Get Back To Maritime Safety Sensitive Work
A DOT drug or alcohol violation can remove you from Coast Guard regulated safety sensitive duties. Reset Road connects you with a DOT qualified Substance Abuse Professional for a confidential evaluation and guides you through the required return to duty process.
- Our Impact
Our results speak for themselves
Google Reviews
More than 140 five star reviews from safety sensitive professionals.
Years of Experience
I use over a decade of experience to guide DOT regulated employees through the SAP and return to duty process.
Current Wait Time
Call Now. Wait times are less then 1 minute to speak to a SAP.
Nationwide SAP Services
SAP Services are provided in all 50 states.
Every Week Away From Covered Maritime Work Can Mean Lost Income
A drug or alcohol violation can remove you from Coast Guard regulated safety sensitive duties. That can affect your ability to serve aboard a vessel and may keep you from earning your normal income while the return to duty process remains incomplete.
Here is what that delay can mean.
Your Maritime Duties Are On Hold
You cannot perform covered safety sensitive functions until you complete the required SAP and return to duty steps. That may include vessel operation, navigation, engineering, maintenance, and other regulated maritime duties.
Your Credentials And Work Eligibility Matter
A drug or alcohol violation can affect your ability to perform Coast Guard regulated work. Completing the required SAP process is an important step toward restoring eligibility for covered maritime duties.
Changing Employers Does Not Erase The Violation
Moving to another vessel operator or maritime employer does not make an unresolved violation disappear. Required drug and alcohol testing records can continue to affect your eligibility for safety sensitive work.
Pressure Builds While You Are Out Of Work
Lost income, uncertainty, and pressure to return can make the process harder to manage. A DOT qualified SAP gives you clear requirements and a structured path toward return to duty.
The Mariners Who Return To Covered Work Are The Ones Who Complete The Required Process
The Five Steps Back To Coast Guard Regulated Duty
Reset Road handles steps 1 through 3. Steps 4 and 5 run through your employer, and we tell you exactly what to ask for so nothing stalls.
Initial evaluation
You meet your SAP in-person or over video. It runs about 60. Your SAP asks about your history, your test, and your circumstances, then determines what education or treatment you need.
Treatment or education
Your SAP writes a plan and gives you a list of qualified providers to choose from. Some maritime professionals get an education course they can finish in a week. Others get a treatment program that runs longer.
SAP follow-up evaluation
When you finish your plan, you meet your SAP again. The SAP verifies you completed what was assigned, determines whether you are compliant, and if you are, sets your follow-up testing schedule.
Return-to-duty test
Your Coast Guard regulated employer arranges the required return to duty test. You must receive the required result before resuming covered safety sensitive maritime duties.
Follow-up testing schedule
Your SAP prescribes at least six unannounced tests in your first 12 months back on the job, and can extend the schedule up to five years total. Your employer runs those tests and reports completion.
Navigating a Drug or Alcohol Violation as a Merchant Mariner
A drug or alcohol violation in the maritime industry can involve more than an employers decision about returning someone to work. Merchant mariners operate within a regulatory system that includes Coast Guard chemical testing requirements, marine employer responsibilities, DOT return to duty procedures, and, for credentialed mariners, possible issues involving a Merchant Mariner Credential. Because these requirements can overlap, completing one part of the process does not necessarily resolve every issue affecting a mariners ability to return to work aboard a vessel.
For a mariner who has a DOT drug testing violation, the Substance Abuse Professional process addresses the federal return to duty requirements under 49 CFR Part 40. The SAP conducts an individual evaluation and determines appropriate education or treatment recommendations. After the mariner successfully completes those recommendations, the SAP conducts a follow up evaluation. Before returning to a safety sensitive position when the DOT return to duty process applies, the remaining return to duty requirements must also be satisfied. The Coast Guard specifically recognizes the SAP process as part of returning an individual with a qualifying drug testing violation to safety sensitive maritime work.
