An Employer's Guide to the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse

Remember: As violations occurring before January 6, 2020, won’t be available to employers in the Clearinghouse, you must conduct both Clearinghouse queries and normal offline pre-employment investigations with previous employers to comply with DOT regulations until January 6, 2023.

C.  Consent Requirements

Employers must receive consent from drivers before conducting queries as follows:

• Limited Queries only require a general consent, which must be obtained outside of the Clearinghouse. Employers can find an example limited-query consent form by visiting https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/Resource/Index/Sample-Limited-Consent-Form. General consent is not required to be obtained on an annual basis, as it may be effective for more than one year. However, the form must specify the timeframe the driver is providing consent for, such as for the duration of the driver’s employment. This form is available using our standard Swifthire 2.0 process.

• Pre-employment Queries and Full Queries will automatically trigger an electronic consent form to be sent to the driver via his/her Clearinghouse Portal. Consent is required prior to each query and must be received by the employer within twenty-four hours. If the driver fails to provide electronic consent within twenty-four hours, he/she must be pulled from any safety-sensitive position.

D.  Query Plans

Employers will be charged a fee by the FMCSA for Full and Limited Queries of $1.25 per query (plus any services costs incurred by using a C/TPA). Queries must be purchased in batches before requesting queries, and these will never expire. Unlimited packages are also available for high-volume employers. Unlimited packages cost $24,000 and must be renewed annually.

Employers must purchase queries  directly from the Clearinghouse, as C/TPAs like GHRR are unable to purchase queries for their customers. GHRR recommends purchasing a plan with a number of queries equal to double the number of CDL drivers you currently employ. Fortunately, the queries you purchase do not expire unless you opt to use the unlimited query plan, which will expire a year from the purchase date. You can learn more about query plans and how to purchase them by visiting https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/Resource/Index/Query-Plan.

E. Queries Conducted by GHRR

1.   Querying Workflow

• First Name;
• Last Name;
• Date of Birth;
• CDL/CLP Number;
• Country of Issuance;
• State of Issuance; and
• The Type of Query You Wish to Conduct

Pre-employment Queries

To order a Pre-employment Query, you will enter the candidate profile information and select the appropriate package. GHRR's ordering system will prompt you to enter the driver’s CDL number and the state and country of issuance.

Annual Queries

To order an Annual Query, you will enter the candidate profile information and select the desired Annual Query type. GHRR recommends selecting the Limited + Full option in order to streamline the process, should a Full Query be required. GHRR's ordering system will prompt you to enter the driver’s CDL number and the state and country of issuance.

3.   Batch Orders

Customers can make requests for GHRR to run multiple queries in one order by sending a batch order request. To submit a request, visit https://ghrr.com/ghrr-batch-upload-request, complete the form and select “FMCSA Clearinghouse” as the Screening Type. When submitting a batch order request, simply upload an Excel spreadsheet to your request that uses the following format:

The spreadsheet should be completed as follows:

GHRR will invoice you for a batch order via your GHRR account on a single report order, meaning your monthly invoice will show a single line item with the total amount associated with the batch order. You will also receive a report of the multiple queries conducted in the Clearinghouse under that batch order in a document uploaded to the report. However, if the Clearinghouse query produces a result other than “Not Prohibited,” We will prepare a separate report for that driver without an additional charge to the Customer. Batch orders may return results “Driver Not Verified” in the Clearinghouse Portal for one or more drivers (due to incorrect information or incorrect formatting). In this case, GHRR does not have the ability to cancel or delete the Query in the Clearinghouse; however, GHRR will re-process the Query with the correct information the Customer will  not lose a Query Credit from their Clearinghouse Account.

III.     Reporting to the Clearinghouse

A.  Employer Reporting Requirements

There are six specific categories of driver information that must be collected by or on behalf of the employer and reported to the Clearinghouse. This information must be reported to the Clearinghouse by the close of the  third business day following the date on which the employer first obtained any of the information stated below.

These are the six categories or items of driver information that employers must report:

1. Alcohol concentrations of 0.04 or greater;
2. A negative return-to-duty test;
3. A refusal to take an alcohol test;
4. A refusal to submit to a drug test

   [1]

5. An employer’s report of completion of follow-up testing prescribed in an SAP report; and

6. An employer’s actual knowledge of a driver’s violation.[2]

When reporting any of these six items, employers must gather and provide the following information to the Clearinghouse (or to ESS to report to the Clearinghouse on your behalf):

• The driver’s name, date of birth, CDL# and state of issuance; and
• The employer’s name, address and US DOT #.

When reporting items 1-5 (all items except for actual knowledge violations), employers must include:

• The reason for the test
• The date of the test
• The date the result was reported to the employer; and
• The test result, which must be one of the following:
  • Negative (only report for RTD tests);
  • Positive; or
  • Refusal to test.

When reporting items 3-4 (refusals to test), employers must include:

• Documentation showing the driver was notified of his requirement to appear at the test site, including the time, date, and location the employee was directed to appear;
• Documentation indicating the employee was terminated or resigned (if applicable); and
• A certificate of service showing that the employee was provided with a copy of this documentation.

When reporting item 6 (actual knowledge violations), employers must include:

• The date the employer obtained the actual knowledge;
• Witnesses to the violation, if any, including contact information;
• A written description of the violation;
• Evidence supporting each fact alleged in the description of the violation (such as affidavits, photos, video/audio recordings, traffic citations, employee statements, correspondence, etc.); and
• A certificate of service showing that the employee was provided with the documentation above.

This publication is provided only for educational purposes; it should not be relied upon as legal advice, and it should not be used, in whole or in part, as a basis for establishing employment practices or policies, nor should it be used for resolving disputes or managing risk.  Every reader’s circumstances are unique and legal advice should be obtained only from a lawyer with whom the reader has established an attorney-client relationship. Copyright 2023 © Global HR Research, a DISA Company All material contained within this publication is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced without the express written consent of GHRR.