FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse
What is the Clearinghouse?
The Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse will be a database containing commercial drivers’ drug and alcohol program violations. It will also contain information about whether a driver has successfully completed the mandatory return‐to‐duty drug and/or alcohol rehabilitation process.
Employers will be required to report drug and alcohol testing program violations to the Clearinghouse. Each time information is added to, modified or removed from the Clearinghouse, the FMCSA will notify the affected driver.
The Clearinghouse falls under Title 49 Part §382 of the US Code of Federal Regulations.
What is the purpose of Clearinghouse?
The purpose of Clearinghouse is to identify drivers who are prohibited from operating a commercial vehicle based on DOT drug and alcohol program violations. It will also help to identify those drivers who work for multiple employers or move to a new employer and fail to notify them of violations.
What is the expected implementation date for Clearinghouse?
As per the DOT, the implementation date for Clearinghouse is January 6, 2020.
What will employers need to do?
Employers will be required to query the Clearinghouse for DOT drivers for two purposes: Pre‐employment screening and annual verification. Employers will also need to report violations to the Clearinghouse.
Pre‐employment screening will be required to ensure that the prospective employee is eligible to drive.
Annual queries will be required to ensure that a driver did not violate the drug and alcohol program with another employer. A general consent form can be signed by each driver to allow for the annual query.
A limited query will be used to determine whether any data exists for a driver and will only require general driver consent. A limited query only identifies whether information about the driver exists in the Clearinghouse and will not result in release of any driver information. However, if the limited query shows a driver record in the Clearinghouse, the employer will be required to run a full query with the driver’s specific consent. The driver will provide their consent through the Clearinghouse web portal.
Employers will be required to report the following to the Clearinghouse:
• An alcohol confirmation test result with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater;
• A negative return‐to‐duty test result;
• The driver’s refusal to submit to a DOT test for drug or alcohol use;
• Any “Knowledge” violations;
• A report that the driver successfully completed all follow‐up tests as ordered by a Substance Abuse Professional.
How do owner‐operators meet their Clearinghouse obligations?
If you are the owner of your company and also drive for your company, you will be treated the same as other FMCSA drivers for the purposes of Clearinghouse. The existing regulations require that one person company owner‐operators join a random drug and alcohol testing pool with at least one other person. Under the Clearinghouse, an employer who employs himself/herself as a driver must also designate a consortium/third party administrator (TPA) to comply with the employer’s Clearinghouse reporting requirements. Your TPA will be required to perform annual queries on you as well as report any alcohol and drug violations you may have.
What can DriverCheck do for you?
DriverCheck can perform your annual queries within Clearinghouse as well as any pre‐placement queries for your new drivers. DriverCheck can also enter drug and alcohol violations for any of your drivers. Please note that owner‐operators must have a Consortium/Third Party Administrator perform the queries and enter violations on their behalf.
What will you need to do to allow DriverCheck to act on your behalf?
You will need to register with the Clearinghouse portal using your DOT Number, company name, address, phone number and list the names of the owners/directors of your company. DriverCheck will not be able to do this part for you.
Once you are registered in the Clearinghouse, you will need to authorize DriverCheck to conduct queries of the Clearinghouse on your behalf. You will also need to authorize DriverCheck to report violations to the Clearinghouse. Service agent authorizations will be required as part of an employer’s Clearinghouse registration process.
Do I need to update my policies?
We are in the process of determining what changes are required to policies and will keep you informed of this.
Will there be a cost to the Clearinghouse?
Yes. There are both costs charged by the Clearinghouse itself and also costs for DriverCheck to administrate the program on behalf of our clients. We will have specifics prior to the implementation of the Clearinghouse.
If you have any questions, please contact DriverCheck at:
1 (800) 463‐4310 option 6 or ClientSupport@DriverCheck.ca
*If there are any changes to any of this information we will let you know in further communications.
For further information please refer to the following: