FMCSA Clearinghouse
What is The FMCSA Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse?
A secure, online database that will give employers and other authorized users real-time information about commercial driver's license (CDL) and commercial learner's permit (CLP) holders' drug and alcohol program violations, thus improving safety on our Nation's roadways.
Driver
All drivers are not required to register with the Clearinghouse. However, you will need to be registered to view your Clearinghouse record electronically or to provide electronic consent for a current or prospective employer to conduct a full query (including a pre-employment query) in the Clearinghouse. Failure to consent to a query will prohibit a driver from performing safety-sensitive functions for the employer conducting the query
Any driver who holds a CDL (CDL driver) and meets the requirements of the CDL standards (49 CFR Part 383), and the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Testing Program (Part 382). References to CDL drivers also include CLP drivers.
Registered CDL drivers can use the Clearinghouse to:
• Provide electronic consent to release detailed drug and or alcohol violation information in your Clearinghouse record to a current or prospective employer (when an employer conducts a full query).
• Review your Clearinghouse record and initiate the process to revise or remove incorrectly entered information.
• Identify a substance abuse professional (SAP) to report on RTD activities, if you have an unresolved drug and alcohol program violation in your Clearinghouse record.
Employers
Once you are registered, you will be able to take the following actions in the Clearinghouse before implementation:
• Verify your information. If you currently have a USDOT Number, the Clearinghouse will pull your contact and company information from other FMCSA systems. Register early to verify this information is up-to-date.
• Designate your C/TPA. If you work with one or more consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs), you must designate them in the Clearinghouse before they can access the Clearinghouse on your behalf. All owner-operators (employers who employ themselves as CDL drivers) must designate a C/TPA.
• Invite any Assistants. Send invitations to other employees who will access the Clearinghouse on your behalf, allowing them to register as part of your company or organization.
• Select and purchase a query plan. Employers will pay a fee when querying the Clearinghouse for current and prospective employees' drug and alcohol program violations. Learn about the pricing options and select the one that works best for your business needs.
How will employers use the Clearinghouse?
You can take the following actions in the Clearinghouse before implementation:
• Report drug and alcohol violations. This reporting will include alcohol test results with a concentration of .04 or greater, refusals to take an alcohol or drug test, as well as actual knowledge of a violation.
• Employers will also report negative return-to-duty (RTD) test results and the successful completion of a driver's follow-up testing plan.
• The information has to be reported by the close of the third business day after the employer is informed.
• Conduct queries to check if prospective employees can perform safety-sensitive functions, such as operating CMVs, due to an unresolved drug and alcohol program violation.
• Employers are also required to query all current employees at least annually. All queries require driver consent.
• Until January 6, 2023, conduct both electronic queries in the Clearinghouse and manual, offline inquiries to previous employers for pre-employment driver investigations.
Owner Operator
An owner-operator is any employer who employs himself or herself as a CDL driver. Owner-operators are subject to the requirements of employers as well as those of drivers.
Once you are registered, you can take the following actions in the Clearinghouse before implementation:
• Verify your information. If you currently have a USDOT Number, the Clearinghouse will pull your contact and company information from other FMCSA systems. Register early to verify this information is up-to-date.
• Designate your C/TPA. As an owner-operator, you must work with at least one consortium/third-party administrator (C/TPA). You must designate your C/TPA(s) in the Clearinghouse before they can access the Clearinghouse on your behalf.
• Invite any Assistants. Send invitations to other employees who will access the Clearinghouse on your behalf, allowing them to register as part of your company.
• Select and purchase a query plan. You will need to have purchased a query plan before queries can be conducted in the Clearinghouse by you or your C/TPA(s).
How will owner-operators use the Clearinghouse?
Beginning January 6, 2020, owner-operators must coordinate with their C/TPA(s) to make sure the following has taken place:
• Report drug and alcohol violations. Reporting will include alcohol test results with a concentration of .04 or greater, refusals to take an alcohol or drug test, as well as actual knowledge of a violation.
