The Controlled Substance and Alcohol Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) is one of seven categories that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) uses to determine how a motor carrier ranks relative to other carriers with a similar number of safety events (i.e., inspections, violations, or crashes). This is used to determine a carrier's CSA score.
What is the Controlled Substance and Alcohol BASIC?
The Controlled Substance and Alcohol BASIC is an enforced area of the FMCSA's BASIC categories. These violations are tied to the driver's current state of mind and how they operate a CMV.
There are 11 sections in the FMCSA CFR that relate to controlled substances and alcohol. These include areas such as driver having possession of alcohol while on duty, or operating, or in physical control of a CMV all the way up to driver uses or is in possession of drugs.
Getting violations in this FMCSA BASIC category can lead to DOT audits for the carrier and other penalties by the FMCSA.
What are the Controlled Substance and Alcohol groups?
Controlled Substance and Alcohol violations are broken into four different groups. These groups help determine the severity of the infraction as it relates to safety. Items such as having alcohol in your possession is less severe while items like being under the influence are the most severe.
| Violation Group | Severity Weight |
| Alcohol Jumping OOS | 10 |
| Drugs | 10 |
| Alcohol | 5 |
| Alcohol Possession | 3 |
Top 7 most issued Controlled Substance and Alcohol violations
Below are the top 7 most issued controlled substance and alcohol violations issued across the country for 2021. This gives some indication into what the DOT finds most important in terms of controlled substances and alcohol.
| Violation | Count |
| Driver uses or is in possession of drugs | 1,303 |
| Prohibited from performing safety sensitive functions per 382.501(a) in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. | 662 |
| Driver having possession of alcohol while on duty, or operating, or in physical control of a CMV | 480 |
| Driver having any measured alcohol concentration, or any detected presence of alcohol while on duty, or operating, or in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle | 328 |
| Driver consuming an intoxicating beverage within 4 hours before operating a motor vehicle | 40 |
| Violating OOS order pursuant to 392.5(a)/(b) | 20 |
| Driver consuming an intoxicating beverage within 4 hours before operating a motor vehicle | 14 |
If you are ever wrongfully issued a violation keep all of your documentation and fill out a DataQ to have the violation reviewed by the FMCSA.
To see the full list of Controlled Substance and Alcohol violations that make up the Controlled Substance and Alcohol basic you can download here.
