DOT Clearinghouse: Ultimate Guide

The DOT Clearinghouse is the FMCSA’s game-changing database for tracking CDL driver drug and alcohol violations.

It’s a real-time system that keeps every carrier honest—making it nearly impossible for drivers with violations to slip through the cracks when switching employers.

What Is the DOT Clearinghouse and Why It Matters

Before the Clearinghouse kicked off in 2020, the system had a massive blind spot. A driver with a violation could often just jump to another company without disclosing their history. It was a dangerous loophole, and the DOT Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse slammed it shut for good.

Now, you have a tool to get a complete and accurate picture of a potential hire’s drug and alcohol violation status before you ever hand them the keys. This system isn’t just about ticking a compliance box; it’s a fundamental part of how to hire truck drivers. Doing this well means protecting your business, your other drivers, and everyone else on the road.

By creating a single source of truth, the Clearinghouse gives you the power to make hiring and retention decisions based on complete, verified data, preventing ineligible drivers from job-hopping.

A Central Hub for Safety and Compliance

The DOT Clearinghouse pulls critical drug and alcohol testing information into one central hub. This ensures everyone—from your safety team to state licensing agencies and law enforcement—is looking at the same real-time data.

Here’s how it directly helps your fleet:

• Smarter Hiring Decisions: You can instantly check if a new applicant is prohibited from operating a commercial motor vehicle. No more guessing games.
• Simplified Annual Reviews: The yearly query process for your current drivers is much more straightforward.
• Real Accountability: It guarantees that if one of your drivers has a violation, they must complete the entire mandatory return-to-duty (RTD) process before they can legally drive again.

And it’s working. Since its launch, the database has flagged thousands of violations, keeping unsafe drivers off the road. The FMCSA has reported that the Clearinghouse identified nearly 8,000 positive substance abuse tests early on, with over 5.2 million unique CDLs queried.

You can read the full report from the FMCSA to see the numbers yourself. This makes it a non-negotiable part of modern fleet operations, especially with new rules around Clearinghouse downgrades that directly impact a driver’s CDL status.

Check out this quick video that covers the highlights of the DOT Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse: 

Setting Up Your Fleet in the Clearinghouse

Getting your fleet registered in the DOT Clearinghouse correctly from the get-go is non-negotiable part of your DOT drug and alcohol program compliance. The process itself isn’t rocket science, but tiny mistakes can snowball into major compliance headaches and hiring delays down the road.

Your first move as an employer is to link your company’s FMCSA Portal account to the Clearinghouse. If you don’t have a Portal account yet, you’ll need to set one up first. This connection is what officially validates your company’s identity and gives you the authority to operate within the system.

For fleets that have trouble tracking down their credentials, figuring out how to find your DOT PIN can often be the key to regaining access.

How Employers Register for the DOT Clearinghouse

Before you can run queries or report violations in the FMCSA’s Clearinghouse, every employer must complete the registration process. Follow these simple steps to get your account set up and stay compliant:

Step-by-Step Registration Guide

• Go to the official site: Visit clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov and click “Register.”
• Create a Login.gov account: Use your email to sign up (or sign in if you already have one), confirm via the link in your inbox, and set up two-factor authentication for security.
• Choose your role: Select “Employer” (or “Employer and Driver” if you’re an owner-operator).
• Link your FMCSA Portal account: Select “Yes, I have an FMCSA Portal Account.” This connects your Clearinghouse activity with your U.S. DOT Number.
• Review your contact details: Verify that your phone number and company information are correct.
• Select your company: If you manage multiple DOT Numbers, choose the one you’re registering.
• Confirm company info: Indicate whether you’re an owner-operator (self-employed CDL driver).
• Designate your C/TPA: Search for and select your Consortium/Third-Party Administrator, then authorize them to perform functions such as:
  • Reporting violations
  • Reporting Return-to-Duty (RTD) results
  • Conducting driver queries
• Add your CDL information (if also a driver) so you can view your record and respond to consent requests.
• Accept the terms: Review and agree to the FMCSA Clearinghouse terms and conditions.
• Access your dashboard: Once complete, you’ll land on your employer dashboard—where you can purchase query plans, manage assistants, report violations, and run required queries.

Designating Roles and Purchasing Queries

Once you’re in, you need to decide who will be handling your Clearinghouse duties. You can manage everything in-house, or you can designate a Third-Party Administrator (TPA)—like My Safety Manager—to run queries and report violations for you. This is a popular route for fleets looking to ensure accuracy and free up their administrative team’s time.

Next up, you have to purchase a query plan. While the FMCSA offers a few different bundles, most fleets find that simply purchasing about 1 to 1.5 times the number of drivers in their fleet is the best way to go. It’s almost always the easiest option, especially if you have any amount of driver turnover or are planning to grow. Each query costs $1.25.

