FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse: What CDL Drivers Need to Know

What the Clearinghouse is

It is the FMCSA database where certain drug and alcohol violations by CDL drivers are recorded, so a driver cannot hide a violation by changing employers. It is set up in 49 CFR part 382, subpart G (382.701 to 382.727). Employers, medical review officers (MROs), substance abuse professionals (SAPs) and consortium or third-party administrators have to register and report into it. A driver must register before looking at his or her own record (382.709). States also get access, covered below. This page is general information. Your employer and your state licensing agency are the places to confirm how it applies to you.

Pre-employment and annual queries

An employer must run a pre-employment query before letting you do a safety-sensitive function (382.701(a)). It has to be a full query, which releases your record to the employer, and it requires your specific consent. That consent is given electronically through the Clearinghouse itself (382.703(b) and (d)). If you refuse, the employer may not let you perform a safety-sensitive function (382.703(c)). Employers must also query at least once per year for every driver they employ who is subject to testing (382.701(b)(1)). For the annual check, the employer may use a limited query instead, with your consent. A limited query only shows whether a record exists, not what is in it, and your consent can cover more than one year (382.701(b)(2)). If it shows a record, the employer must run a full query within 24 hours, or you cannot keep doing safety-sensitive work until that is done (382.701(b)(3)). If new information is entered about you in the 30 days after a query, FMCSA notifies the employer (382.701(c)). Employers must keep a record of each query for 3 years (382.701(e)).

• Pre-employment: full query, before you start safety-sensitive work.
• Annual: at least once a year, full or limited.
• Limited query shows a record exists; a full query must follow within 24 hours.
• No consent means no safety-sensitive work.

What gets reported

The Clearinghouse holds the violations listed in 382.701(a)(1) and the follow-up that clears them. Each reporter has a deadline under 382.705: MROs within 2 business days of a verified result, employers by the close of the third business day after they learn of a violation.

• A verified positive, adulterated or substituted controlled substances test result (reported by the MRO).
• An alcohol confirmation test with a concentration of 0.04 or higher (reported by the employer). Results from 0.02 to under 0.04 are not on that list, though 382.505 keeps you off safety-sensitive duty for at least 24 hours.
• A refusal to test, which includes certain MRO determinations and employer-determined refusals.
• Actual knowledge by an employer that you used alcohol on duty, before duty or after an accident, or used a controlled substance (382.205, 382.207, 382.209, 382.213).
• Once you complete the process: the SAP's report, a negative return-to-duty test, and completion of follow-up testing.

What it does to your CDL and your work

If you have violated the rules, you may not perform safety-sensitive functions, including driving a commercial vehicle (49 CFR 382.501(a)), and no employer may allow it (382.701(d)). The exception is a driver whose record shows the return-to-duty process is done. Your CDL itself is at risk too. Since November 18, 2024, 49 CFR 383.73 requires a state to check the Clearinghouse when it issues, renews, transfers or upgrades a CLP or CDL, and not to do so if you are prohibited. When a state is notified that a permit or license holder is prohibited, it must start downgrading the CLP or CDL, and the downgrade must be completed and recorded within 60 days (383.73(q)). Even after a downgrade, you may not drive a commercial vehicle until the state reinstates the CLP or CDL privilege (382.503(b)). States set their own procedures and fees for reinstatement. Confirm with your state licensing agency.

Return-to-duty: how a record gets resolved

The route back is the return-to-duty process in 49 CFR part 40, subpart O (382.503(a)). You cannot do safety-sensitive work for any employer until you complete it (40.285). The steps, in order:

• See a SAP for an evaluation. The SAP assesses you and refers you to education or treatment (40.291).
• Complete what the SAP prescribes. The SAP then confirms you have complied and writes a follow-up testing plan (40.307).
• Take a return-to-duty test with a negative drug result and, for alcohol, a concentration under 0.02 (40.305). An employer must not return you to duty before this, and is not required to hire you back after it.
• Complete follow-up testing. At minimum, six unannounced tests in the first 12 months of safety-sensitive duty; the SAP may add tests during the following 48 months (40.307(d)). The plan follows you to new employers.
• The SAP, the employer and the new employer each report their step into the Clearinghouse (382.705).
• After that, the record clears slowly: it stays available to employers until the SAP report is filed, the return-to-duty test is reported negative, follow-up testing is reported complete, and five years have passed since the violation determination (382.719). Errors can be challenged through the correction process in 382.717.