FMCSA · Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse

The record that can pull a driver off the road.

The Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse is FMCSA's national database of CDL drivers' drug and alcohol violations. One unresolved violation puts a driver in "prohibited" status — they can't legally drive a commercial vehicle, and since late 2024 the state will downgrade their CDL until they fix it. This guide covers what's in it, who can see it, and how a driver gets back.

What it tracks

DriversCDL & CLP

RecordsDrug & alcohol violations

SinceJan 2020

The status that matters

Clear resultNot Prohibited

Violation on fileProhibited

Since Nov 2024CDL downgraded

Illustrative — no real driver on this page.

Read this first

The Clearinghouse isn't a public lookup — employers query their own drivers, with consent. What you're checking is one thing: is the driver prohibited? A prohibited driver can't legally operate a commercial vehicle until they complete the return-to-duty process — and since November 2024 their state downgrades the CDL until they do.

National database · since Jan 2020CDL & CLP driversEmployers query with consentNot a public lookup

What it is

A secure federal database that closed a real loophole — a driver with an unresolved drug or alcohol violation can no longer quietly move to the next carrier.

A secure FMCSA database

Created by act of Congress and launched January 6, 2020, the Clearinghouse gives employers, FMCSA, State Driver Licensing Agencies, and law enforcement real-time access to CDL/CLP drivers' drug and alcohol program violations. Before it existed, a driver could fail a test at one carrier and simply apply at another that never found out. The factsheet frames the whole system on four ideas — Consent · Record · Query · Safety — and this guide follows the same arc.

Who's in scope

Every CDL/CLP driver operating a commercial motor vehicle on public roads — interstate and intrastate, passenger and school-bus — plus their employers and service agents. A handful of roles feed and use it:

Employers & their agents

Employers report violations and run queries; C/TPAs (consortia / third-party administrators) report and query on their behalf.

Drivers

View their own record, give consent for queries, and select a Substance Abuse Professional if they have a violation to resolve.

MROs & SAPs

Medical Review Officers report verified positives and refusals; Substance Abuse Professionals report the return-to-duty assessment and eligibility.

SDLAs

State Driver Licensing Agencies query at licensing — and, under Clearinghouse II, downgrade the CDL of a prohibited driver.

What counts as a violation

The Clearinghouse records a specific set of drug and alcohol program violations — not roadside inspections or crashes (those are PSP). Any one of these puts a driver in prohibited status.

Alcohol ≥ 0.04, or an un-prescribed Part 40 drug

On duty for a safety-sensitive function with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.04 or higher, or while using a Part 40 drug not prescribed to them.

Alcohol around the work window

Using alcohol while performing — or within four hours of performing — a safety-sensitive function.

Alcohol after an accident

Using alcohol within eight hours of an accident, or until the post-accident test is done (whichever comes first).

A positive drug test

A verified positive test for one of the specified drugs, reported by the Medical Review Officer.

Refusing a test

Refusing a required drug or alcohol test — treated the same as a failed one.

Actual knowledge

An employer's direct knowledge of prohibited use — an admission, an observation, or a citation — is itself a reportable violation.

How a record reads

Illustrative record · not a real driver

Driver record

A made-up record, shown to demonstrate how a prohibited status reads.

Driver illustrative · CDLChecked 06/2026

Status

ResultDriver ProhibitedPROHIBITED

Prohibited means the driver can't perform any safety-sensitive function — including driving a CMV — until return-to-duty is complete.

Violation on file

TypePositive drug test (reported by the MRO)

Reported02/14/2026

Reported by the testing chain — the MRO for positives and refusals, the employer for actual-knowledge or alcohol violations.

Return-to-duty

StatusNot startedNOT STARTED

Until RTD is complete, the status stays prohibited — and the violation doesn't age off.

License (since Nov 2024)

CDLSubject to state downgradeDOWNGRADE

Under Clearinghouse II, the state removes the commercial privilege while a driver is prohibited.

PROHIBITED can't driveNOT PROHIBITED clear

Queries & consent

It's not a public database — access is gated and consent-based. Employers check their own drivers in two ways.

