DOT Drug Testing Clearinghouse in Effect
Clearinghouse Set to Open January 6 - Are You Ready?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) new Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is set to become operational on January 6, 2020. Employers who use CDL drivers in safety-sensitive functions, such as operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), are required to register in the Clearinghouse for the purpose of conducting pre-employment queries and annual queries. Employers that use a consortia or third-party administrator (C/TPA) to manage their drug and alcohol testing program will need to designate them in their account. Employers also need to purchase a query plan that will enable them to conduct queries to check if current and prospective employees are prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions due to an unresolved drug and alcohol program violation. Although C/TPAs cannot purchase query plans, once registered themselves, they can conduct queries on behalf of the employers. If you haven't already, please visit the Clearinghouse website to register, create an online user account and purchase a query plan to begin conducting queries on January 6, 2020.
While drivers are not required to register, a driver will need to be registered to provide electronic consent in the Clearinghouse if a prospective or current employer needs to conduct a full query of the driver’s Clearinghouse record. A driver must also be registered to electronically view the information in his or her own Clearinghouse record. We highly recommend drivers register and confirm that all the information in the database is accurate.
For more detailed information about the CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, check out the new Compliance Assistance Document posted in the Compliance Assistance Library on Snapshots under the Compliance Guidelines button.