The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has implemented the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. All employers that have drivers that operate a commercial motor vehicle requiring a commercial driver’s license must be registered with the Clearinghouse and meet all the Clearinghouse requirements.
Drivers are also allowed to access their own records in the Clearinghouse. If an employer uses a “Third Party Administrator” (TPA) to handle all their drug and alcohol testing obligations, the TPA may access the Clearinghouse on the employer’s behalf. However, you as the employer must first register and then designate your TPA to act on your behalf.
The Clearinghouse offers employers a centralized location to query driver information and report drug and alcohol program violations incurred by their current and prospective employees holding CDLs and CLPs.
The employer must use the Clearinghouse to:
- Conduct a full query of the Clearinghouse as part of each pre-employment driver investigation process.
- Conduct limited queries at least annually for every driver they employ.
- Request electronic consent from the driver for a full query, including pre-employment queries.
- Report drug and alcohol program violations.
- Record the negative return-to-duty (RTD) test results and the date of successful completion of a follow-up testing plan for any driver they employ with unresolved drug and alcohol program violations.
More information can be found here.
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