§382.401 sets the retention periods for the D&A program records. Records of test results that are positive, of refusals, of return-to-duty and follow-up tests, of SAP referrals, and of EBT calibration must be retained for 5 years. Records of negative drug-test results and alcohol results below 0.02 are retained for 1 year. Records of previous-employer §382.413 inquiries and the §382.301 pre-employment inquiry are retained for 3 years. Random-selection documentation (the selection list, the testing dates, the percentages) is retained for 5 years.
Severity weight
Severity weight 3 in the Controlled Substances & Alcohol BASIC. Audit context is where this finding bites: a missing 5-year record blocks the auditor from verifying that the random testing program (§382.305) actually operated — and a random program the carrier cannot demonstrate is §385.321(b) auto-fail territory for new entrants.
What's commonly missing
- The random-selection scientific-method documentation (the carrier received the test name but not the selection list).
- The §382.413 previous-employer responses (the carrier requested them but never filed the response).
- EBT calibration records for the breath-alcohol testing device.
- SAP follow-up plan letters — they're SAP-issued but carrier-retained.
Retention is location-restricted
§382.401(c) requires records be retained at the carrier's principal place of business or maintained in a manner that produces them within two business days of an FMCSA request. "Cloud somewhere" is fine as long as production is within two business days.
How Roadworthy HQ helps
Retention is assigned when a D&A result is recorded: the §382.401 period for that result is set on the test's documents by the database, not by whoever uploads them. Documents nearing the end of their period get warnings at 90, 30, and 7 days, then a 7-day pending window before anything is purged, and a legal hold stops the clock. The audit binder export is a ZIP of the documents you have uploaded, sorted into sections, with a manifest. Previous-employer D&A inquiry records have no upload screen today.