This infographic lays out the basic flow for getting your fleet up and running.

 

How to Purchase a Query Plan in the FMCSA Clearinghouse

Every employer of CDL drivers must have an active query plan in the DOT Clearinghouse before running pre-employment or annual queries. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to help you purchase one:

Step-by-Step Query Plan Purchase Guide

• Log in to your Clearinghouse account: Visit clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov and sign in using your Login.gov credentials.
• Go to your dashboard: From the top menu, select “Query Plan” and click “Buy.”
• Choose your plan type:
  • Select the plan size that matches your fleet’s current number of CDL drivers.
  • Each query costs $1.25, and unused queries are non-refundable.
  • High-volume employers can view the Unlimited Query Plan option.
• Click “Continue to Pay.gov”: This redirects you to Pay.gov, the secure U.S. Treasury site for online government payments.
• Select your payment method:
  • Credit or debit card
  • Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT/ACH)
  • Amazon Pay or PayPal (Note: maximum $10,000 limit—Unlimited plans require EFT or card payment)
• Enter your payment details and click “Continue.” Review and accept the Pay.gov authorization statement to finalize your purchase.
• Return to the Clearinghouse: Once payment is complete, you’ll automatically return to your Clearinghouse Dashboard.
• Verify your balance:
  • For limited plans, your query balance will show the remaining number of available queries.
  • For unlimited plans, your balance will display “unlimited,” along with the updated expiration date.

Following these steps in order is the best way to guarantee a smooth and compliant registration from day one.

Drivers with a CDL are required to create their own accounts to provide the electronic consent you’ll need to run full queries on their record when you’re hiring them. You should have a separate request form as part of their driver qualification packet that allows you to conduct those mandatory annual queries.

 

Your Query And Reporting Duties

Once you’ve got your fleet registered in the DOT Clearinghouse, the real work begins. This isn’t a “set it and forget it” system; staying compliant means keeping up with your ongoing duties. This boils down to two critical actions: running queries and reporting violations.

It’s crucial to understand the two different types of queries. A limited query or “Annual Query” is a simple check to see if a driver has any record in the Clearinghouse. Think of it as an annual check-up. You have to run one on every single driver you employ, at least once every 12 months.

A full query is the deep dive. It gives you the complete details of any violations a driver might have. This one is mandatory before you bring a new driver on board. It also requires that you secure separate driver consent via the FMCSA. 

Getting Consent And Running The Right Query

Getting the right driver consent is a common stumbling block for a lot of carriers. The kind of consent you need is tied directly to the type of query you’re running.

• Limited Queries: For these annual checks, you can use a general consent form. This is a paper or electronic form that a driver signs once, and you keep it on file outside the Clearinghouse system. Most companies just bake this into their standard hiring paperwork.
• Full Queries: This is different. It requires a specific, electronic consent from the driver for each full query. The driver has to log into their own Clearinghouse account to approve your request before you can see any details.

A huge mistake we see carriers make is thinking that general consent form covers pre-employment checks. It doesn’t. You absolutely cannot hire a driver for a safety-sensitive role until they provide that electronic consent and you’ve run a full query.

To help clarify when each query is needed, here’s a quick-reference table.

DOT Clearinghouse Query Requirements At A Glance

Query Type	When It Is Required	Driver Consent Needed
Full Query	Pre-Employment (before hiring a driver)	Electronic consent from the driver within their Clearinghouse account is required for each full query. This is sent to the driver candidate via email directly from the FMCSA.
Limited Query	Annually (at least once every 12 months for all currently employed drivers)	A general consent form (paper or electronic) signed by the driver and kept outside the Clearinghouse is sufficient.

This table should make it easy to remember which query to run and what kind of permission you need to get first.

If you want to handle all of your annual drug and alcohol clearinghouse queries in one sitting, the FMCSA makes it easy-ish. Instead of doing individual queries on each of your drivers,  you can do a “bulk upload” to help speed things up considerably. 

