In drug testing, a panel is a drug or class of drugs that a test covers, and a multi-panel test covers more than one. Part 40 does not use the term, but the DOT Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC) does. ODAPC describes DOT testing at HHS-certified laboratories as "a 5-panel drug test regimen," with the five panels being marijuana (THC), cocaine, amphetamines, opioids and phencyclidine (PCP).
Under 49 CFR 40.82, laboratories test DOT specimens for these five drugs or classes of drugs. A single panel can cover several specific drugs. The urine cutoff table in 49 CFR 40.85 lists confirmatory test analytes such as codeine, morphine, 6-acetylmorphine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone and oxymorphone, which ODAPC's 5-panel notice places under opioids, and amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA and MDA, which it places under amphetamines. ODAPC's 5-panel notice states that collectors check the 5-panel box in Step 1 of the CCF, the box specified for "THC, COC, PCP, OPI, AMP."
An employer or laboratory cannot expand the DOT panel. Under 40.82, laboratories "must not test 'DOT specimens' for any other drugs," and 49 CFR 40.13(c) gives the example that a DOT specimen must not be tested for additional drugs. An employer that wants other drugs tested under its own policy uses a non-DOT test, which under 40.13:
Instant multi-panel cups and larger panels, such as 10-panel tests, are non-DOT tests, because 49 CFR 40.82 limits DOT testing to five drugs or classes of drugs and 49 CFR 40.210 does not authorize instant tests.
Learn Laws® offers DOT Urine Specimen Collector Training, an online course with qualification training and five live mock collections under 49 CFR 40.33.
A Night/Weekend Availability tag appears in the services of some Drug Testing profiles on MyDrugTesting.com.
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