Beginning January 6, 2023, motor carrier employers subject to the regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) may conduct part of the safety performance history investigation that is required for all driver-applicants in the FMCSA Clearinghouse. Specifically, employers are required by 49 CFR § 391.23(e)(1) – (3) to obtain information about a driver-applicant’s drug and alcohol violations that occurred in the last three years. Previously, employers were required to contact directly all U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)-regulated employers that employed the driver-applicant in the past three years to gather that information. Now that the FMCSA Clearinghouse has been in existence for three years as of January 6, 2023, employers may satisfy this requirement (as to prior FMCSA-regulated employers) by conducting searches in the FMCSA Clearinghouse on and after that date.
Employers should take note of the following important issues, however:
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