US DOT warns truck drivers to watch out for certain mailing

CHARLOTTE — A misleading marketing tactic has local truckers sweating their certifications.

Maurice Bittle has been behind the wheel of a big rig for years and just started his own business, Moe B Trucking.

Recently, Bittle opened his mail to find an envelope from “Supervisor Compliance Training Department” warning that this is the “Final Compliance Notice,” he told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke.

The letter made claims stating, “Mandatory D.O.T training,” “This is your final notice,” and that Bittle “Must complete the mandatory Drug and Alcohol Awareness Training immediately” or face penalties up to $10,000.

“I actually, I thought it was true. I started to send the money in until I got online and pulled them up and looked,” Bittle told Action 9. “I’m just starting out, look, I’m trying to make money, not give it away.”

The training is only mandatory for some people and Bittle isn’t one of them.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is warning people about letters like this.

It says the mailers are likely from a “private company that is aggressively marketing supervisor training to motor carriers,” and have no affiliation or endorsement from an agency within DOT, officials told Action 9.

The agency also said these companies tend to go after “newly registered motor carriers.”

A DOT spokesperson went as far as calling it a “scam.”

Here’s what you need to know:

• The DOT does require drug and alcohol training, but only for supervisors – which is anyone who manages at least one other person. It’s not for owner-operators, like Maurice Bittle.
• Supervisors have to take two hours of classes on substance abuse. Check if this applies to you.
• The DOT reminds you that, under no circumstances, do you have to take the classes through a company that solicits you.

On the mailer company’s website, ads read “SIGN-UP NOW! MANDATORY.” In the fine print, the site acknowledges it’s not affiliated with the DOT or any government agency, Action 9 discovered.

The letter does too.

Action 9 priced out the classes. They’re usually under $50. Courses advertised in the letter to Bittle start at $99.

Action 9 reached out the company behind the letter to get its side of the story, but didn’t hear back in time for this report.

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