• Negative RTD results and the successful completion of a driver's follow-up testing plan.
• Owner-operators or C/TPAs may report violation information about other drivers employed by the owner-operator. If an owner-operator commits a drug and alcohol program violation, this information must get reported by the C/TPA.
• The information above must get reported by the close of the third business day after the employer or C/TPA is informed.
• Conduct queries to check if prospective employees can perform safety-sensitive functions, such as operating CMVs, due to an unresolved drug and alcohol program violation.
• All current employees—including yourself—must be queried at least annually. All queries require driver consent. Owner-operators or C/TPAs can conduct queries.
• Until January 6, 2023, you or your C/TPA(s) must conduct both electronic queries in the Clearinghouse and manual, offline inquiries to previous employers for pre-employment driver investigations.
C/TPAs
Once you are registered, you can take the following actions in the Clearinghouse before implementation:
• Connect with your clients. Your client(s) who employ CDL or CLP drivers must designate you as their consortium/ third-party administrator (C/TPA) in the Clearinghouse and assign you permission to report violations, report return-to-duty (RTD) test results, and or conduct queries on their behalf. If you do not receive this request from your client(s), encourage them to register and send you one.
• Invite any Assistants. Send invitations to other employees who will access the Clearinghouse on your behalf, allowing them to register as part of your company.
• Check your clients' query balance. Your clients will need to purchase a query plan before you can conduct queries on their behalf.
How will C/TPAs use the Clearinghouse?
• Report drug and alcohol violations. This report will include alcohol test results with a concentration of .04 or greater, refusals to take an alcohol or drug test, as well as actual knowledge of a violation. Employers or their C/TPAs will also
• report negative RTD results and successful completion of follow-up testing.
• The information above must get reported by the close of the third business day after the employer or C/TPA is informed.
• Conduct queries to check if prospective employees can perform safety-sensitive functions, such as operating CMVs, due to an unresolved drug and alcohol program violation.
• All current employees get queried at least annually. All queries require driver consent.
• Until January 6, 2023, conduct both electronic queries in the Clearinghouse and manual, offline inquiries to previous employers for pre-employment driver investigations.
MROs
Beginning January 6, 2020, medical review officers (MROs) will be required to report the following violations in the Clearinghouse:
• Verified positive, adulterated, or substituted controlled substances test results.
• Refusal-to-test determinations for controlled substances test. These get reported within two days of making the verification or determination. The MRO must report any changes to a verified drug test within one business day of making any changes to the reported results.
What information will MROs be required to provide when reporting a determination or verification?
• Reason for the test
• Federal Drug Testing Chain of Custody Form (CCF) Specimen ID Number
• Driver's name, date of birth, and CDL number and State of issuance Note: Do not use a driver's social security number (SSN) or employee identification number (EIN).
• Employer's name, address, and USDOT Number, if applicable
• Date of the test and date of the verified result
• Test result
SAP
Once you are registered, you can take the following actions in the Clearinghouse before implementation:
• Self-certify your qualifications. During registration, substance abuse professionals (SAPs) must self-certify they have the credentials and basic knowledge required by § 40.281.
• Invite any Assistants. Send invitations to other employees who will report information in the Clearinghouse on your behalf, allowing them to register as part of your company.
• Be ready for driver requests. Before you can enter information about a driver's RTD activities in the Clearinghouse, the driver you are working with must identify you as his or her SAP, and send you a request to designate you as his or her SAP in the Clearinghouse. You will need to be registered in the Clearinghouse before the driver can send you this request.
How will SAPs use the Clearinghouse?
SAPs will be required to report the following information in the Clearinghouse:
• The date the driver's initial assessment is completed by the close of the business day following the assessment.
• The date you determine the driver is eligible for RTD testing, by the close of this business day following the determination.
You will not upload any documentation, including driver follow-up testing plans, to the Clearinghouse.
