As of Jan. 6, 2023, regulated motor carriers will no longer have to manually reach out to previous employers for drug-and-alcohol-related information about prospective drivers.
Employers of CDL drivers are required to conduct background investigations before hiring a driver. This process includes determining if the driver has violated the drug and alcohol regulations of any Department of Transportation (DOT) mode within the past three years. Previously, this required employers to conduct both electronic queries in the Clearinghouse and manual inquiries with previous employers to meet the three-year time frame.
Beginning January 6, 2023, when three years of violation data is stored in the Clearinghouse, prospective employers must conduct a pre-employment query of the Clearinghouse, to comply with the inquiry requirement as it pertains to FMCSA-regulated employers.
NOTE: The Clearinghouse contains only information about drivers employed by FMCSA-regulated employers. If a prospective employee was employed by an employer regulated by a DOT agency other than FMCSA (such as the Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, etc.) during the three-year time frame, prospective employers will still be required to directly request drug and alcohol violation information from those DOT-regulated employers, since this information is not reported to the Clearinghouse.
Annual query requirements have not changed.
Employers of CDL drivers must conduct a query in the Clearinghouse at least once a year for each CDL driver they employ. This annual query requirement applies on a rolling 12-month basis.
Employers must obtain general consent from CDL drivers they employ before conducting limited queries in the Clearinghouse to view these drivers’ information.
Are you up-to-date on your annual queries?
Log in to the Clearinghouse and visit your Query History page to see if your annual queries are due. For instructions on conducting annual queries, download the How to Conduct a Limited Query job aid.
You can read further about this here.