Pre-employment — full query

Before a new driver performs a safety-sensitive function, the employer runs a full query, which requires the driver's electronic consent in the Clearinghouse and returns full violation/RTD detail.

Annual — at least once a year

For every current CDL driver. It can begin as a limited query (consent given outside the Clearinghouse). If it shows a record exists, the employer must run a full query and act on it.

State Driver Licensing Agencies also query at every CDL issue, renewal, transfer, or upgrade. At the top level the result is binary: Driver Not Prohibited (clear — no unresolved violation) or Driver Prohibited.

It also replaced a paperwork step

As of January 6, 2023, once three years of data exist, a Clearinghouse query satisfies the old previous-employer drug-and-alcohol investigation requirement (49 CFR 391.23(e)) for an applicant's FMCSA-regulated prior employers — one electronic check in place of chasing them down.

Getting back: return-to-duty

A violation isn't the end of a career — but there's exactly one way back, and it runs through a Substance Abuse Professional.

The path back

The driver selects a Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) → the SAP evaluates them → education or treatment as the SAP directs → the SAP clears them for a return-to-duty test, which must be negative → a follow-up testing plan of unannounced tests. Passing the return-to-duty test lets the driver go back to work — but the violation only clears from the record once the full follow-up testing plan is finished too.

It doesn't age off on its own

A violation stays on the record 5 years, or until the driver finishes return-to-duty — whichever is longer. A driver who never completes RTD stays prohibited indefinitely; the record doesn't expire on a timer.

Prohibited is a hard stop

No exceptions and no partial clearance — a prohibited driver can't legally drive a CMV, full stop, until RTD is complete.

Now it costs the license

Since November 2024 the state downgrades the CDL of a prohibited driver, so prohibited status increasingly shows up as a lost CDL too — not just a database flag.

Reference

Plain definitions for the Clearinghouse terms you'll run into.

Glossary

Clearinghouse: FMCSA's national database of CDL/CLP drivers' drug and alcohol program violations.
Prohibited status: A driver with an unresolved violation — can't perform any safety-sensitive function (including driving a CMV) until return-to-duty is complete.
Safety-sensitive function: Driving a commercial motor vehicle and the related duties the drug/alcohol rules cover.
Full query: Returns detailed violation and return-to-duty information; requires the driver's electronic consent in the Clearinghouse. Required pre-employment and whenever a limited query shows a record.
Limited query: Indicates only whether a record exists; consent can be given outside the Clearinghouse. Allowed for the annual check.
Consent: A driver's authorization for an employer to access their record — electronic, in the Clearinghouse, for a full query.
MRO: Medical Review Officer — reviews and reports verified positive tests and test refusals.
SAP: Substance Abuse Professional — evaluates a violating driver and directs the return-to-duty process.
C/TPA: Consortium / Third-Party Administrator — a service agent that reports and queries on an employer's behalf.
SDLA: State Driver Licensing Agency — issues CDLs; queries the Clearinghouse at licensing and downgrades prohibited drivers under Clearinghouse II.
Return-to-duty (RTD): The SAP-directed process a prohibited driver completes — evaluation, treatment, a negative RTD test, and a follow-up plan — to clear their status.
Follow-up testing: The unannounced testing plan a SAP sets once a driver returns to duty.
Actual knowledge: An employer's direct knowledge of a driver's prohibited drug/alcohol use (admission, observation, a citation) — itself a reportable violation.
Clearinghouse II: The final rule, effective Nov 18, 2024, requiring SDLAs to query the Clearinghouse and to downgrade the CDL of a prohibited driver.

Related guides

About this guide

Current as of June 2026. Reflects the Clearinghouse II final rule effective November 18, 2024 — State Driver Licensing Agencies query at licensing and downgrade the CDL of a prohibited driver.

This guide is educational. It explains how FMCSA's Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse works and does not modify any regulation, and it is not legal advice. The Clearinghouse is not a public lookup; access is limited and consent-based. No real driver data appears on this page.