FMCSA Clearinghouse
The Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is usually explained from the driver’s side. Most of the actual obligations sit with the employer — querying, obtaining consent, and keeping the records. This is what 49 CFR 382.701 and 382.703 require of a carrier.
The limited query starts a 24-hour clock
The annual requirement can be met with a limited queryinstead of a full one. A limited query tells the employer only whether information exists about that driver — it does not release the information — and a driver’s consent to limited queries can be effective for more than one year.
The part worth knowing: if a limited query shows that information exists, the employer must conduct a full query within 24 hours. Miss that window and the driver must not continue to perform any safety-sensitive function until the full query is done and the results confirm no prohibitions.
So the cheaper annual route carries a deadline attached to it. A limited query run on a Friday afternoon can ground a driver by Saturday if nobody is watching for the result.
49 CFR 382.701(b)(2) and (b)(3)
What the employer has to do
A full query before the driver performs safety-sensitive work
49 CFR 382.701(a)
An employer must not employ a driver subject to controlled substances and alcohol testing to perform a safety-sensitive function without first conducting a pre-employment query. It looks for a verified positive, adulterated or substituted test result, an alcohol confirmation test at 0.04 or higher, a refusal to test, or actual knowledge reported by an employer.
A query at least once a year, for every covered employee
49 CFR 382.701(b)(1)
Employers must query the Clearinghouse at least once per year for all employees subject to controlled substance and alcohol testing under Part 382 — not only new hires, and not only drivers with something in their history.
Consent is required before any query, and kept for three years
49 CFR 382.703(a)
No employer may query the Clearinghouse for a particular driver without first obtaining that driver's written or electronic consent, and must retain that consent for three years from the date of the last query.
Three years of query records
49 CFR 382.701(e)
Employers must retain a record of each query and all information received in response, for three years. As of January 6, 2023, an employer who maintains a valid registration fulfils this requirement.
Full query or limited query
| Full query | Limited query | |
|---|---|---|
| Releases the information | Yes | No — only whether it exists |
| Satisfies pre-employment | Yes | No |
| Satisfies the annual requirement | Yes | Yes, with consent |
| Consent duration | Specific consent required | May exceed one year |
This page describes what the regulation requires. It does not describe how the Clearinghouse website works, what registration involves, or how long any process takes at FMCSA — none of that was checked, and it is not the sort of thing to guess at on a compliance page.
Source: 49 CFR 382.701 and 382.703, retrieved from the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations at ecfr.gov. A reference, not legal advice.
Related: what belongs in a driver qualification file and which FMCSR part covers what.