By Ginny Clay, Operations Manager
As we come to the end of the year, we always want to say a big thank you to our customers! We appreciate all of you and we are proud to serve as your consortium manager and as your collection site.
Enrollment
We are quickly gearing up for 2025, and that starts with renewing your enrollment. Enrollment contracts for 2025 were sent out in early November and are due back by December 31, 2024. Please take note, the remit to email is changing. You can now send your enrollment contract to myron@tss-safety.com. Myron McCord will be overseeing our consortium management going forward, and this is a great time for him to start getting to know you all. You can of course, also drop off or mail your enrollment to any of our offices!
Please make sure to make any updates in contact information and use this time to also send an updated employee list.
If you wish to be removed from the pool for the winter and have not notified us, please do so before the end of the year. If you have not enrolled or contacted TSS by the end of January, your company will be removed from the consortium, and you will need to re-test all safety-sensitive employees to rejoin the pool.
Standing Order
We are still anticipating oral fluid testing to be fully approved very soon. To ensure that we are all prepared, we have added the Standing Order form to our enrollment contract.
The Department of Transportation says employers must tell collection sites what kind of testing methodology to use (oral fluid versus urine), recommending that employers have a “Standing Order” in place to avoid any confusion in the testing process. A Standing Order means the same thing as the employer’s directions, instructions, or protocols for telling collection sites what kind of test to administer in a specific situation. There is no set format DOT requires for doing this. Having your Standing Order ready to go once the devices are approved, will prevent the collector from having to contact the DER before starting each collection.
To avoid confusion, we have some suggestions on filling out your standing order:
- It is up to your company to choose what testing method you want the collector to conduct and whether you want to switch methods if a second collection is required. Generally, the testing done on the first page (the standard Pre-Employment, Random, Reasonable Suspicion) could always initially be urine. Return to Duty and Follow-up are DOT-Mandated Observed tests, so you may want to choose oral fluid for those. You can also initially choose oral fluid for insufficient volume or direct observation situations.
- Keep in mind, it is still uncertain when exactly oral fluid testing will be an option for DOT-regulated industries. Oral fluid testing devices are expected to be approved between Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 of 2025, but it is not known when we will get the go-ahead to start. Also, collectors will need to be trained and certified in oral fluid testing, just like they are for urine testing. This will take time and not all collection sites will offer oral fluid testing.
Please make sure that you fill out and send back your Standing Order with your Consortium Enrollment form.
Our gift to you!
In case you haven’t heard, 2025 is our 25th Anniversary Year!!! Some of you have been here with us for the entire time and I have been here for 20 of those years. It has been so great to have gotten to know so many of you!
To celebrate the occasion, we are holding a special drawing for a $250 gift card for application to any TSS service. (expires 12/31/25)
TERMS:
- Your Enrollment must be received by 12/31/24
- Your account must be paid in full for 2024. All forms must be completed accurately, and you must turn in your Standing Order form.
- The winner will be chosen by a drawing of all properly completed enrollment applications on January 15, 2025.
Stay tuned for other exciting Anniversary Events happening throughout the year in all our offices.
Thank you for another successful year, and we look forward to serving you in the next!