The Clearinghouse,handled.
What the Clearinghouse is
The FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is a federal database of drug and alcohol program violations by CDL and CLP holders. Before it existed, a driver who tested positive could simply drive to the next state and start again. Now every violation, refusal, return-to-duty test and follow-up completion is on file — and every employer must check it.
Two obligations sit on you as an employer:
- Query the Clearinghouse — a full query before hiring any CDL driver, and at least an annual query for every driver you employ.
- Report violations you become aware of — actual knowledge, alcohol results of 0.04 or higher, refusals to test, and negative return-to-duty results — within the required timeframe.
Where carriers get stuck
Nearly every problem we are asked to fix falls into one of four categories:
- Registration never finished. An FMCSA portal account was created, the Clearinghouse registration was started, and it stalled at identity verification or role assignment.
- No C/TPA designated. Owner-operators are required to designate a C/TPA to report on their behalf. Many have not.
- Queries never run. The annual query is easy to forget, and forgetting it means every driver in the fleet is technically out of compliance.
- Consents missing. A full query needs the driver's electronic consent inside the Clearinghouse. A limited query needs written consent retained on file. Neither is optional.
Common finding: testing an employee for a reason not permitted by the DOT — or under DOT authority when the employee is not in a safety-sensitive role — is itself a violation. When in doubt, call us before you send the driver. It costs nothing to ask.
What we do for you
We start by finding out where you actually are — which is often not where you think. Then we finish the registration, get IPS designated as your C/TPA, load your driver list, reconcile any historical gaps and set your queries on a schedule so they simply happen.
From that point on, pre-employment full queries run as part of your hiring flow, annual queries run on schedule with the results filed, violations are reported inside their windows, and your query purchases are tracked so you never discover mid-hire that the balance ran out.
Query plan management
Queries are purchased in advance through the Clearinghouse. Running out mid-hire stalls onboarding at the worst possible moment. We watch the balance, tell you before it runs low, and size the plan against your actual hiring pattern rather than a guess.
Once a violation is on file
A driver with an unresolved violation is prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions — for anyone. The record only clears once the driver completes the full SAP process: evaluation, prescribed education or treatment, a negative return-to-duty test and the follow-up testing plan. See SAP program setup for how we manage that, and DOT queries for the query mechanics in detail.
Get your Clearinghouse right
Registered, designated,
and running
Registration support
C/TPA designation
Query management
Consent handling
Violation reporting
Record reconciliation
DOT Drug Testing — your questions
A federal database recording drug and alcohol program violations by CDL and CLP holders. Employers must query it before hiring a CDL driver and at least annually for current drivers, and must report violations they become aware of.
A full query returns the detailed violation record and requires the driver's electronic consent given inside the Clearinghouse. A limited query only tells you whether information exists, and requires written consent that you retain. If a limited query indicates information exists, you must run a full query within 24 hours before allowing the driver to perform safety-sensitive duties. See DOT queries.
Still have a question? Call 248-526-9000 or send us a message.
Services that pair with this one
DOT Queries
SAP Program Setup
Compliance Audits
