10-4 Magazine / August 2025 67 Testing for use of the synthetic opioid fentanyl has been approved by U.S. drug officials, clearing the way for truckers and others in federally regulated occupations to be subject to testing for its use. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made the announcement, noting that fentanyl now accounts for a large proportion of overdose deaths in the country. The use of both urine and oral fluid drug panels to test for the drug will be authorized for federal agencies beginning last month (July 2025). Since 2015, drug officials have been weighing whether to add fentanyl to the list of tested substances for truck drivers and other federally regulated workers. Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid drug. It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for pain relief, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. But DEA notes that it is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. Fentanyl can be snorted or sniffed, smoked, taken orally by pill, or spiked onto blotter paper. It has become the third most frequently identified drug in U.S. testing and accounted for 13.81% of all drugs reported by forensic laboratories, according to a recent report of the National Forensic Laboratory Information System. Officially, this action by HHS merely clears a path for the Department of Transportation and other federal agencies to begin fentanyl testing. Federal rules require individual agencies to adopt their own version of the testing rule, but most are likely to mirror the HHS requirements. That said, it’s possible DOT could have its own rules in place in time for a July start, said Brenna Lyles, director of safety policy for American Trucking Associations. “DOT could begin testing on July 7, if they finish their own rulemaking by then,” she said. The trucking industry has worked to increase awareness of the tragic effects of fentanyl abuse by supporting addiction and recovery programs, endorsing legislation (like the END FENTANYL Act), and partnering with law enforcement. Since last summer, carriers have been able to join the fight by buying trailer wraps with fentanyl public service announcements. In comments filed on the rule proposal, ATA said it supports the addition of fentanyl to the authorized drug testing panels for federally regulated employers, as proposed by HHS. While fentanyl continues to be an additive or filler in illicit drugs detected in a traditional 5-panel test, the drug is increasingly contained in counterfeit prescription medications like Adderall, Xanax and oxycodone, commonly taken without other drugs. Within the trucking industry, motor carriers that perform hair follicle testing have seen a substantial increase in positive fentanyl tests in recent years. ATA added, “According to one drug testing provider, among three motor carriers that performed hair testing that included fentanyl in their non-DOT testing program, 137 fentanyl positives were detected in 2023. Of those 137 positives, 77 contained fentanyl only (56%) and 60 showed fentanyl alongside other drugs (44%).” To authorize new drug test panels and changes, HHS is required to do a thorough review of all relevant information, including drug prevalence estimates, the current state of the science, lab capabilities, costs associated with the change, and benefits of the change to any and all federal agencies. HHS-certified test facilities and medical review officers will incur initial costs for administrative and programming changes for the addition of fentanyl, the agency said. Similar to other opioids or pain relievers, fentanyl can produce effects such as relaxation, euphoria, pain relief, nausea and vomiting, sedation, confusion, drowsiness, dizziness, urinary retention, pupillary constriction and respiratory depression. An overdose can cause stupor, changes in pupil size, clammy skin, cyanosis, coma and respiratory failure leading to death. The presence of symptoms such as coma, pinpoint pupils and respiratory depression highly suggests opioid intoxication. Moving on to our next topic, on June 23, 2025, FMCSA’s Medical Examiner’s Certification Integration Rule (NRII) went into effect. Under the rule, certified medical examiners must electronically submit CDL drivers’ DOT medical examination results directly to the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners by the next calendar day. The FMCSA will then send the results to state driver’s license agencies (SDLAs), which must then update the Commercial Driver’s License Information System and the driver’s motor vehicle record. The SDLA must downgrade a driver’s CDL within 60 days if it receives notification that the driver is no longer medically qualified or has an expired medical card. Drivers must still self-certify their type of commercial operation, but they will not need to submit a physical copy of their medical card. The new rule will also eliminate the need for drivers to possess physical copies of their medical card while driving and will allow carriers to verify drivers’ medical qualifications electronically. The new regulation does not change the process for non-CDL drivers. As of today, several states have failed to meet the June 23 deadline. They are Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Vermont and Wyoming. In states that have adopted NRII, the rules took effect on June 23 as planned. For all the states that have not yet adopted NRII, the FMCSA issued an information sheet for medical examiners and drivers in those states. According to that information sheet, medical examiners must continue to issue paper medical cards to drivers. Also, drivers must continue to manually submit their new medical cards to SDLAs in states that have not implemented NRII. SDLAs must change a driver’s status to “not certified” if the driver fails to submit the new medical card within 10 days of the medical card’s expiration and must initiate the downgrading procedure within 60 days from the change in status. Lastly, the sheet says that carriers should require the driver to submit a copy of the new medical card to the carrier, and carriers should then obtain a motor vehicle record from the SDLAs within 15 days of the issuance of the medical card. n DRUG TESTING & MORE Wayne’s World: By Wayne Schooling
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