The new US Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is a secure online database that will give employers, FMCSA, State Driver Licensing Agencies, and State law enforcement personnel real-time information about CDL driver drug and alcohol program violations.
In general, carriers will be required to report drug and alcohol violations and check that no current or prospective employee is prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions, such as operating a commercial vehicle, due to a drug and alcohol program violation for which a driver has not successfully completed a Return-To-Duty (RTD) process. Canadian carriers should note that if they operate into the United States, they will be required to register and comply with these new requirements.
Carriers are reminded that registration is now open and that the rule comes into force on January 6, 2020.
Update: The current versions of the CCF and ATF specifically permit the use of either the driver’s social security number (SSN) or employee identification number (EIN) when completing the CCF or ATF. However, effective January 6, 2020, FMCSA is requiring that the commercial driver’s license number (CDL) must be used instead of the SSN or EIN when FMCSA-covered drivers’ positive drug or alcohol test results are reported to the Clearinghouse. Therefore, Employers, Consortia/Third Party Administrators (C/TPAs), Collection Sites, Laboratories, and Medical Review Officers (MROs) may want to ensure that their respective data systems can accommodate a donor identification number of up to 25 alphanumeric characters. More information can be found here.
For more information on the clearinghouse, please visit https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov or email clearinghouse@dot.gov.