The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted a petition from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance aimed at closing a regulatory gap in how drug related out of service orders are enforced, Transport Topics reported. Under current rules, a driver placed out of service for drug possession can continue operating after the substance is confiscated, because the regulation does not explicitly bar the driver from driving during that period, unlike the existing prohibition tied to alcohol violations.
The gap came to light after an enforcement case in which a driver was placed out of service in Mississippi for marijuana possession and was later stopped in Alabama with no legal mechanism available to enforce the original order. The proposed rule change would establish a mandatory 24 hour out of service period and add explicit language prohibiting driving during that window, closing the enforcement gap identified by the alliance.
The rule falls under 49 CFR 392.4, the federal regulation governing controlled substance use by commercial drivers. Safety advocates have pushed for clearer enforcement authority as roadside inspections increasingly identify drug related violations alongside more established alcohol testing protocols. The change is expected to give law enforcement officers in any state the ability to enforce an out of service order regardless of where it was originally issued, addressing a jurisdictional weakness that had allowed drivers to resume operating after crossing state lines.
Source: Transport Topics -- https://www.ttnews.com/articles/fmcsa-close-oos-loophole-drug