FTA Random Drug
Testing Compliance

Who counts as an employer under Part 655

Section 655.4 defines an employer as a recipient or other entity that provides public transportation service, and it says the term includes subrecipients, operators and contractors. A contractor is anyone who provides a safety-sensitive service for a recipient, subrecipient, employer or operator, and the arrangement can be a written contract or an informal, ongoing relationship.

That last point catches people. A paratransit provider the agency pays by the trip, or a maintenance vendor with a handshake arrangement, can still be a contractor for Part 655 purposes. If these companies’ employees perform safety-sensitive work, they need to be in a compliant testing program, and the agency needs to know which pool they are in.

The five safety-sensitive functions

The safety-sensitive function definition in § 655.4 lists these duties when performed by employees of recipients, subrecipients, operators or contractors:

1. operating a revenue service vehicle, including when it is not in revenue service
2. operating a nonrevenue service vehicle when the operator is required to hold a commercial driver’s license
3. controlling the dispatch or movement of a revenue service vehicle
4. maintaining a revenue service vehicle or equipment used in revenue service, including repairs, overhaul and rebuilding
5. carrying a firearm for security purposes

A covered employee is anyone who performs or will perform one of those functions, and that includes applicants and transferees. Volunteers count in two situations: when the vehicle requires a CDL, and when the volunteer performs a safety-sensitive function and receives pay above actual expenses.

The 2026 rates and how they move

The minimum annual random rates for 2026 are 50 percent for drug testing and 10 percent for alcohol. Each year the FTA Administrator reviews the industry-wide positive and violation rates reported through the MIS and publishes the rates in the Federal Register, effective January 1 of the following year (§ 655.45).

Selection and timing for round-the-clock service

Part 655 asks for a scientifically valid selection method, such as a random number table or a computer random number generator linked to payroll or similar identifiers, and every covered employee must have an equal chance of selection each time. You have to select enough employees during the calendar year to meet the minimum rate. Consortia may work out that number for each employer or across all covered employees tested at the same rate.

Timing is where transit differs from most other modes. Tests must be unannounced and unpredictable, spread reasonably through the year, and conducted at all times of day when safety-sensitive functions are performed. For an agency that runs from 4 a.m. to 1 a.m. and on weekends, that means a collection plan that doesn’t leave the early-morning and late-night operators permanently out of reach. If every test happens on weekday day shift because that’s when the clinic is open, the program has a hole.

A selected employee goes to the collection site immediately; one who is performing a safety-sensitive function must stop and then proceed immediately. Alcohol tests can happen only while the employee is performing safety-sensitive functions, just before, or just after. Drug tests can happen at any time while the employee is on duty.

Contractors and subrecipients in the pool

Because “employer” includes subrecipients and contractors, a transit agency usually has to think about several pools at once: its own employees, the employees of each contractor, and any shared consortium pool that a small subrecipient joins. Keep a simple matrix that lists each provider, the safety-sensitive functions its people perform, the pool they’re in, and who runs the draws. FTA’s national drug and alcohol conference has published training material on contractor coverage that is worth reading if you manage several providers.

An employee who falls under more than one DOT agency is tested at the rate of the agency that regulates more than half of the employee’s functions. An employer under several agencies can use separate pools by required rate or test everyone at the highest rate. For comparison with other modes, see the agency comparison page; transit employers with CDL drivers also sometimes look at the FMCSA rules.

Records

Section 655.71 sets the retention schedule.

The schedule doesn’t name random selection documents. Keeping them at least as long as the two-year collection-process category is the cautious reading, and longer if your state or funding agreements require it. Whatever the period, keep the roster used for each draw, the date and method, the selected employees and the notification and collection times.

Where programs go wrong

• A contractor’s safety-sensitive employees aren’t in any pool the agency can point to.
• Administrative staff or other non-covered employees are in the same pool as operators and mechanics.
• Collections are scheduled around the clinic’s hours, so night and weekend operators are rarely tested.
• The agency assumes the small-system maintenance exclusion applies without checking its funding source and whether the maintenance is actually contracted out.
• Volunteer drivers who need a CDL, or who are paid more than expenses, are left out.
• Last year’s rates are reused without checking the January notice.