Clearinghouse

@Blackhorse77 and others that were having trouble with the Clearinghouse. This if from Transport Topics:

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has updated a notice on the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse website to reflect that, due to connectivity issues, the system is temporarily unable to validate commercial driver licenses.

The message updates information from a notice available March 5 that indicated the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS), on which the Clearinghouse relies, was unavailable. The new message no longer mentions CDLIS and maintains the Clearinghouse is unable to validate CDLs.




The Clearinghouse is a database containing information on CDL holders’ drug and alcohol violations. Carriers, state driver licensing agencies and law enforcement officials use the Clearinghouse to check a driver’s violations.

CDLIS provides a way for states to exchange information about truck drivers, traffic convictions and disqualifications. Established by federal law in 1986, CDLIS is operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.

“CDLIS was not and is not experiencing any issues,” AAMVA Communications Manager Claire Jeffrey told Transport Topics.

FMCSA’s notice advises employers who need to conduct pre-employment queries to follow the procedures set forth in section 391.23(e) in title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This section details investigations employers must conduct for prospective drivers, including those that screen for drug and alcohol violations.

“However, the pre-employment query must be completed in the Clearinghouse once the connectivity issues have been resolved,” the notice on the Clearinghouse website states.

Abigail Potter, manager of safety and occupational health policy for American Trucking Associations, said the issue appears to be a communication problem between the databases.

“CDLIS is fine. The Clearinghouse itself is fine because people are still able to upload [Department of Transportation] violations,” Potter said. “The issue right now is that the Clearinghouse communicating with CDLIS is down.”

The federal Clearinghouse rule requires drivers to register and consent to carriers checking their record for failed drug tests or refusals to take drug tests. Employers are required to check the Clearinghouse as part of pre-employment driver investigations and screen each of their currently employed CDL drivers at least once a year.

Potter recommended that an employer who is unable to run a query on a driver document the notice from FMCSA and proceed with hiring. She also noted that, although the employer will be required to retroactively run the pre-employment query when the issues are resolved, the employer is not required to remove that driver from a safety-sensitive function.

CDL Information System Operational, but Connectivity Issues With Clearinghouse Remain