§382.307 authorizes a controlled-substances or alcohol test based on the carrier-supervisor's observation of specific articulable indicators — appearance, behavior, speech, body odors — that point to current use. The observation must come from a supervisor trained in the §382.603 1-hour controlled-substances module and the 1-hour alcohol module (a separate hour for each).
Supervisor training
§382.603 requires every supervisor designated to make reasonable-suspicion determinations to complete 60 minutes of training on the symptoms of controlled-substances use and another 60 minutes on alcohol. The training is one-time; refreshers are recommended but not strictly required.
The observation must be documented
§382.307(b) requires the observations to be made by a trained supervisor and documented in writing within 24 hours. The documentation goes in the driver's §382.401 D&A file. The driver is removed from safety-sensitive function pending the test result.
Audit and litigation risk
A documented reasonable suspicion that does not result in a test is a finding. A pattern (supervisor flagged → no test → driver later involved in accident) is litigation exposure beyond the audit penalty.
How to prevent it
- Train every dispatch supervisor under §382.603. File the certificates in their personnel record.
- Adopt a reasonable-suspicion checklist; the documented observation in §382.307(b) form is the basis of the test order.
- Have a 24/7 collection arrangement so "no available collector" is never the reason for skipping.
How Roadworthy HQ helps
The §382.603 supervisor training certificate uploads as a carrier-level record on the Documents page, with its retention period enforced, and the reasonable-suspicion test result is recorded on the driver's Drug & Alcohol tab. Roadworthy HQ has no log for the supervisor's written observations; keep that record with the test paperwork and upload it with the result. The audit binder export is a ZIP of the documents you have uploaded, sorted into sections, with a manifest.