit basis can be substantial. When a larger number of tests are conducted or drivers evaluated, the overhead costs can be spread over a much larger base, and the per unit costs are substantially minimized. Consortiums allow several small purchasers to combine their service needs and to buy in bulk.

GREATER EXPERTISE. The FMCSA and DOT regulations are not simple. The main reason in using an accredited consortium is for the greater expertise. By being accredited, this means that the consortium’s facilities, operations and personnel meet the highest standards. The regulations establish minimum standards, but many decisions are left to the consortium’s management. That is why it is so important to choose an accredited consortium. Many of the issues left to local option can have significant effects on a program’s cost and effectiveness. A consortium, particularly one with a professional manager, can help you decide which of the permissible approaches are best for your company. The manager of a non-accredited consortium will almost certainly have other job responsibilities to distract him or her.

Joining an accredited consortium allows employers to pool resources and hire a professional manager to run the program. Depending upon the size of the consortium, the manager should be full time, and his or her salary, as well as consortium expenses, should be recovered through the money saved on expenditures for testing services. A professional manager should know the many laws, regulations, policies and procedures covering day to day fleet operations. The professional manager should devote his or her full attention to the regulations and your program. A manager from a non-accredited consortium would not necessarily be familiar with the day to day procedures of a trucking fleet. Many non-accredited consortiums, such as medical clinics, do not provide you with all that is needed for compliance because they are more interested in treating your sore back, or some other condition you may have.

REDUCED BURDEN. The administrative burden of operating programs in compliance with the regulations can be substantial. Procuring services, training personnel, maintaining proper collection equipment and facilities, maintaining the random pool, quality assurance, recordkeeping and reporting are time consuming activities. Taken together, they can be daunting to an employer that wants a first class safety program. An accredited consortium can assume responsibility for any or all of these activities; and because the services are provided for all employers as a whole, the cost to an individual employer is substantially less.

Beyond cost savings and expertise, is practicality – particularly for small employers. Maintaining a random pool and selecting drivers for testing can be difficult. The accredited consortium approach to managing random selection has another advantage. Some drivers fear that if an employer targeted them, the employer could manipulate the random process to ensure that the driver was selected repeatedly or at specific times. Delegation of the random selection process to an accredited consortium can minimize employer control and driver concerns.

An employer that employs only himself as a driver must join a random pool. Therefore, it is to their advantage to join an accredited consortium with a random pool. The FMCSA believes these individuals, by definition, cannot select themselves for a random test. The test therefore cannot be unannounced and the intent of the random testing provisions of the laws and regulations cannot be met by individuals who are not members of a random pool consisting of two or more drivers.

Using an accredited consortium may distance employers from the actual operation of the testing program, however, employers still remain responsible for program actions. Therefore, employers should exercise due diligence in selecting a consortium, making sure that its accreditation goes a long way. Employers should consult the Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA) for the accredited consortium that fits their needs. Next month, we’ll look at some additional advantages of joining a consortium. Until then, “Drive Safe – Drive Smart!”