Under 49 CFR 382.307(c), a reasonable-suspicion determination may only be made by a supervisor or company official trained in accordance with 49 CFR 382.603: at least sixty minutes on the signs of alcohol misuse and at least sixty minutes on the signs of controlled-substance use. PSI staff deliver that training to your supervisors, on site or in a scheduled session, and connect it to the steps that make a decision defensible: observations that are specific, contemporaneous, and articulable; a written record signed by the observer within 24 hours or before the results come back, whichever is earlier (382.307(f)); the rule that the person who made the determination may not conduct the alcohol test (382.307(c)); the window in which alcohol testing is allowed (382.307(d)); and the 24-hour removal rule when an alcohol test cannot be done (382.307(e)(2)). For New Jersey employers with non-DOT staff, the session also covers the physical-evaluation step the state cannabis law attaches to a drug test (N.J.S.A. 24:6I-52). Employee education sessions are available alongside, so the whole workforce understands how the program works.
When this is the program
- New supervisors of CDL drivers who need the required training
- A refresher after a difficult incident showed gaps in documentation
- A municipal or school employer training a full supervisory layer at once
What's included
- The DOT-required curriculum: signs, symptoms, and behavioral indicators of drug use and alcohol misuse
- How to document observations so a reasonable suspicion decision is defensible: specific, contemporaneous, written and signed within 24 hours or before results, whichever is earlier
- What happens after the decision: transport and collection by someone other than the supervisor who made the call, the alcohol-testing window, the 24-hour removal rule, and communicating with the employee
- Employee education sessions for the wider workforce
- Delivered by PSI staff who also run the testing side, so the training matches the real workflow
How it works with PSI
- Training connects directly to your testing program instead of arriving as a generic slideshow
- Supervisors leave knowing what to write down and who to call
- Certificates document completion for your files, kept for as long as the supervisor holds the role and two years after (49 CFR 382.401(b)(4))
Common questions
Is this training actually required?
For supervisors of DOT-covered drivers, yes. 49 CFR 382.603 requires the training, and 49 CFR 382.307(c) allows only a supervisor or company official trained that way to make a reasonable suspicion determination. For non-DOT workforces it is not federally mandated, but the same training is what makes a policy-based reasonable suspicion decision defensible.