Picking a SAP

How to find a SAP — and how not to get priced, trapped, or scammed choosing one.

The SAP you designate runs your whole return: the evaluation, the program, your eligibility, and your follow-up plan. After a SAP accepts, you cannot switch. This hub is the choosing, done carefully: where to look, what a SAP should cost, the bait-pricing pattern, and the red flags.

Step 1, in full

Where SAPs are found

What a SAP should cost

Bundled — initial plus follow-up evaluation together — $399–$600 is the normal range from named providers, checked October 19, 2026. The full pricing table, including the split-pricing trap, is on the costs page.

Bait pricing and red flags

The can't-switch trap, plainly: before a SAP accepts, you may designate a different SAP freely — including when a SAP declines you. After a SAP accepts, 49 CFR 382.705(d) locks the choice for the whole process. Spend your care before the click, not after it.

Included in the $49 ReturnToDuty Kit

  • Choosing a SAP: the price table ($399–$600 bundled is normal), the questions to ask before you designate, split-pricing and bait-pricing red flags, and the payment-plan truth
  • The no-job path in full: registering as an owner-operator in the Clearinghouse and designating a C/TPA for the test — what step services charge versus doing each piece yourself
  • The follow-up years: plan math (at least 6 tests in year one, up to 5 years), changing employers mid-plan, and what a new employer must do
  • Getting hired: the SAP-friendly carrier search method, what to say on an application and in an interview, and the consent forms — honestly, with no invented list of companies
  • Records and licenses: Clearinghouse consent, what employers actually see, the state downgrade defense timeline, and the cost tracker worksheet

Get the ReturnToDuty Kit — $49

One payment of $49. No subscription. The kit is a web page you can return to and print — the full playbook for choosing a SAP, taking the test with no employer, managing the follow-up years, and getting hired again.

SAP questions

How do I find a SAP near me?

Start with the free list your employer must give you (49 CFR 40.287). Add the free SAPlist.com directory search by city/state/language. Many SAPs also evaluate by permitted face-to-face video, which widens 'near me' considerably — ask. Online search is how about a third of drivers find their SAP; the trap is that search finds whoever advertises hardest, not whoever prices honestly.

Can I get a second opinion if I don't like my SAP's program?

No. Under 49 CFR 40.297 no one may obtain a second SAP opinion, and no one can override your SAP (49 CFR 40.295). This is why the choosing — done before designation — is the highest-stakes step in the process.

A SAP advertises a very low price. What's the catch?

Usually one of three: the price is only the initial evaluation and the follow-up is separate; the 'SAP' is a referral middleman adding a fee on top of a real SAP; or the offer is the fake-SAP scam itself. Get the total for both evaluations, in writing, before you designate anyone.