Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

Section 32402 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP–21), codified at 49 U.S.C. 31306a, requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish, operate, and maintain a national clearinghouse for records relating to alcohol and controlled substances testing of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operators. The final rule (81 FR 87686) was published on December 5, 2016. The effective date of the final rule is January 4, 2017, and the compliance date is January 6, 2020. The reporting is mandatory and if not annually, then on occasion. Information stored in the Clearinghouse includes the user name, point of contact information, email address, system role, CDL information, credential information, and company information. The purpose of the Clearinghouse is to improve compliance with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) alcohol and controlled substances testing program, and to enhance the safety of our roadways by reducing crashes and injuries involving the misuse of alcohol or use of controlled substances by CMV drivers. Motor carrier employers will use driver-specific information from the Clearinghouse to determine whether any driver they employ, or seek to employ, is prohibited from operating a CMV due to a drug or alcohol testing violation. State Driver’s Licensing Agencies (SDLAs) will use Clearinghouse information to identify drivers who have violated the Agency’s drug and alcohol rules, and are prohibited from operating CMVs. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will use the information for research and enforcement purposes. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will use information about drivers involved in crashes under NTSB investigation. The information collection (IC) instruments are as follows: IC1: Employers will make limited queries annually to the Clearinghouse for each of their drivers to determine whether or not violation information exists in a driver’s Clearinghouse record. IC2: Employers will make full queries to the Clearinghouse as part of the pre-employment screening process to obtain detailed drug and alcohol violation information, if any, for the queried driver. IC3: Employers may designate Consortia/Third-party Administrators (C/TPAs) to query and/or report to the Clearinghouse on their behalf. IC4: Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs) will be required to input information to the Clearinghouse about drivers who initiate and complete the return to duty process. IC5: Medical Review Officers (MROs), C/TPAs, and employers will be required to report information to the Clearinghouse. IC6: Employers, C/TPAs, MROs, and SAPs will be required to register and become familiar with the new processes and requirements of the Clearinghouse. IC7: Employers and C/TPAs must annually verify the names of persons authorized to report and obtain information from the Clearinghouse. IC8: The driver must provide specific consent electronically, via the Clearinghouse, to an employer’s request for a full query before the driver’s information is made available to the employer. IC9: Drivers’ consent to release pre-employment full queries before the driver-specific information is made available to the employer.

The latest form for Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse expires 2023-02-28 and can be found here.

Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Transportation - Ground Transportation