Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse: what CDL drivers need to do

How to register as a driver (step by step)

• Registration isn't required by law, but without it you can't view your record or give electronic consent for a full query, and every pre-employment query is a full query.^[8] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Frequently Asked Questions (opens in a new tab)
• Step 1: Go to clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov and click Register. Sign in with Login.gov, or create a Login.gov account, which sends you back to the Clearinghouse.^[9] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Registration job aid for CDL drivers (opens in a new tab)
• Step 2: Choose the Driver role. A student driver employed by a motor carrier registers as a Driver, and a student in a training program not run by a carrier picks Student Driver.^[9] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Registration job aid for CDL drivers (opens in a new tab)
• Step 3: Enter your contact info and pick how you want notices. If you pick U.S. Mail, time-sensitive requests can arrive late, so email is faster.^[9] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Registration job aid for CDL drivers (opens in a new tab)
• Step 4: Enter your current CDL or CLP number and state, then click Verify. The Clearinghouse checks it against CDLIS, and you get two tries. Once verified, you can't edit it.^[9] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Registration job aid for CDL drivers (opens in a new tab)
• Step 5: Agree to the terms and conditions. Your Driver Dashboard is where you'll answer consent requests and see your record.^[9] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Registration job aid for CDL drivers (opens in a new tab)
• Owner-operators with their own USDOT number need both roles. Choose Register as an Employer and a Driver, or add the employer role later.^[9] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Registration job aid for CDL drivers (opens in a new tab)

Full vs. limited queries and consent

• Pre-employment = full query. A carrier can't put you in a safety-sensitive job until it runs a full query, and a full query needs your specific electronic consent inside the Clearinghouse.^[2] Source: 49 CFR 382.701: Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (queries) (opens in a new tab)
• Annual = limited query (usually). Employers must query every driver at least once a year. A limited query only says whether a record exists, and you can sign a limited-query consent outside the Clearinghouse that covers more than one year.^[2] Source: 49 CFR 382.701: Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (queries) (opens in a new tab)
• If a limited query finds something, the employer must run a full query, with your electronic consent, within 24 hours. If it doesn't, you can't keep doing safety-sensitive work until the full query is done and shows no prohibition.^[2] Source: 49 CFR 382.701: Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (queries) (opens in a new tab)
• Refusing consent means the employer can't let you do safety-sensitive work, including driving a CMV.^[3] Source: 49 CFR 382.703: Driver consent to permit access to information (opens in a new tab)
• 30-day heads-up: if a violation is added to your record within 30 days after an employer queried you, FMCSA notifies that employer.^[2] Source: 49 CFR 382.701: Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (queries) (opens in a new tab)
• Who pays: queries cost employers $1.25 each, limited or full. If a limited query is followed by a full query on the same driver, the employer is charged once.^[10] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Query Plans ($1.25 per query) (opens in a new tab)
• Employers keep your consent for 3 years from the last query.^[3] Source: 49 CFR 382.703: Driver consent to permit access to information (opens in a new tab)
• The rules for queries, consent, reporting and removing records are all in 49 CFR Part 382, Subpart G.^[1] Source: 49 CFR Part 382, Subpart G: Requirements and procedures for the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (eCFR) (opens in a new tab)

What "prohibited" status means

• A driver with a drug or alcohol violation under Part 382 Subpart B can't perform safety-sensitive functions, including driving a CMV, and no employer may let them.^[5] Source: 49 CFR Part 382, Subpart F: Removal from safety-sensitive function and reinstatement (382.501, 382.503) (opens in a new tab)
• Violations that make you prohibited include a verified positive, adulterated or substituted drug test, an alcohol test of 0.04 or higher, a refusal to test, and employer-reported "actual knowledge" of on-duty, pre-duty or post-accident alcohol use or drug use.^[2] Source: 49 CFR 382.701: Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (queries) (opens in a new tab)
• State downgrade (Clearinghouse-II): since November 18, 2024, a state that's notified you're prohibited must start removing the CLP or CDL privilege from your license and finish within 60 days. States also must not issue, renew, transfer or upgrade a CDL for a prohibited driver.^[6] Source: 49 CFR 383.73: State procedures, including (q) Clearinghouse downgrade (opens in a new tab)
• If you finish return-to-duty before the downgrade is recorded, the state stops the downgrade, if state law allows. If it's already done, the state must make you eligible for reinstatement, if state law allows.^[6] Source: 49 CFR 383.73: State procedures, including (q) Clearinghouse downgrade (opens in a new tab)
• After a downgrade you can't drive a CMV until the state reinstates the CLP or CDL privilege.^[5] Source: 49 CFR Part 382, Subpart F: Removal from safety-sensitive function and reinstatement (382.501, 382.503) (opens in a new tab)
• See our summary of the state licensing agency rule.

