Trucking Laws · Nationwide · October 23, 2026

Trucker Asks FMCSA to Stop Random Drug Test Notices on Drivers' Days Off

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A truck driver can be at a wedding, at a funeral, or working a shift at a different job and still get the call: he has been picked for a random drug test.

One trucker wants federal regulators to change that. Nathan Weidert has asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the agency that writes safety rules for the trucking industry, to stop employers from ordering random drug tests, or even notifying drivers about them, while a driver is off duty.

What the petition asks for

According to FMCSA's list of open petitions, the agency received Weidert's petition on June 10, 2026. It asks FMCSA to amend 49 CFR 382.305, the section of federal regulations that covers random testing, "to prohibit employers from administering and/or notifying" commercial driver's license (CDL) holders of random drug testing "when the CDL holder is off-duty."

His argument compares drug testing to alcohol testing. As quoted by Overdrive, his petition says: "Alcohol testing can only be done on-duty," or "when a CDL holder is about to perform, currently performing, or just completed performing a safety-sensitive function. Not when a CDL holder is attending a funeral, at a wedding, or working at another job."

How one random test turned into a long fight

Weidert's petition grew out of his own experience, as he described it to Overdrive. He had been driving seasonally for a company and was at the very end of his contract, with no more work scheduled there. He was also getting started with a different employer.

He told Overdrive the first company selected him for a random test anyway. When he objected that he was no longer working for it, the company reported a refusal to test to the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse is a federal database of drug and alcohol program violations by CDL drivers. That report meant what Overdrive called "burdensome return-to-duty procedures," the steps he had to complete before he was authorized to drive a truck again.

Weidert told Overdrive he kept pushing, used every review opportunity available, and appealed directly to the White House early this year. In a late-August letter, FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said the agency was able to confirm Weidert was actively working for the second employer when the first one called him in. The letter said FMCSA "determined that you could not have reasonably submitted to a DOT random drug test ... under the specific facts of your case," and the agency corrected his Clearinghouse record.

Where things stand now

FMCSA confirmed to Overdrive that the petition is under official consideration, along with more than 30 other petitions, including one from trucker Todd Daum asking for carbon monoxide detectors in trucks with sleeper berths.

This is a petition, not a proposed rule and not a final rule. The public cannot comment on it yet. An agency representative told Overdrive that FMCSA reviews every petition it receives and can grant or deny it outright, without public comment. If the agency grants it, the next step would be a formal rulemaking process that includes a public comment period.

Drivers are divided

Readers commenting on Overdrive's coverage have weighed in on both sides. One said that getting tested at the start of a break meant "a wasted day that was my home time." Another argued that if testing is truly random, some notifications will land at inconvenient times, and that a half-day hassle is nothing compared with the return-to-duty process. Overdrive is also running a reader poll on the question.

A question for readers

Drivers, should a carrier be allowed to send you for a random drug test on your day off?

Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.