The new FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse will impact every trucking company and driver in the US. Are you ready for these new regulations?
Beginning January 6, 2020 all US motor carriers will have to change the way that they qualify and monitor drivers for the use of drugs and alcohol.
What is the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse?
The FMCSA Drug & Alcohol clearinghouse was developed in order to improve compliance with the federal drug and alcohol testing regulations.
Previously, a motor carrier would have to conduct a “Safety Performance History” search on each new driver candidate.
This would involve contacting each DOT regulated employer that the driver worked for during the last 3 years.
Current FMCSA regulations require that new employers conduct these checks and previous employers provide information to the new employers.
However, there are many holes in this current process. Many new companies don’t conduct these reviews. Even more companies don’t respond to these requests when received.
Additionally, some prior employers may have gone out of business and would be unable to answer these requests.
These shortcomings have led to many drivers who have previously tested positive for drug or alcohol use still being allowed to drive.
So, the FMCSA is increasing oversight to prevent this from continuing to happen.
Who is impacted by these new regulations?
These FMCSA clearinghouse regulations will impact all CDL holders, every trucking company and their service providers.
All CDL holders can begin to register with the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol clearinghouse beginning in the Fall of 2019. Enforcement of the new regulations doesn’t begin until January. But, we recommend that all drivers try to register as early as possible.
All trucking companies looking to hire a CDL driver must query the clearinghouse database prior to permitting that driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) on public roads.
All trucking companies will also have to query the clearinghouse database at least annually in order to ensure that their drivers remain qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle for them.
We recommend that all trucking companies conduct this review as part of the driver’s annual motor vehicle record check and certification process.
How to Query the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse
According to the FMCSA, all employers of CDL drivers must purchase a “query plan” in the Clearinghouse.
This query plan enables employers, and their designated consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs), to conduct queries on prospective and current drivers in the Clearinghouse.
However, C/TPAs can NOT purchase queries on behalf of a trucking company. We’ve requested more information on exactly how this will work from the FMCSA.
Let us manage your Drug & Alcohol Testing for you!
Costs to Query the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse
Each database query will cost $1.25.
So, these new regulatory changes cost a motor carrier at least $1.25 per year (for owner-operators).
The largest trucking companies will likely pay $24,500 for an unlimited query plan.
There will be multiple fixed-price query plans available, so each company can choose to simply pay the per query fee or select a query plan.
For More Information
If you would like to learn more about these new FMCSA regulations and how they will impact the trucking industry, click on this link to visit the FMCSA’s Clearinghouse Information website.
