FMCSA Changes Clearinghouse Inquiry Requirements
- January 10, 2023
- Posted by: Rachel DeLaune
- Categories: Driver Safety, Fleet Safety
Pre-employment Investigations for Drugs and Alcohol
Motor carriers will no longer be required to reach out to previous employers for drug-and-alcohol-related information about prospective drivers. As of January 6, 2023, conducting a pre-employment Clearinghouse query will satisfy the requirement to investigate a prospective driver’s previous drug and alcohol program violations.
Clearinghouse Requirements:
- Request electronic consent from the driver for pre-employment queries.
- Conduct a full query of the FMSCA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse as part of each pre-employment driver investigation process.
- Annual queries must still be conduct for all currently employed drivers.
Clearinghouse query results should be kept in the Driver’s Qualification File for review during an audit. If non-compliance surfaces during a safety audit, carriers face a $5,833 fine per offense.
Log in to the Clearinghouse and visit your Query History page to see if your annual queries are due.
Download the Clearinghouse Fact Sheet
Pre-employment Investigations for Driving Records
Please note the pre-employment Clearinghouse query is mandatory and reports a driver’s 3-year drug and alcohol record.
Carriers may wish to conduct an additional query using FMCSA’s Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP) to request a potential driver’s driving record, which includes the driver’s 5-year crash record and 3-year roadside inspection history. While the PSP query is optional, we recommended that carriers obtain these records and keep them in the Driver’s Qualification File.
Please contact RiskWise Safety Consulting for all DOT and safety needs.
Chris Conti / 225-413-7542 / chris@riskwise.biz
Ricky Roberts / 225-341-0409 / ricky@riskwise.biz