We are now one year into the Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. And what have we learned? Quite a lot, actually. That’s why we wanted to revisit the topic, one year on, in 2021 and share some best practices that our readers can benefit from. Because a well written and comprehensive clearinghouse policy can help your fleet avoid nasty fines and even being put out of service.
The big question is around how many truck drivers the clearinghouse impacts? Well, it is not a small number. By the end of 2020, nearly 48,000 truck drivers had been taken off the road due to clearinghouse violations, whether temporarily or permanent.
The good news is that although this seems like a really high number, in reality it represents only 1.5% of all CDL licenses issued in the United States. The vast majority of commercial motor vehicle operators operate their vehicles safely and soberly, day after day. Still, even 1.5% can be a huge number when viewed through the lens of someone impacted by a large truck crash. This is what the clearinghouse was designed to prevent.
What’s the Latest Data?
Having gone into effect January of 2020, the clearinghouse was designed as an electronic database that tracks CDL holders who have had drug or alcohol violations appear on their record. The database also tracks when truck operators refuse to take a drug test. For those who complete their ordered return-to-duty process, this information is also recorded in the clearinghouse.
According to the most recent FMCSA-provided data (February 2021), there have been a total of 5.4 million queries registered within the database. Of those, 1.7 million queries were pre-employment queries. Since the database was first initiated, there have been a total of 63,300 drug violations. Of those, 53,000 came because of a positive drug test, another 9,000 were from a refusal to take a drug test, and then around 1,500 came from knowledge of a drug violation. The most common drug identified was marijuana, with 34,000 total violations attributed to it.
Trucking companies must stay at the top of their game to ensure they are in full compliance with the clearinghouse. It really is about much more than ensuring your truck drivers don’t engage in behavior that would result in a violation. There are administrative tasks fleet managers must stay on top of lest they run afoul of the law.
Are You Registered?
The most important thing is, of course, to ensure you are in the system in the first place. As of March 1, there were just over 215,600 employers registered in the clearinghouse. Considering there are 1.2 million registered trucking companies in the U.S., it is clear the majority of carriers are not yet even registered within the clearinghouse.
The fact is trucking companies both large and small have been the subject of audit violations because they were not registered win the clearinghouse. This is an easily avoided violation; there really is no reason why trucking companies should get hit with it. Also beware of using third parties to assist you. You need to make sure third parties are actually registering you when they say they are.
It may also be that your own internal back office is dealing with an entire fleet of trucks and other accounting and tracking needs. No one is infallible, so it is important to ensure you have processes in place to make sure you are complying. It should not be all on one person to handle all the time. Even roadside violations can come from not being listed in the clearinghouse. Remember, patrol and highway inspection officers have remote access to the database.
Fine Are on the Rise
If you aren’t primarily motivated by safety (you should be), then maybe you should keep an eye on the dollar signs. Fines for clearinghouse violations are on the rise. In fact, they just went up this past January, when the FMCSA notified trucking companies that they would be raising fees for companies who have or do not report violations.
DOT issued a final statement saying that independent operators, motor carriers, and even medical review officers (MROs) can be fined nearly $5,900 for violating any one violation associated with the clearinghouse. Violations could include non-reporting, improper queries, or other offenses as listed by DOT.
Imagine if you receive an audit and you have not been in the clearinghouse for over a year. Normal fines used to usually be in the range of $10,000 – $50,000. Now, thanks to these changes, the FMCSA could choose to take you to the cleaners and subject you to fines closing in on six figures. While the higher end of that range would come because of extensive violations, these are the types of fines that give even huge motor carriers pause.
Update Your Policy
Trucking companies live and die on documentation and policies. If you want to avoid huge fines, you need to ensure you have policies on the books that provide a blueprint for your people to stay responsible and on the right side of the law. Don’t hesitate to take a second look at your drug and alcohol policy to make sure it applies to your current working conditions.
Don’t assume that the initial policy you created when the clearinghouse first went into effect works just fine for today’s regulatory structure. Your policy should cover reporting, the how and when that occurs, and under what circumstance a report is generated. You also want to ensure your policy covers how do deal with people who may have suspicion or actual knowledge of drug or alcohol use.
If a motor carrier chooses to file a report in the clearinghouse, they must do so very carefully, deliberately and with full knowledge of what they are doing and what filing the report will entail. Fleet managers going down that road need to make sure they have actual knowledge of an event before making a report. Making a report that could be considered false is in itself a violation.
Removing “actual knowledge” reports from the clearinghouse is a long and time-consuming process, so if you are going to file one of those report types, you must make sure you are correct. In the worst-case scenario, you could have a former truck driver filing a wrongful termination lawsuit against you. It can sometimes be difficult to discern the line between suspicion and actual knowledge, but if you are going to file a report with the clearinghouse, you need to make sure you properly discern it.
Return-to-Duty is an Option
There is a misperception in the trucking industry that if you test positive, your trucking career is automatically over. That is not necessarily true. Consider how many positive tests were for Marijuana. 14 states have now legalized recreational Marijuana. You are going to have instances like these, but a truck driver should not find their career derailed just because they smoked a joint while off-duty.
Motor carriers should consider hiring truck drivers who have successfully completed the DOT’s return-to-duty process. Truck drivers typically need six follow-up tests over a 12-month period to be considered fit to return to duty. With the clearinghouse now a year old, trucking companies will be paying close attention to how successful return-to-duty programs are.
With a truck driver shortage still in full effect, trucking companies need to look where they can to find qualified truck drivers. If you found a potential candidate who was disqualified over a minor marijuana violation a year ago, you might be doing yourself a disservice to pass that candidate over.
There is a problem, however, with truck drivers who have been disqualified not beginning the return-to-duty process. By some estimates, nearly 38,000 individuals who have been disqualified have not yet started the process. This is an unfortunate problem during a truck driver shortage. And while the return-to-duty process can seem long and onerous, motor carriers should not avoid the process.
In the end, we all must live with the clearinghouse. So, why not avoid avoidable violations and ensure you are registered and ensure a solid policy is in place so you can stay in compliance. Keep truck drivers happy and auditors at bay by staying in clearinghouse compliance.