CARSON CITY, Nev. — The federal commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse — and with it, the start of mandatory reporting — goes live Jan. 6.
The clearinghouse will be a secure online database of all positive drug and alcohol test results for commercial driver's license holders.
Employers will be required to check the clearinghouse before putting a new employee on the road, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which has established an informative web page of FAQs and other information leading up to the Jan. 6 go-live date.
Employers will also be required to check the clearinghouse annually for each driver they employ or utilize. The North American Transportation Association is recommending this be done in January of each year.
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A spokesman for the association said the clearinghouse is designed to improve safety on the roadways by allowing employers to identify drivers with a prohibited drug or alcohol violation.
It will also enable employers to identify drivers who may have a drug or alcohol program violation while working for one employer who fail to notify another employer.
According to the FMCSA, in December 2016, the Clearinghouse final rule implemented the Congressional mandate to establish the clearinghouse and identified roles and responsibilities of those required to use it. Registration for the clearinghouse began in October of this year.
Beginning Jan. 6, the driver's commercial license number and state of issuance must be used when reporting a positive drug or alcohol test to the clearinghouse.
They will no longer use the employees Social Security number or other identification number.
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