Mandatory D.O.T. Training letter Drug & Alcohol Awareness

So many of our clients are calling us about letters they are receiving from Supervisor Compliance Training Department about Mandatory D.O.T. Training for Drug & Alcohol Awareness Training I thought I would address this here on our blog (again). I have received a few of these letters myself for some of my clients and I have to admit, it does look official and important.

What is it and do you really need it?

First of all despite the very official looking envelope, letterhead and name, the company sending these letters are not the DOT or the FMCSA, nor is this company any way associated with the Government. They are in fact a company offering training videos, which in its self is not a bad thing. What is bad about the letter is the misleading information provided in the letter it’s self and in its presentation.

It is basically just scare tactic and misleading advertising because it looks like it is from an official source and the wording that is meant to scare you into purchasing their services.

It’s does this by using important government looking seals as part of their logo and use buzz words like mandatory, DOT training, then goes on insinuating your company is not in compliance. The letter I got today even indicates this is the second time they contacted me because they know I am still not in compliance. It then goes on to cite Section 49 of the FMCSA regulations which does discuss reasonable suspicion training, more on this in a moment. It quotes in bold print a $10,000 possible fine for non compliance. If you’re not scared and you should be. You go down and read you can sign up now and save before the price goes up by $50.00! This is the do it now and save big part of the letter.

I got a bit curious about this company today and did a little Google search to see what I came up with. Here is what I got:

The Better Business Bureau gave the company an F rating. While the company is not registered with the BBB they do have no less than 19 complaints in the last 3 years. 15 were advertising/sales related and 4 with products and services. 9 complaints remained unresolved because the BBB was unable to find the company. These happen to be from the most recent complaints. The other 10 older complaints the company simply did not respond. Makes you wonder why the company is not addressing issues raised with their services from a company like the Better Business Bureau.

Whocallsme.com website lists the phone number 202-480-2900 which is on the letter I have from the company. The main complaint is fax marketing of what appears to be the same letter. Interestingly several persons note the current $99 price with an authorized price increase to $149, this was back in a 2011 complaint. Guess it was authorized 3 years ago and still hasn’t gone up, I am not holding my breath to see the infamous price increase though I am wondering, who exactly authorized the price to go up? Another interesting comment was made regarding the area code 202 which happens to be a Washington DC area code not anywhere near Wilmington DE their listed address.

The most damning warning comes from the FMCSA themselves under the notice:

Carriers Alerted to Aggressive Marketing Attempts to Sell Supervisory Training for Drug and Alcohol Testing Requirements

The FMCSA notice reminds carriers that yes there is a regulation that does requires supervisors of CDL drivers to take 60 minutes of training on the symptoms of alcohol abuse and another 60 minutes of training on the symptoms of controlled substances use. The purpose is to qualify supervisors for determining when reasonable suspicion testing is needed. It goes on to say that the FMCSA does not certify trainers or training companies nor do they pre-approve courses. Carriers are required to source out their own training in order to gain compliance. It is also important to mention the FMCSA does not record who has training so they have no way to determine compliance unless they actually come in and do an audit.

Should you sign up for the course offered?

Well that is up to you. I have no real evidence to say the course is good or not even if it really exists. The only information I was able to glean about the content came from the 4 complaints in the BBB and “reviews” found on the company’s own wordpress site, various self-created blogs and other websites designed to gain Google traffic. Of course the “reviews” do a lot to assure readers their courses are not a scam or fraud which may be true but with so much of their efforts going to look and sound like something they are not it makes me leery of signing up for their course work not to mention the complete lack of response to past complaints on a legit site like the BBB.

There are so many other above-board and legit ways to gain compliance with the FMCSA regulation Section 49 you don’t have to jump on board and pay this company a red cent. We even found free course videos and material on the Federal Transit Administration website you can use in a pinch. JJ Keller offers courses you can use over and over again as staffing changes as well as many other safety and compliance firms and agencies just like us offer coursing as well. Just look around.

Free Reasonable Suspicion Training Video

Free Reasonable Suspicion Training Material

Here is a copy of one of the letters I received in the mail today.