The U.S. Department of Transportation has revised the foundational rule that governs every DOT-regulated drug and alcohol testing program. The final rule, published in the Federal Register on May 11, 2026, changes how collection sites handle situations where an oral fluid test is the required collection method but oral fluid testing is not yet available at the site. In those cases, the collector is required to conduct a directly observed urine collection when oral fluid testing is the required method under Part 40 but cannot be performed at the collection site, as defined in the rule. The rule also updates terminology in 49 CFR Part 40 consistent with Executive Order 14168. Every DOT-regulated employer — across FMCSA, FAA, FRA, FTA, PHMSA, and the U.S. Coast Guard — operates under Part 40. That means DERs, MROs, SAPs, and collection sites operating under Part 40 should understand what changed and how it may affect their procedures.
The Department of Transportation's official summary of the rule, published in the Federal Register, states that "[t]he U.S. Department of Transportation revises its drug and alcohol testing procedures to require a directly observed urine collection in situations where oral fluid tests are currently required but cannot be conducted because oral fluid testing is not yet available."1 The same notice indicates that the rule "updates terminology in these procedures consistent with Executive Order (E.O.) 14168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government."1
The full text of the rule appears at Federal Register notice 2026-09290. Operators should consult the official text for the precise procedural language before updating internal SOPs. The full rule is the authoritative source; this article summarizes the change at a level useful for compliance planning. The rule is effective June 10, 2026. Operators should align SOP updates and training timelines with this date.
Two practical points sit underneath the language. First, the rule does not eliminate oral fluid testing as a collection method. Oral fluid remains a permitted method under Part 40, and it remains required in the situations DOT has previously specified. The rule addresses what the collector does when the required method cannot actually be performed at the collection site because the site does not yet have oral fluid testing available. Second, the rule names a specific fallback — directly observed urine collection — rather than allowing the collector to default to a standard urine collection. Direct observation is a higher-control procedure under Part 40, and the rule specifies when it applies as the required fallback. Second, the rule names a specific fallback — directly observed urine collection — in those defined scenarios rather than allowing the collector to default to a standard urine collection.
The terminology updates in the second part of the rule align Part 40 language with the executive order. Operators reviewing their own SOPs should plan to align internal terminology with the updated regulatory language in customer-facing forms, training materials, and DER scripts so that documentation remains consistent with Part 40.
49 CFR Part 40 is the procedural backbone of every DOT-regulated drug and alcohol testing program. The modal rules — FMCSA's 49 CFR Part 382 for CMV drivers, FAA's 14 CFR Part 120 for aviation, FRA's 49 CFR Part 219 for rail, FTA's 49 CFR Part 655 for transit, PHMSA's 49 CFR Part 199 for pipeline, and the U.S. Coast Guard's 46 CFR rules for credentialed mariners — all incorporate Part 40 by reference for the testing procedures themselves. A change to Part 40 therefore reaches every regulated employer in every mode at the same time.
That includes the people inside those programs:
Insurance partners and brokers underwriting fleets with active D&A programs also have an interest, because procedural compliance on Part 40 is a frequent inspection and audit finding. Carriers that update SOPs early may reduce compliance risk and operational disruption when collection issues arise.
Operators with multi-modal programs — for example, a parent company that operates an FMCSA-regulated trucking subsidiary and an FAA-regulated charter air operation — should run this update through both modal compliance leads. The Part 40 procedural change applies identically across modes, but each modal program has its own internal training and audit cadence.
Foley supports DOT-regulated employers with drug and alcohol testing program management, including access to a national collection-site network, MRO services, SAP coordination, and support for required testing workflows and documentation. When a procedural rule changes mid-year,the operational lift is in SOP updates, DER training, and maintaining consistent compliance processes. Foley's compliance team helps employers build the change into their existing program without rebuilding it. Visit the DOT Drug & Alcohol Testing hub or contact the compliance team to discuss specifics for your program.
No. The rule addresses what the collector does in the specific Part 40 scenarios where oral fluid testing is the required method but cannot be performed at the collection site because oral fluid testing is not yet available. The fallback is a directly observed urine collection, which uses the existing Part 40 urine collection procedure with direct observation added. The Federal Register summary does not indicate a new device requirement. Operators should confirm any equipment implications by reviewing the full rule text.
The full rule defines the trigger; the Federal Register summary states only that the fallback applies when oral fluid testing "is not yet available." Operators should confirm the precise definition in the rule text and align it with the actual capability at each authorized collection site in their network. This is a question to verify against the published rule, not to infer.
The rule changes the procedure for one specific situation — required oral fluid, unavailable testing. It does not change how random selections are generated, how donors are notified, or how testing categories are assigned. Random testing continues under the existing Part 40 framework.
The Federal Register summary does not describe a panel change. Part 40 testing panels are governed by separate procedures within the rule. Operators should confirm their panel configuration is unchanged by reviewing the full text.
The terminology updates align Part 40 with Executive Order 14168. The practical impact for operators is that internal language, training materials, and donor-facing forms should mirror the updated regulatory text. Custody-and-control forms generated under the regulatory framework will reflect the change at the source; operator-generated documents need to be reviewed and updated.