December is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. Is Your Company Querying Drivers in FMCSA’s CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse?

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs puts everyone on the road in danger. Due to their size and weight, crashes involving commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) have a high risk of injuries and fatalities — especially when the CMV operator is impaired.

This National Impaired Driving Prevention Month, FMCSA reminds employers of CMV operators that keeping prohibited CMV drivers off the road is an important responsibility and a regulatory requirement. More than 425,000 employers of CMV drivers have registered in the FMCSA’s CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. Is your company one of them?

Employers of commercial driver’s license (CDL) and commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders who operate CMVs on public roads are covered by the Clearinghouse requirements. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Interstate and intrastate motor carriers, including large trucks and motor coaches.
• School bus drivers.
• Construction equipment operators.
• Limousine drivers.
• Municipal vehicle drivers, such as waste management vehicles.
• Federal, State, and local entities that employ drivers subject to FMCSA drug and alcohol use testing regulations (Department of Defense, municipalities, school districts, etc.).

Employers must conduct pre-employment and annual queries and remove drivers from safety-sensitive functions, such as operating a CMV, if a driver is in a “prohibited” status in the Clearinghouse. A prohibited status results from an unresolved drug and alcohol program violation, such as a positive drug or alcohol test result or a refusal to test. The driver must complete the return-to-duty process established in 49 CFR part 40, which includes working with a Substance Abuse Professional on a treatment plan and obtaining a negative test result, before resuming safety-sensitive functions.

By 2024, as part of new Federal regulations, FMCSA is partnering with State Driver’s License Agencies (SDLAs) so that drivers with a “prohibited” status in the Clearinghouse will also lose or be denied their State-issued commercial driving privileges.

Employers can do their part to keep fleets running safely and protect everyone on our Nation’s roads — register in the Clearinghouse and query the Clearinghouse records as required when hiring CDL drivers and at least once a year.

For more information and to register, visit https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov.