Wisconsin starts Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse CDL downgrades early, ahead of looming federal deadline in November

The ​Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) announced that commercial license downgrades started this week ahead of a November federal compliance deadline.

On September 15, 2024, the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) started automatic Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) downgrades for drivers not in compliance with federal drug and alcohol testing requirements, according to WisDOT.

Through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMSCA) new Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse Status Checks, the Wisconsin DMV receives automatic notification when a driver does not pass a drug or alcohol test. The Wisconsin DMV then downgrades the CDL of the associated driver “until they clear their record with FMCSA.”

Non-commercial driving privileges are not impacted by the downgrade, but driving a commercial vehicle is illegal until CDL privileges are reinstated.

“Our absolute #1 priority is safety on Wisconsin’s roads,” DMV Administrator Tommy Winkler said. “Our project team worked for the past year to develop DMV’s path toward compliance with these new federal regulations. Among all states, Wisconsin DMV is one of the first driver licensing agencies to go live with this change.” 

Starting on November 18, 2024, ALL state DMVs will be be required by federal law to begin the same CDL downgrades that went into effect in Wisconsin on September 15.

According to the latest FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse report for July 2024, a total of 175,650 CDL and Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP) holders are currently listed in “Prohibited Status” in the Clearinghouse. If these CDL and CLP holders do not complete the return-to-duty (RTD) process, they will have their license downgraded on November 18, or before, depending on the state.

Of those in “Prohibited Status,” 133,414 have not yet started the RTD process.

The license downgrades going into effect November 18 were established in a second Final Rule (Clearinghouse-II) issued by the FMCSA in October 2021. The purpose of the Clearinghouse-II rule is to further support and strengthen the first Clearinghouse final rule, which declares that drivers with a “prohibited” Clearinghouse status are prohibited from operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) on public roads.

The FMCSA says that the Clearinghouse-II rule “will help keep unsafe drivers off the road by increasing compliance with the CMV driving prohibition.”

The FMCSA’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse provides law enforcement and employers with real-time information on CDL and CLP holder drug and alcohol program violations.

Wisconsin is not the only state to begin CDL downgrades early, ahead of the November 18 deadline. On July 29, 2024, the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) announced that they also started the CDL downgrades ahead of the November compliance deadline.