Can I choose my own SAP?

Yes. Your employer has to give you a list of DOT-qualified SAPs, but you can pick from that list or find your own. Either way, the SAP must be DOT-qualified.

Can I keep working while I complete the process?

Not in a safety-sensitive job. You can't perform safety-sensitive duties, such as driving a commercial motor vehicle, for any employer until the process is complete. Whether your employer has other work for you is the employer's call.

Does the SAP decide whether I get my job back?

No. The SAP decides whether you've complied with the recommended education or treatment. The employer decides whether to put you back in a safety-sensitive position.

How many follow-up tests will I have?

At least six unannounced tests in your first 12 months back in a safety-sensitive job. The SAP sets the plan and can extend testing up to 60 months in total.

DOT return-to-duty · Texas

How the DOT return-to-duty process works in Texas

Short answer

After a failed or refused DOT drug or alcohol test, you can't do safety-sensitive work for any employer until you finish the return-to-duty process. That means seeing a DOT-qualified substance abuse professional (SAP), completing the education or treatment the SAP recommends, passing a follow-up evaluation with the SAP, and then passing a return-to-duty test. The rules are federal, so the steps are the same in Texas as anywhere else.

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When the process applies

It starts after a violation of DOT's drug and alcohol rules: a verified positive drug test, an alcohol test of 0.04 or higher, a refusal to test (including adulterating or substituting a specimen), or another prohibited use of drugs or alcohol. Until you complete the process, you can't perform DOT safety-sensitive duties for any employer.

The steps, in order

Get the SAP list. Your employer must give you a list of DOT-qualified SAPs with their names, addresses and phone numbers, and can't charge you for it. That includes applicants and new employees.
Initial evaluation. The SAP does a clinical assessment and interview to work out what help you need. The SAP can do it in person, or remotely by live audio and video where the SAP's license allows it.
Education or treatment. The SAP gives you a written recommendation and refers you to an education and/or treatment provider. You complete it with that provider, not with the SAP.
Follow-up evaluation. The SAP re-evaluates you to confirm you complied, reports to your employer, and sets your follow-up testing plan.
Return-to-duty test. Your employer sends you for the test, which can't happen until the SAP says you complied. You need a negative drug test and, for alcohol, a result under 0.02. The collection is directly observed.
Back to work, if your employer agrees. Passing doesn't guarantee your job. Putting you back in a safety-sensitive position is the employer's decision, not the SAP's.
Follow-up testing. Back on the job, you're subject to at least six unannounced follow-up tests in the first 12 months. The SAP can extend the plan up to 60 months in total, and decides how many tests and how often.

If you hold a CDL: the Clearinghouse

CDL and CLP holders are also tracked in the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. A violation puts you in "prohibited" status for commercial driving, and you stay there until the process is complete. Your SAP records the date of your initial assessment and the date you become eligible for the return-to-duty test. Your employer records your negative return-to-duty test and the completion of your follow-up testing plan. An owner-operator uses a consortium/third-party administrator for the employer's steps. Our guide to designating your SAP in the Clearinghouse walks through it.

How long it takes

There's no set timeline. It depends on what the SAP recommends for you and how quickly you finish. Be careful with anyone who promises a finish date before they've evaluated you.

What it costs and who pays

DOT doesn't set SAP fees, and its rules leave payment to the employer and the employee. Our guide to what a SAP evaluation costs in Texas has the details.

Working with Clayton in San Antonio

Clayton Sponhaltz, LCDC, NCAC I, is a DOT-qualified SAP with an office in Stone Oak, San Antonio. You can meet in person or on live video. He handles case management with your treatment provider, and sends your documentation to your employer and, if you hold a CDL, to the Clearinghouse. The full process is one flat $420. Call (210) 846-1819 or request a call below.