Why Drivers Should Register to the CDL Clearinghouse

Registration is now open for companies, drivers, consortiums (C/TPAs), and others to register to the CDL Clearinghouse which will go live January 6^th, 2020.

The purpose of the Clearinghouse is to prevent CDL holders with positive drug and alcohol test results, refused required drug and alcohol tests, or who have not undergone return-to-duty drug and alcohol rehabilitation process from job-hopping (moving to different states where the results do not follow them) – making it harder to hire these drivers and keeping the roads safer.

CDL holders include, but is not limited to:

• Interstate and intrastate motor carriers, including passenger carriers
• School bus drivers
• Construction equipment operators
• Limousine drivers
• Municipal vehicle drivers (e.g., waste management vehicles)
• Federal and state agencies that employ drivers subject to FMCSA drug and alcohol use testing regulations (e.g., Department of Defense, public transit)

There are three main scenarios in which drivers will be required to register with the Clearinghouse: drivers seeking new employment; drivers registering with a SAP after a violation; and drivers who are required to give consent for a Full Query.

Driver’s seeking new employment, after Clearinghouse is live, will have to give permission to the potential employer to run a detailed full query to search all information in the database of the driver. If a driver does not register beforehand, the company will ask you to do so. The process of contacting the potential new hire, having the driver register correctly (which is not the simplest process), and notifying the company this process is complete may cause delays in the hiring process.

Companies are also required to perform annual inspections to make sure

nothing new is in the database for their drivers. If this limited query finds something, the driver will have to give consent for the company to perform a detailed full query so the company can see the information in the database.

All Clearinghouse information will be data from January 6^th onward, which includes:

• A verified positive, adulterated, or substituted controlled substance test
• Refusal to test (includes failure to appear)
• A verified positive EBT above .04
• Actual knowledge of illicit alcohol or drug use
• Negative return-to-duty
• Completion of follow-up

Drivers can go to the CDL Clearinghouse website for instructions to find help registering. There is a two-step verification process when registering to the Clearinghouse. Drivers will be required to identify 2 types of verification to confirm their identity to use the Clearinghouse. We recommend a phone number or verification app (available for all operating systems).