Pre-employment Investigations for Drug and Alcohol Program Violations

By: Department of Transportation (DOT) FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

FMCSA Pre-employment Requirement Will Go Into Effect January 6, 2023

On November 4, 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse published information titled “Pre-employment Investigations for Drug and Alcohol Program Violations.”  The Clearinghouse notice (re-posted below) is a reminder to certain employers regarding a change requirement that will go into effect January 6, 2023.  On that date, three years of violation data will become available in the Clearinghouse and a pre-employment Clearinghouse query will satisfy the requirement to investigate whether a prospective driver had previous drug and alcohol program violations, as required by 49 CFR 391.23(e).  This query will also satisfy the requirements of 49 CFR 40.25.

Please be aware the Clearinghouse contains only information about a driver’s drug/alcohol testing history when employed by FMCSA-regulated employers.  If an employer is considering an applicant who 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.), that applicant’s information would not be reported to the Clearinghouse.  In these situations, the employer still is required to directly request drug and alcohol violation information from those DOT-regulated employers in accordance with 391.23(e)(4)(ii) and 40.25.

Read the previous November announcement of this change here: https://go2asap.com/blog/clearinghouse-update-pre-employment-investigations-for-drug-and-alcohol-program-violations/

U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. (Jan. 2023). https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOT/bulletins/340e837