Random drug test but can't get into facility..

Tell the manager the truth. If he's got half a brain and can look at Google Maps this should be easily confirmed.

What we have here is a failure to communicate, all parties.

 

Unfortunately drug test collection sites are not required to be accessible with a commercial vehicle. I think this is unfair, but the regulations do not require them to be truck friendly.

This is really bad for your friend because now they are going to have a refusal to test reported to the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and is prohibited from operating any commercial motor vehicle until they complete the return to duty process. This is treated the same as a positive result even though it appears, at least on the surface, to be unintentional. However, since the regulations do not make any exceptions for not being able to report to the facility due to parking or lack of public transportation this will stand as a valid refusal to test and be reported as a positive, resulting in their immediate prohibition to operate any commercial vehicle.

His employer has a role in this, they failed their driver by setting them up for trouble and not responding when the second facility was not accessible. They had a responsibility to get him to a facility that was open and accessible, however ultimately the responsibility is on the driver once notified to be sure the sample is collected without delay or interference. Perhaps the best course of action for the employer would have been to cancel the test once the first facility was unable to collect the specimen and select an alternate candidate for testing to fill the random testing quota for the draw period. This would have maintained the integrity of the random testing process, not caused the driver to have a refusal reported and disrupt their career and the carrier would still be in compliance.

Employers need to take these tests very seriously and make sure their drivers will be able to report to the selected collection facility and have their sample collected without issue. I go as far as calling ahead to the collection site before informing my drivers that they have been selected for testing to make sure the collector is on-site and available. With the labor market and poor customer service we all face today I have had many collection sites that were unable to collect on the specific date I wanted to send a driver, mostly in remote areas, which would have caused big problems had I just sent the driver to the site without checking in advance.

 

Where was he doing the test?

 

that was always my biggest fear, going for a random, with a 53 foot trailer....while i was long haul....

then i went regional/local and, luckily, all my randoms i was notified to get one ASAP, before or after my shift

 

My favorite is getting a call.
Boss: "I need to see you after shift."
Driver: "Ok, what about?"
Boss "I just need to talk to you."

Me, thinking. Well, I shouldn't go to the restroom before talking to him.

 

Did the person document any of this?
Probably, the best course of action would be for this person to contact the local DOT/FMCSA field office in the state that issued the license. Speak to a field agent. They can advise the next steps.

 

Not give up when the company wouldn't answer my questions because I knew I was on the verge of getting fired if me and the company couldn't work out this VERY IMPORTANT appointment RIGHT NOW. That's what I would do. I generally don't believe the story someone tells me when they tell me they didn't take the test or pass the test. Some people, especially twenty-somethings think having an excuse overrides company orders. It doesn't. Life is not like a multiple-choice test in high school. Sometimes important things are said only once while you were scrolling on your phone and not hearing the info is YOUR problem. Maybe my experience with college students is giving me a bad impression of younger people in the so-called workforce.