Three Months Left to Meet Clearinghouse Annual Query Requirements
If an employer has not yet conducted queries in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse on any CDL drivers they currently employ, time is running out. The deadline to meet the annual query requirement (per § 382.701) is January 5, 2021.
This annual query requirement is tracked on a rolling 12-month basis. For instance, if an employer conducts a query of a CDL driver on October 9, 2020, the employer will not need to query that driver again until October 9, 2021.
Employers must purchase a query plan to ensure they, and their designated consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs), can conduct queries on prospective and current drivers. Learn more about query plans.
Be sure to register for the Clearinghouse and conduct your annual queries today. To learn more, download the queries and consent requests factsheet.
Customize How You Receive System Notifications from the Clearinghouse
A new feature that makes it easier to see your latest account activity is now available. When you log in to the Clearinghouse, you will see a bell icon in the top right corner of the screen. If you have new notifications, a dark blue dot will appear next to this icon. Click on the bell icon to open your Notifications box and see your most recent notifications. (Note: The bell icon and Notifications list are not currently viewable on mobile devices.)
New items in your Notifications list are marked with a light blue dot. These dots will appear until a notification has been read. Click on a notification to mark it as read, or click Mark all read to remove all blue dots in your notification list.
Drivers will now see notifications when:
- An employer has sent a consent request for a pre-employment query, or another full query.
- Violation information has been entered, modified, or removed from your Clearinghouse record.
- Violation information has been released to an employer (after the driver’s consent has been provided).
Customize Your Notifications
You can control how you receive your notifications. While logged in to the Clearinghouse, click on the bell icon to open your Notifications box and click on Settings. This will take you to your Notification Settings page where you will see a list of all your notifications, as well as the notification methods currently set for each. Click change setting to turn a notification on or off. If you turn off an “In Clearinghouse” notification, you will not receive that notification in your Notifications box.
Per § 382.707, FMCSA must notify a driver when information concerning that driver has been added to, revised, or removed from the Clearinghouse. These notifications are sent either by email or U.S. Mail. Registered drivers can update this preference, which they selected during registration, in the Notification Settings page. Drivers cannot turn off these notifications.
Drivers who are not registered for the Clearinghouse will only receive these notifications via U.S. Mail. FMCSA will send the letter to the mailing address associated with that driver’s commercial driver’s license (CDL). Any CDL driver may switch to email notifications by registering for the Clearinghouse and changing this notification setting. Learn More
Commercial Driver’s Licenses; Expansion of Military Occupational Specialties in the Pilot Program To (now) Allow Persons 18, 19, and 20 Years Old With Military Driving Experience To Operate Commercial Motor Vehicles in Interstate Commerce Continue Reading
FMCSA Compliance Reviews – Critical Violations (2020 – Fiscal)
Of the list of top 20 Critical Violations found during FMCSA Compliance Reviews, you’ll see that for 14 out of the 20, there is no Violation Description, other than the regulatory reference number. Unless on references Title 49 on a regular basis, they might not be familiar with the codes.
That said, 18.77% of all Total Critical Violations were related to FMCSR – Part 391 – Driver Qualification, with 9.13% attributable to 391.51B2 – “Inquiries Into Employment Record Not Kept in DQ File” the 3rd most frequently cited of all Critical Violations. Continue Reading
This is a deep link to 49 CFR Parts 300-399 (a.k.a. “the reg’s”)
This section of the website provides the ability to find regulations information including regulations parts, content of sections, and interpretations for regulations sections. (This web page contains) a list of parts, identified by the part number and subject. To browse sections by part, click on the subject link below. You will be taken to the eCFR website to view sections for a part. Learn More
Understand Hours of Service Regulations
FMCSA’s Educational Tool for Hours of Service (ETHOS) helps motor carriers and drivers better understand the HOS regulations going into effect on September 29, 2020. When drivers and carriers enter their duty statuses into the web-based log below, ETHOS will identify where potential violations of the following rules may have occurred:
- 11-hour driving limit (property) or 10-hour driving limit (passenger)
- 14-hour driving window (property) or 15-hour on-duty limit (passenger)
- 30-minute break (property)
- Sleeper berth provision
Note: The 60/70-hour limit regulations are not covered by ETHOS