Mariners should also understand that returning to work and resolving a Coast Guard credential matter are not necessarily the same process. A drug related case involving a Merchant Mariner Credential may involve separate Coast Guard investigation, suspension and revocation procedures, or other credential requirements. The Coast Guard has specifically distinguished the DOT return to duty process from proceedings concerning the return or status of a Coast Guard issued credential. As a result, successful completion of a SAP evaluation should not be interpreted as automatically resolving every credential related consequence associated with a violation.
The maritime industry also has testing situations that are uncommon in other DOT regulated workplaces. Following a Serious Marine Incident, the marine employer may be required to arrange drug and alcohol testing for individuals directly involved in the incident. Coast Guard requirements generally call for alcohol testing within two hours when practicable and drug testing within 32 hours. These post casualty requirements serve a different purpose from the SAP return to duty process, but they illustrate why maritime employees may encounter Coast Guard drug and alcohol requirements in circumstances that differ substantially from those of highway, transit, aviation, or railroad employees.
Marine employers also have their own responsibilities. Coast Guard regulations address pre employment, random, reasonable cause, and Serious Marine Incident drug testing in covered circumstances. A company drug test and a federally required Coast Guard test are not automatically interchangeable. The Coast Guard has specifically reminded marine employers that testing conducted under 46 CFR Part 16 must remain distinct from testing performed solely under company policy. For a mariner, identifying whether a test was conducted under federal authority can therefore be an important part of understanding what requirements follow a reported result.
Reset Road provides virtual DOT SAP evaluations for mariners who are required to complete the federal return to duty process. Our role is focused on the SAP requirements, including the initial evaluation, individualized education or treatment recommendations, assessment of successful compliance, and follow up evaluation. We also help mariners understand an important boundary in the process. Completing the DOT SAP requirements may be necessary for returning to safety sensitive maritime work, but separate Coast Guard, credential, marine employer, testing, or employment requirements may still need to be addressed.
Why Maritime Professionals Choose Reset Road
available when and where you are.
Complete your SAP evaluation in-person by secure video from a private location. No office visit is required. All you need is a phone, tablet, or computer with a reliable internet connection.
$450, Transparent Pricing
Your 450 dollar fee covers the initial SAP evaluation and follow up evaluation. You know the cost before you begin, with no additional fee for the required follow up evaluation.
Start The Process Without Waiting
Your covered maritime duties may be on hold, but the SAP process does not have to be. Optional virtual evaluations let you begin promptly without waiting for an in person appointment.
We Keep Your Process Moving
Delays in the SAP process can mean more time away from Coast Guard regulated work. We complete required SAP documentation promptly so you can move forward after each required step.
We Understand Maritime Work
We work with mariners, vessel crew members, engineers, deck personnel, and other Coast Guard regulated employees performing safety sensitive duties. You will not have to spend your evaluation explaining the demands of maritime work.
You pick your SAP
Your DOT qualified SAP evaluates your situation, determines the required education or treatment, conducts the follow up evaluation, and establishes your follow up testing plan.
- Client Feedback
Maritime Professionals Moving Forward
Short, honest Reviews from satisfied customers that got back to work with Reset Road.
Google Review
I thought it was going to be difficult but Mr.Nathan walk me threw step by step he is very helpful and understanding through the process. I would highly recommend him through a process like this one.
David J.
August 29, 2026
Google Review
Excellent service very professional I would’ve been lost without the help of Nathan he is very patient and helps you through the whole process would recommend highly.
Cole D.
August 17, 2026
Google Review
Nathan is a very helpful and patient with communication and understanding 👍🏾Thanks alot.
AJC Trucking LLC
August 8, 2026
Nothing changes until you make the first call
The evaluation takes about 60 minutes. Most maritime professionals finish the return-to-duty process in under a week. Every week you wait is a week of missed income. Start the evaluation online, or pick up the phone and talk to a real SAP today.
$450 flat. All 50 states. Open 7 days a week. Se habla Español.