Beginning in the 1990s, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), working alongside the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA), instituted regulatory policies that require CMV operators with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) to complete drug and alcohol testing as a condition of employment. Employers of CMV operators with a CDL license are responsible for ensuring employee compliance with all legal requirements set forth by the Department of Transportation's (DOT) rule, 49 CFR Part 40 and FMSCA’s Part 382.
Since January 2020, the FMSCA has provided drug and alcohol query plan options to assist employers in querying for violations among new job applicants or current employees, and to report violations that would prevent a driver from legally operating a CMV with a new employer. Employers are required to conduct pre-employment queries for potential new hires and annual queries for the existing CDL drivers they employ. Within the FMSCA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, employers can find any records of violations, ranging from positive tests to refusals to complete drug & alcohol testing. They can also view documentation of a driver’s return-to-duty process, when applicable.
In early November of 2022, the FMSCA notified employers that beginning January 6, 2023, the FMSCA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse would upgrade its capacity to store three years of drug and alcohol violation data. As a consequence of this change, a full pre-employment Clearinghouse query will now be sufficient to fulfill all inquiry requirements regarding a driver’s drug and alcohol violation history. Previously, employers conducting pre-employment queries were required to complete full electronic queries with the FMSCA’s Clearinghouse and manual inquiries with a driver’s former employers to check for violations within a three-year time frame.
Although this change requirement streamlines the pre-employment query process for many employers, remember that if you are evaluating an applicant who was at one time employed by a non-FMSCA agency such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Railroad Association (FRA) or Federal Transit Administration (FTA), you will need to manually/directly request information regarding drug and alcohol violations from those non-FMSCA DOT agencies.
Previously, employers were required to maintain records of all Clearinghouse queries and any signed consent documentation from individual drivers for up to three years. Due to the recent change requirement, an employer now only needs to maintain/renew their Clearinghouse registration to abide by the recordkeeping requirement. This is because of the Clearinghouse’s increased data capacity (storing three years of query data).
The 2023 change requirement does not alter an employer’s responsibility to complete a Clearinghouse query every 12 months for each CDL driver they employ. Although annual queries can either be submitted as a full query or a limited query, limited queries are more common. Through this approach, a driver is either quickly cleared for a violation-free record (“Driver Not Prohibited”) or, if violation information is found within the Clearinghouse, a full query is automatically requested. Remember that an employer must secure a driver’s electronic consent to complete a full query, which is designed to determine whether the driver is currently permitted to complete FMCSA job responsibilities.
Employers are ultimately responsible for conducting DOT Clearinghouse queries, but because pre-employment queries are full (not limited) queries, any potential new hire must create their own Clearinghouse account and provide electronic consent quickly to expedite the processing of the violation record.
Fines for DOT Clearinghouse violations apply to each driver who has not undergone a full pre-employment query and can cost employers nearly $6,000 per violation. Penalties also apply to any annual queries that cannot be verified with the DOT for existing employees/drivers.
Fulfilling all DOT and FMSCA requirements to keep your business compliant can be a demanding task. The Orsus Group offers a solution to assist with pulling FMCSA Clearinghouse Queries. Through your Clearinghouse portal, The Orsus Group can assist with administering queries on new hires.
Also, as part of our comprehensive occupational health screening services, we offer drug screenings specifically designed to meet all DOT and FMSCA testing requirements. We offer our clients access to an extensive network of collection sites, making it convenient for their employees to reach a testing facility anywhere in the country. Regardless of your business’ goals and screening needs, we’ll help you sustain a high-performing workforce and remain legally compliant amidst frequent regulatory changes.
Ready to streamline your DOT compliance and screening processes? Contact us today to let us know how we can support you.