FMCSA Clearinghouse Services

Access to the Clearinghouse will be coming this fall 2019. Once the Clearinghouse is operational, a user will be required to request access from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) by registering for the Clearinghouse.

Authorized users include:

• CDL drivers
• Employers this includes motor carriers and other employers of drivers operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) that require a commercial driver's license (CDL) or commercial learner's permit (CLP)
• Consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs)
• Medical review officers (MROs)
• Substance abuse professionals (SAPs)
• Enforcement personnel

The Clearinghouse offers employers a centralized location to report drug and alcohol program violations and check that no current or prospective employee is prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions, such as operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), due to an unresolved drug and alcohol program violationthat is, a violation for which the driver has not completed the return-to-duty (RTD) process. This query must be conducted as part of a pre-employment driver investigation, and at least annually for current employees.

Employers may also choose to designate a C/TPA(s) (consortium/third party administrator) who can report violations and perform queries on the employers behalf.

An owner-operator is an employer that employs himself or herself as a CDL driver and must designate the C/TPA in the Clearinghouse.

To complete the actions outlined above, employers and C/TPAs will be required to register with the Clearinghouse. Sign up now to receive email updates, including a notification once registration is open.

An owner-operator (an employer who employs himself or herself as a CDL driver) is subject to the requirements pertaining to employers as well as those pertaining to drivers. Under the Clearinghouse final rule, an employer who employs himself or herself as a CDL driver must designate a consortium/third-party administrator (C/TPA) to comply with the employer's Clearinghouse reporting requirements ( 382.705(b)(6)).

The Clearinghouse will offer employers a centralized location to query driver information and report drug and alcohol program violations incurred by their current and prospective employees holding CDLs and CLPs.

The employer must use the Clearinghouse to:

• Conduct a full query of the Clearinghouse as part of each pre-employment driver investigation process.
• Conduct limited queries at least annually for every driver they employ.
• Request electronic consent from the driver for a full query, including pre-employment queries.
• Report drug and alcohol program violations.
• Record the negative return-to-duty (RTD) test results and the date of successful completion of a follow-up testing plan for any driver they employ with unresolved drug and alcohol program violations.

Yes. The FMCSA Clearinghouse will identify drivers who move frequently and obtain CDLs in different States and link those CDLs, in order to maintain complete and accurate information on such drivers.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) takes the protection of personal information very seriously. The Clearinghouse will meet all relevant Federal security standards and FMCSA will verify the effectiveness of the security protections on a regular basis.

• Clearinghouse information will not be available to the public; only authorized users will be able to register and access the Clearinghouse for designated purposes.
• The Clearinghouse will require authentication, via a login.gov username and password, to access records. Login.gov, a shared service which offers secure online access to participating government systems, also requires the completion of a user verification process to ensure the proper person is using those credentials.
• Drivers registered in the Clearinghouse will be able to access their Clearinghouse records at any time, and at no cost to them. Drivers will only be able to access their own information, not information about other drivers.
• FMCSA will only share detailed drug and alcohol violation information with a prospective or current employer, and/or their designated consortium/third-party administrator (C/TPA), when an employer or designated C/TPA has requested and received specific consent from the driver. Drivers will be able to see the information that would be released to an employer before consenting to the release.
• Driver information will only be used by FMCSA and other enforcement agencies as required to enforce drug and alcohol testing regulations.

NO, Each driver must register for the Clearinghouse and verify the information. C/TPA's may not pay for queries for owner-operators or employers. This requirement falls as a requirement of each owner-operator and employer.

The Clearinghouse will notify the driver using the method indicated during the driver's Clearinghouse registrationeither mail or emailany time information about the driver is added, revised, or removed. If the driver has not yet registered for the Clearinghouse, these notifications will be sent by mail using the address associated with the driver's commercial driver's license (CDL).

Yes. Anyone who employs a commercial driver's license (CDL) holder must query the Clearinghouse ( 382.701). This requirement includes owner-operators, who must comply with all Clearinghouse requirements imposed on both employers and employees. An owner-operator's designated consortium/third-party administrator (C/TPA) may conduct queries on their behalf. However, the C/TPA is responsible for reporting drug and alcohol program violations to the Clearinghouse for the owner-operator.