So you can report a drug or alcohol violation to Clearinghouse, but did you know that there is an option to request that violation be removed from a driver’s record?
Medical review officers (MROs), consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs), and employers all have the option to request that the FMCSA remove a violation from a driver’s record after the report has been made in Clearinghouse.
The request to remove a violation from a driver’s record must include a very specific explanation as to why it should be removed, which will help the FMCSA decide whether or not to follow through with the removal.
To make the process as easy as possible, the FMCSA suggests including contact information with the reason for your request in case there is a need for follow-up questions.
Some examples of specific reasons for removal are as follows:
- Overturned positive due to driver having a prescription – state the prescription information was verified and resulted in an overturned positive
- Medical condition (e.g., shy bladder) – provide confirmation of the medical condition to overturn the positive
- Driver is not a CDL/CLP holder – provide an explanation stating you received information from the employer or C/TPA that the driver does not hold a commercial driver’s license (CDL) or commercial learner’s permit (CLP)
- Incorrect CDL information – provide information to show the violation was reported with the incorrect CDL information
To start the violation removal request process as an MRO, employer, or C/TPA you must:
- Log in & access the Clearinghouse dashboard
- Go to ‘Violations’ & access you ‘Violation History’
- Click ‘View Violation Details’ on the violation you wish to remove
- Click the ‘Request to Remove Violation’ on the top right corner of the page
- Fill out the ‘Reason for Violation Removal’ box using the guidelines mentioned above.
The FMCSA will then review the request and, if approved, remove the violation from the Clearinghouse. For the full illustrated instruction PDF on how to request a violation removal, click here and scroll to pages 7 and 8.