Employer Role in the Clearinghouse
The FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is a secure, online database that will give employers and other authorized users real-time information about commercial driver’s license (CDL) and commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders’ drug and alcohol program violations.
The Clearinghouse will improve safety on our Nation’s roadways by giving employers access to information they need to make informed safety decisions about when current or prospective drivers with drug and alcohol violations can safely resume safety-sensitive functions after completing the required return-to-duty (RTD) process.
Employers with a USDOT Number will have to verify their information is up to date.
These are the steps needed to register in the Clearinghouse:
- Verify your information. If you currently have a USDOT Number, the Clearinghouse will pull your contact and company information from other FMCSA systems. Register early to verify this information is up-to-date.
- Designate your C/TPA. If you work with one or more consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs), you must designate them in the Clearinghouse before they can access the Clearinghouse on your behalf. This is required of all owner-operators (employers who employ themselves as CDL drivers).
- Invite assistants. Send invitations to other employees who will access the Clearinghouse on your behalf, allowing them to register as part of your company or organization.
- Select and purchase a query plan. Employers will pay a fee when querying the Clearinghouse for current and prospective employees’ drug and alcohol program violations. Learn about the pricing options and select the one that works best for your business needs.
Employers are required to:
- Report drug and alcohol violations. This will include alcohol test results with a concentration of .04 or greater, refusals to take an alcohol or drug test, as well as actual knowledge of a violation.
- Employers will also report negative return-to-duty (RTD) test results and the successful completion of a driver’s follow-up testing plan.
- The information above must be reported by the close of the third business day after the employer is informed.
- Conduct queries to check of the prospective employees are prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions, such as operating CMV’s, due to an unresolved drug and alcohol program violation.
- Until January 6, 2023, you or your C/TPA(s) must conduct both electronic queries in the Clearinghouse and manual, offline inquiries to previous employers for pre-employment driver investigations.
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