By Chad Engle, Loss Prevention and Safety Manager
As an employer of Commercial Driver License (CDL) holders that operate DOT-regulated Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs), here are two annual tasks you are required to complete:
- Run a Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse query on all your DOT-regulated drivers each year. The timeframe in which you perform these queries can be based on your employee’s date of hire or another 12-month period determined by you. A limited query will fulfill this requirement. A limited query reveals if a driver’s record exists in the Clearinghouse, but specific information about the violation will not be released. To perform this query, you will need to have an electronic or paper copy of a general consent signed by the driver.If the limited query shows that the driver has violations in Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, you will need to run a full query within 24 hours. You are required to obtain a driver’s full query consent to obtain access to the detailed information provided in a full query. This consent must be provided electronically within the Clearinghouse.
Remember to keep records of all Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse queries and the information received for three years.
- Conduct an annual Motor Vehicle Records (MVR) check on each DOT-regulated driver to ensure that they are still qualified to operate a CMV and determine if there are any other safety issues you may need to be aware of. NIRMA recommends that you conduct annual MVR checks on all employees that operate county and agency vehicles or operate their personal vehicle on county business.If the MVR check exposes violations, you will need to determine the severity of the violations and take whatever corrective action is required by your county or agency’s policy. These records must also be maintained for 3 years.
These annual requirements are not best practices recommended by NIRMA. They are requirements of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Failing to comply can result in fines of up to thousands of dollars, per violation.
Best wishes for the New Year and remember that I can always be reached at [email protected] or 1.800.642.6671.