Return-to-duty process

1. Pick a SAP. Your employer has to give you a list of DOT-qualified substance abuse professionals (SAPs), or you can find one yourself. Then log in and designate the SAP in the Clearinghouse. Once the SAP accepts, you can't switch SAPs in the system. ^[12] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: How a driver designates a SAP (opens in a new tab)
2. Evaluation and education or treatment. The SAP evaluates you, recommends education or treatment, and decides when you've completed it. ^[11] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Return-to-duty for CDL drivers (driver insert) (opens in a new tab)
3. Return-to-duty test. An employer has to send you for it, since you can't order it yourself. Owner-operators are sent by their C/TPA. A negative result entered in the Clearinghouse changes your status to "not prohibited." ^[11] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Return-to-duty for CDL drivers (driver insert) (opens in a new tab)
4. Follow-up testing. The SAP sets the plan, with at least 6 unannounced tests in the first 12 months back on duty. It can run up to 48 more months, and it follows you if you change carriers. ^[7] Source: 49 CFR 40.307: SAP follow-up testing plan (opens in a new tab)

• If you aren't employed, you'll need a carrier willing to sponsor you through the RTD test and follow-up plan.^[11] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Return-to-duty for CDL drivers (driver insert) (opens in a new tab)
• Cost: there's no fixed federal price. SAP, treatment and testing fees are set by the providers you use.

How long a violation stays on your record

• A violation stays visible to employers until all of these are done: the SAP reports you completed RTD, a negative RTD test is reported, your employer reports all follow-up tests done, and 5 years have passed since the date of the violation determination.^[4] Source: 49 CFR 382.719: Availability and removal of information (opens in a new tab)
• That works out to 5 years from the violation determination or until you finish follow-up testing, whichever is later.^[11] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Return-to-duty for CDL drivers (driver insert) (opens in a new tab)
• A petition to FMCSA can fix administrative errors, like a data-entry mistake or a duplicate report. You can't use it to dispute the accuracy of a test result or a refusal. The rule allows a few narrow exceptions for certain employer reports, such as an "actual knowledge" report that doesn't meet the reporting requirements.^[13] Source: 49 CFR 382.717: Procedures for correcting certain information (opens in a new tab)

Owner-operators: your employer duties

• If you drive under your own authority, you're both employer and driver under Part 382, and your random testing must be in a pool of two or more covered drivers.^[14] Source: 49 CFR 382.103: Applicability (owner-operators) (opens in a new tab)
• You must designate a C/TPA (consortium/third-party administrator) to handle the employer reporting duties for your own testing.^[15] Source: 49 CFR 382.705: Reporting to the Clearinghouse, (b)(6) owner-operator C/TPA (opens in a new tab)
• As the employer, you must buy a query plan and run the pre-employment and annual queries. A C/TPA can't buy a plan for you.^[10] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Query Plans ($1.25 per query) (opens in a new tab)
• You still need the driver role, so you can consent to your own queries. Register as both.^[9] Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse: Registration job aid for CDL drivers (opens in a new tab)
• ID check for new employer accounts: since April 27, 2026, new Clearinghouse registrations for some roles, including "Employer Without a Portal Account," C/TPAs, MROs and SAPs, require identity proofing through a secure web application. FMCSA's list doesn't include the Driver role.^[16] Source: FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse: home page, "New Identity Checks for Clearinghouse Users" (opens in a new tab)