How to Conduct a Limited Query Using the Bulk Upload Method

If you need to check multiple drivers at once, the FMCSA Clearinghouse allows employers to use the bulk upload feature for limited queries. Follow these steps to complete the process efficiently:

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Log in to your Clearinghouse account:
  Visit clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov, click “Log In,” and sign in with your Login.gov credentials.
  From your dashboard, go to Queries → Conduct a Query.
• Select the bulk upload option:
  On the driver information page, click “I want to submit a bulk upload.”
  You’ll be redirected to the Bulk Query Upload page.
  • Download the templates and instructions:
    Follow the on-screen prompts to download the Bulk Queries File Setup Instructions and the sample files.
  • These provide the required column layout and file format.
• Prepare your file for upload:
  • Accepted formats: Tab-delimited (.txt), .xls, or .xlsx
  • Each entry must include the driver’s:
    • First and last name
    • Date of birth
    • CDL or CLP number
    • State and country of issuance
  • Make sure the data exactly matches the driver’s CDL record to avoid verification errors.
• Upload your driver list:
  Once your file is ready, return to the Bulk Upload screen and upload your file.
  The system will verify each driver’s CDL information before proceeding.
• Resolve any verification errors:
  If the system cannot verify a CDL number, double-check that the format matches what’s on the license (try with or without spaces or hyphens).
  If verification still fails, the driver must log in to the Clearinghouse for further assistance.
• Certify general consent:
  Check the box confirming you have a signed limited query consent form from each driver.
  (A sample consent form is available from the FMCSA for employers to adapt.)
• Run the query:
  Click “Conduct Query.”
  Results will appear immediately, and one query credit will be deducted from your available balance for each driver.
• Review results:
  • Driver Not Prohibited → No violation information found.
  • Record(s) Found – Full Query Needed → You must send a full query consent request within 24 hours or remove the driver from safety-sensitive functions.
• View your query history:
  Your Query History page stores all queries conducted by you, your assistants, or your designated C/TPA.

Your Duty To Report Violations

Running queries is only half the battle. You’re also legally required to report any drug and alcohol violations to the Clearinghouse. This isn’t optional, and you have a tight deadline: it must be done within three business days of the event.

You are required to report:

• An alcohol test result showing a concentration of 0.04 or greater.
• A refusal to take a required DOT drug or alcohol test.
• “Actual knowledge” of on-duty drug or alcohol use. This isn’t just a rumor; it means a direct observation, a citation for a DUI in a CMV, or even a driver’s own admission.
• Negative return-to-duty (RTD) test results and confirmation that a driver has completed their follow-up testing plan.

Staying on top of your reporting is just as critical as running queries. It’s what keeps the database accurate and reliable for every other employer out there. Plus, this data directly influences the 2025 FMCSA drug and alcohol testing rates, which helps the agency determine the random testing percentages for the entire industry. Your timely reporting is truly vital for everyone’s safety.

Managing Violations and the Return-to-Duty Process

Discovering a violation on a driver’s record can feel like a punch to the gut, but it’s a situation you can absolutely manage with a clear process. The moment a driver has a violation, they’re immediately slapped with a “prohibited” status in the DOT Clearinghouse. This isn’t just a warning; it means they cannot legally perform any safety-sensitive functions, period. No driving of a CMV requiring a CDL!

Your first move, without hesitation, is to pull that driver from the road. After that, the ball is in their court to start the highly structured Return-to-Duty (RTD) process. This isn’t optional—it’s the federally mandated path they must follow to get back behind the wheel.

A driver can’t just wait out a violation. The RTD process is designed to ensure accountability and safety, requiring them to actively complete every single step to clear their prohibited status in the Clearinghouse.

Navigating the Return-to-Duty Steps

The entire comeback journey is quarterbacked by a DOT-qualified Substance Abuse Professional (SAP). You’re required to provide the driver with a list of SAPs that they can select from. Your driver is responsible for choosing a SAP and then formally designating them in their own Clearinghouse account. This is a critical step because it’s what gives the SAP official permission to report their progress to the FMCSA.

You can accomplish this with a simple google search for “DOT SAP near me” or SAP program near me”. We always just use the SAP list to do this for our clients. It’s free and easy to use. 

The SAP has a very specific game plan they follow:

• Initial Evaluation: First, they conduct a thorough assessment to get a handle on the extent of the issue.
• Prescribing Education/Treatment: Based on that evaluation, the SAP will lay out a required plan of education or treatment that the driver must complete to the letter.
• Determining RTD Eligibility: Once the driver has finished the entire plan, the SAP updates the Clearinghouse. This is the green light that makes them eligible to take their all-important RTD test.

This multi-step process is non-negotiable for ensuring public safety. The numbers tell the story. Government data showed a staggering 312,641 drivers were somewhere in the RTD process as of September 2025, with 194,276 of them still in prohibited status. These statistics, detailed in the official DOT Learning Agenda, really highlight how many drivers are navigating these exact steps at any given time.

Once the SAP gives the go-ahead, you can schedule the observed RTD test. A negative result must be reported to the Clearinghouse, which is what officially flips the driver’s status from “prohibited” to “not prohibited.”

If a driver is being hired onto a new carrier, the Return To Duty test can also serve as their pre-employment drug test. 

