A new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule went into effect on Monday requiring the automatic removal of commercial driving privileges for drivers with drug and alcohol violations.
Effective on November 18, 2024, the FMCSA’s Clearinghouse-II rule went into effect nationwide.
The rule requires that commercial vehicle drivers with violations in the FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse will have their Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) or Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP) downgraded by State Driver Licensing Agencies (SDLAs).
Drivers with a CDL or CLP downgrade may not operate a commercial vehicle until they complete the return-to-duty (RTD) process. The FMCSA says that the CDL and CLP downgrades are meant to improve highway safety by ensuring that only qualified drivers are allowed to operate commercial vehicles on U.S. roadways.
According to the most recent FMCSA reporting, 178,839 CDL/CLP holders are listed in “Prohibited” Status in the Clearinghouse as of October 1, 2024. Of these, 136,224 have not yet begun the RTD process.
The Clearinghouse-II rule was issued by the FMCSA in October 2021 to tighten requirements on SDLAs with regard to the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. This rule builds on and strengthens previous rules that prohibit drivers from operating with a “prohibited” Clearinghouse status.
“As established in the first Clearinghouse Final Rule, drivers with a “prohibited” Clearinghouse status are prohibited from operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) on public roads. The second Clearinghouse final rule (Clearinghouse-II) further supports this by ensuring that drivers with a “prohibited” Clearinghouse status do not continue to hold a commercial driver’s license (CDL) or commercial learner’s permit (CLP),” the FMCSA states.
The FMCSA’s first Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse Final Rule went into effect January 6, 2020, requiring motor carriers to query an online database containing CDL holder drug and alcohol violation information before hiring a driver and once per year for existing drivers.
The Clearinghouse provides employers and law enforcement real-time access to a driver’s drug and alcohol violation records (including positive substance use tests and test refusals). The FMCSA, CMV employers, State Driver Licensing Agencies, and law enforcement officials all have complete access to information in the Clearinghouse.
If you believe you could be affected by a license downgrade, see below for steps on how to check your status in the Clearinghouse and on the steps need to complete the RTD process.
How Do I Check My Clearinghouse Status?
Drivers may check their own status in the FMCSA’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse to see if they are listed as “Prohibited” at no cost. The link to register or log in with a Login.gov account is here.
What Is The Return-To-Duty Process?
For the drivers facing a downgrade, the RTD process must be completed in order to achieve the “Not-Prohibited Status” that will allow SLDA’s to reinstate commercial driving privileges.
See below for a guide from the FMCSA on the steps needed to complete the RTD process.
Select a Substance Abuse Professional
- Your employer is required to provide you with a list of DOT-qualified Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs). You select your SAP based on your own research.
- Your designated SAP will evaluate you and provide recommendations for education/treatment.
- Your SAP will determine if you have successfully completed the education/treatment, therefore making you eligible for your return-to-duty test.
Take the return-to-duty test
- You must be sent by your employer; only DOT-regulated employers, and not the employee, request the return-to- duty test. If you are an owner-operator, your designated consortium/third-party administrator (C/TPA) must send you for this test.
- Once your Clearinghouse status is “not prohibited,” you are eligible to resume performing safety- sensitive functions.
- Your status will be updated when your employer enters your negative return-to-duty test result in the Clearinghouse.
- To remain in a “not prohibited” status, your employer must complete the follow-up testing plan with you as specified by the SAP, which must include a minimum of six unannounced follow-up tests in the first 12 months of returning to performing safety-sensitive functions. If you are an owner-operator, your designated C/TPA must complete your follow-up testing plan.
- Information about your drug and alcohol program violation is retained in the Clearinghouse for five years from the date of the violation determination or until the successful completion of the follow-up testing plan, whichever is later.