Fleets must now check Clearinghouse when hiring drivers

As of January 6, fleets have had to make queries for new truck driver hires in the CDL Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, according to the US DOT. But connectivity issues on the Clearinghouse website have meant this hasn’t always been possible – the US DOT says these have now been resolved. 

In its first weeks after going live, a swell of new users caused the Clearinghouse site to continually crash, causing connectivity issues for fleets and drivers when trying to register or trying to make the required queries. But the website has been updated to say the site is “fully operational” and the leeway period granted while it experienced technical issues has ended.

Because of these issues, fleets were allowed to continue the driver hiring process without performing queries if they experienced technical issues with the website, but that’s no longer the case. The site says: “mandatory use is now in effect.”

David Heller, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association, says he’s been fielding calls from TCA’s fleet members about the Clearinghouse site’s functionality issues, but that “for the most part, it seems we are past the troubles that originally plagued the rollout.” 

Elsewhere on the Clearinghouse site, fleets are able to purchase queries, run queries of new driver hires and drivers are able to provide consent (a required step) for fleets to run a query on them. 

Any positive drug tests can be added to the Clearinghouse by medical review officers, he says, and the Clearinghouse system is connected with the CDL Information System that ties information in the Clearinghouse to drivers’ CDL numbers.

In addition to new driver hires, fleets must also query the database once a year for existing drivers. 

For more information visit clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov

3rd February 2020