But they aren’t out of the woods just yet. The SAP will also provide a follow-up testing plan, which involves a minimum of six unannounced, directly observed tests over the next 12 months. To get a better feel for the timeline, you can learn more about how long a Return-to-Duty process takes. Only after that final follow-up test is completed and reported will the violation record finally be closed.

Common Violations to Keep on Your Radar

If you want to tighten up your safety protocols, you have to know where the real risks are. The data coming out of the DOT Clearinghouse gives us a crystal-clear picture of the violations popping up most often. This is gold because it helps you focus your training and policies where they’ll actually make a difference.

The numbers don’t lie, and they’re all pointing to one major problem area. Positive drug tests make up the overwhelming majority of all reported violations, completely dwarfing alcohol-related infractions and test refusals combined.

The Rise of Marijuana Violations

When you really dig into the data, a specific trend jumps right out. Positive drug tests account for a staggering 81% of total violations reported to the Clearinghouse.

The biggest culprit? Marijuana. Positive tests for its metabolites have shot up from 29,197 in 2020 to 39,390 in 2022. The 2025 marijuana numbers actually appear to be trending down slightly. As of September 2025, there have been 22,324 positive tests reported.  You can see the full breakdown for yourself in the latest Clearinghouse monthly report.

This isn’t just a number—it’s a direct signal to have blunt, clear conversations with your drivers. They need to understand your company’s zero-tolerance policy, especially when it comes to marijuana, no matter what state laws say.

This is invaluable intel for any safety manager. It shows that reinforcing your drug policy and educating drivers on the exact consequences of a positive test needs to be at the top of your list.

Knowing where the common tripwires are is also key to staying prepared for an audit. These are the low-hanging fruit for inspectors. To get the bigger picture, you should also be familiar with the top 10 DOT audit violations of 2025 and see how Clearinghouse compliance fits in. Spoiler alert: Failure to conduct a Pre-Employment DACH query and Failure to conduct an annual Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse query take the #2 and #3 most common DOT audit violations. Combined, they’re just shy of the #1 spot, which is for 392.2 violations. 

DOT Clearinghouse FAQ

Here are short, straightforward answers to the most common questions fleet owners and safety managers have about the DOT Clearinghouse.

What is the primary purpose of the DOT Clearinghouse?

The DOT Clearinghouse is a secure online database managed by the FMCSA. Its main purpose is to give you, law enforcement, and state licensing agencies real-time access to a driver’s drug and alcohol violation records. It prevents drivers with violations from job-hopping to other carriers without disclosing their history.

What’s the difference between a full and a limited query?

A full query, required before you hire a new driver, gives you detailed information about any drug or alcohol violations in their record. It requires specific electronic consent from the driver for each query. A limited query, required annually for all your current drivers, just shows if a record exists. It only requires a general, one-time consent form you keep on file.

Does a driver have to register for the Clearinghouse?

Yes. All your CDL drivers must register in the DOT Clearinghouse. They need an account to provide the electronic consent required for you to run pre-employment (full) queries. They also use it to review their own record and designate a Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) if they enter the Return-to-Duty process.

What happens if a driver refuses to consent to a query?

If a potential new hire refuses to consent to a pre-employment full query, you are legally prohibited from hiring them for a safety-sensitive position. If a current driver refuses consent for the annual limited query, you must immediately remove them from all safety-sensitive functions.

How soon must I report a violation?

You are legally required to report drug and alcohol program violations to the Clearinghouse within three business days of the event. This includes positive test results, test refusals, and “actual knowledge” of a violation.

Do I still need to check a new hire’s previous employers?

No. As of January 6, 2023, conducting a pre-employment full query in the DOT Clearinghouse fulfills the requirement to check a driver’s drug and alcohol violation history with their previous DOT-regulated employers. The old manual checks are no longer required.

Can I use a TPA for my Clearinghouse duties?

Yes, you can designate a Third-Party Administrator (TPA) like My Safety Manager to handle your queries and reporting. However, as the employer, you remain ultimately responsible for ensuring all Clearinghouse requirements are met.

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Let the experts at My Safety Manager take DOT Clearinghouse compliance off your plate. From running queries to reporting violations, we handle it all so you can get back to running your business. Learn more about our DOT compliance services.

Regulatory References

The information in this article is based on the following FMCSA and DOT regulations and guidance:

• 49 CFR Part 382 – Controlled Substances and Alcohol Use and Testing
• 49 CFR Part 382, Subpart G – CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse Requirements
• 49 CFR § 382.701 – Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (queries & employer use)
• 49 CFR Part 40 – Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs
• FMCSA – Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (regulatory overview)
• FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse – Official Portal
• FMCSA – Overview of Drug and Alcohol Testing Rules