Tag: FRA

FRA Announces 2026 Random Drug & Alcohol Testing Rates for Railroad Employees & Contractors

Written by azcdt on January 8, 2026. Posted in Drug Testing.

Effective January 8, 2026 — The Federal Railroad Administration has set minimum random testing rates for the new calendar year. Railroad carriers and contractors subject to FRA Part 219 regulations must meet these minimums across three employee categories: Covered Service, Maintenance-of-Way (MOW), and Mechanical (MECH).

2026 Rates at a Glance

Covered Service Employees and Contractors
Drug: 25% | Alcohol: 10%
No change from 2025.

Maintenance-of-Way (MOW) Employees and Contractors
Drug: 25% | Alcohol: 10%
No change from 2025.

Mechanical (MECH) Employees and Contractors
Drug: 50% | Alcohol: 10%
Alcohol rate lowered from 25% to 10%.

View the complete Federal Register notice →

The only adjustment for 2026 is the reduction in the alcohol testing rate for Mechanical employees and contractors—dropping from 25 percent to 10 percent. Drug testing for MECH employees and contractors remains at 50 percent, reflecting industry-wide positive rates above the 1.0 percent threshold in 2023 and 2024.

How FRA Sets Annual Rates

FRA reviews the prior two complete calendar years of Management Information System (MIS) data submitted by railroads. If the industry-wide random drug positive rate stays below 1.0 percent, the Administrator may reduce the minimum drug testing rate to 25 percent. If the random alcohol violation rate remains below 0.5 percent, the minimum alcohol testing rate may drop to 10 percent.

For Covered Service and MOW employees and contractors, both drug and alcohol rates stayed below these thresholds in 2023 and 2024, so their minimums remain unchanged. MECH employees and contractors—who entered FRA random testing in 2022—now have two full years of MIS data. While drug positives exceeded 1.0 percent, alcohol violations stayed below 0.5 percent, triggering the 2026 reduction.

What Railroads Must Do

Meet the minimums. These are floor rates; you may test at higher percentages to support your safety culture and compliance posture.

Spread selections through the year. Randoms must be unannounced and distributed across all four quarters.

Document everything. FRA auditors expect proof of scientifically valid selections, timely notifications, completion tracking, and annual MIS submissions.

Keep pools accurate. Only safety-sensitive employees in the relevant category belong in each random pool. Separate Covered Service, MOW, and MECH populations—and never mix DOT and non-DOT employees or contractors.

AZCDT Manages FRA Programs End-to-End

AZCDT operates compliant FRA random programs for railroads of every size. We maintain distinct pools by employee category, run quarterly selections with proper statistical distribution, coordinate nationwide testing, track completions, and deliver annual MIS reports and audit packets.

What’s included:

Immediate enrollment and membership certificates
Quarterly random drug and alcohol selections for Covered Service, MOW, and Mechanical employees at the correct 2026 rates
All required random tests included in the annual fee
Nationwide collection site network
MRO review and secure results portal
Supervisor reasonable-suspicion training
Full audit support and documentation

Ready to streamline your 2026 FRA compliance?

Enroll Now | Contact Our Team

For answers to common questions about FRA testing programs, visit our Drug and Alcohol Testing FAQs.

To learn more about what sets AZC Drug Testing apart, explore Our Difference or read reviews from our clients.

Call us or enroll online to get started

Reference: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 5 (January 8, 2026). FRA Docket No. FRA–2001–11213, Notice No. 30. Rates effective January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026.Read the official FRA notice.

2025 FRA Random Testing Rates Announced

Written by azcdt on January 8, 2025. Posted in Drug Testing.

2025 FRA Random Testing Rates

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published that the minimum annual random testing rates for calendar year 2025 will remain the same as those for calendar year 2024. Published in the January 3, 2025 Federal Register the FRA set the minimum random testing rates as:

Covered Service employees—25 percent for drugs and 10 percent for alcohol.
Maintenance of Way (MOW) employees—25 percent for drugs and 10 percent for alcohol.
Mechanical (MECH) employees—50 percent for drugs and 25 percent for alcohol.

The FRA can adjust the minimum random drug and alcohol testing rates annually based on the reported positive rate of the industry’s random drug and alcohol tests. In accordance with 49 CFR Part 219.625(d)(1) if the reported positive random drug testing rate is below one (1) percent for two consecutive years, the FRA may lower the random drug testing rate to 25% for all covered employees. Conversely, 49 CFR Part 219.625(d)(2) requires the FRA to raise the minimum random drug testing rate from 25% to 50% for all covered employees when the latest reported positive random drug testing rate is equal or greater than one (1) percent.

49 CFR Part 219.625(e)(1) states if the reported violation rate for random alcohol testing rate is below one (0.5) percent for two consecutive years, the FRA may lower the random alcohol testing rate to 10% for all covered employees. Conversely, 49 CFR Part 219.625(e)(2) requires the FRA to raise the minimum random alcohol testing rate from 10% to 25% for all covered employees when the latest reported violation rate for random alcohol testing rate is equal or greater than one (0.5) percent.

The industry-wide random drug testing positive rate for both Covered Service employees and Maintenance of Way employees remained below 1.0 percent for 2022 and 2023. The FRA has therefore determined the minimum annual random drug testing rate for both Covered Service employees and Maintenance of Way employees will remain at 25 percent for the period January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.

The industry-wide random alcohol testing violation rate for both Covered Service employees and Maintenance of Way employees remained below 0.5 percent for 2022 and 2023. The FRA has therefore determined the minimum random alcohol testing rate for both Covered Service employees and Maintenance of Way employees will remain at 10 percent for the period January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.

Since Mechanical employees did not become subject to FRA random drug and alcohol testing until March 2022, the FRA will not have the two full years of industry-wide MIS data required to adjust the random testing rates for Mechanical employees until it has the MIS data for 2024. The FRA has therefore determined that the minimum random rates for Mechanical employees will remain at 50 percent for drugs and 25 percent for alcohol for the period January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.

The 2025 Random Testing Rates for all U.S. Department of Transportation modes can be found at Random Testing Rates | US Department of Transportation

About AZC Drug Testing

AZC Drug Testing is a leading provider of FRA drug & alcohol testing services. We offer consortium and custom drug and alcohol testing programs. Our consortium program is ideal for smaller railroad companies and companies providing Maintenance of Way and Mechanical services to the railroads who lack a sufficient number of employees for a random testing pool. We also offer customized solutions, complete with everything your company needs to stay in compliance—from an FRA-aligned anti-drug plan and written policy to employee and supervisor training. Learn more about AZC Drug Testing’s FRA Services.

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FRA Announces 2019 Random Testing Rates

Written by csdesign on January 8, 2019. Posted in Drug Testing.

The Federal Railroad Administration announced in the December 28, 2018 Federal Register that the random drug and alcohol rates for 2019 will remain unchanged. The annual random testing rate for Covered Service Employees will remain at 25% for drug and 10% for alcohol and Maintenance of Way Employees will remain at 50% for drug and 25% for alcohol.