FMCSA Clearinghouse Annual Query Requirement
The deadline for conducting your first Annual Queries in the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (DACH) is January 5, 2021. Annual Queries are to be conducted at least once in a 12-month rolling period. For example, if you conduct your first Annual Queries on November 1st then your next Annual Queries will need to be conducted no later than November 1st of the following year. If you are a motor carrier employer of CDL drivers, Annual Queries are required to be conducted on all drivers per § 382.701. Failure to conduct the required queries could result in fines of up to $2,500 per driver.
To complete a query, you will log in to your FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse account, go to My Dashboard, Queries, Conduct a Query. Complete the driver’s information to submit the query. The driver information you will need is first name, last name, date of birth, and the Country and State the driver license was issued in. Select whether you are conducting a Full or Limited Query. For a Full query you will mark “No” this not part of a Pre-employment screening. For a Limited Query you will need to check that you do have a signed Limited Consent Form on record for the drivers. Employers will need to have a Query Plan balance of at least the number of queries you are conducting. You can purchase $1.25 query credits from the FMCSA Clearinghouse at https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/Query/Plan.