Fleets, drivers can now register for accounts in CDL Drug/Alcohol Clearinghouse

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Fleets and drivers can now register for user accounts in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, which creates a database of drivers who’ve failed or refused a drug test or have been cited for alcohol violations. Fleets will be required to query the database when making new hires and once a year for existing drivers.

Drivers will need an account to consent to fleets’ queries of the database, while fleets will need accounts to be able to make queries. Accounts can be created at clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov.

Starting Jan. 6, 2020, carriers will be required to query the database for all driver hires, as well as once a year for existing drivers.

FMCSA’s Joe DeLorenzo, director of enforcement and compliance, says the clearinghouse will end the manual process of carriers having to call drivers’ previous employers to inquire about drug and alcohol tests. However, carriers will need to continue that practice until 2023.

The clearinghouse will show records dating back five years, as well as whether a driver has completed the return to duty status after failing a drug test. If a driver does not complete the return to duty status, the record against him or her will remain in the clearinghouse forever, says DeLorenzo.