When the DOT Clearinghouse went into effect four months ago, all safety-sensitive employers were required to register and begin meeting their compliance requirements immediately. But between registration issues – as well as confusion over the regulation itself – there are still a number of employers who don’t have accounts. In fact, our estimates show that as many as 80% of DOT-regulated employers aren’t currently registered in the Clearinghouse.
In all likelihood, that number is even higher for drivers.
And while there is less urgency for drivers to register, as an employer, it’s in your best interest to ensure that all current and prospective drivers are registered as quickly as possible. Doing so will help to minimize your time to hire and streamline your compliance programs.
Here’s why:
- New safety-sensitive drivers can’t begin work until you’ve run a pre-employment Clearinghouse query. Because this is a full query that shows all of the details of the driver’s Clearinghouse record, the driver must have an account set up so that they can go in and provide consent before you’re able to run the query. The quicker the driver can go in and provide consent, the more quickly the query can be run.
- You may not be able to fulfill your annual query requirements. If a driver’s limited query shows that information exists on their Clearinghouse record, then you’ll need to request permission to run a full query within 24 hours. Once again, the driver will need an account to provide this electronic consent. If they can’t create an account in time, they will need to be pulled from the road until they’re able to access the Clearinghouse and provide the required consent.
Lastly, having a Clearinghouse account allows driver to run queries on themselves to ensure there is no inaccurate information that could prevent them from driving. If another employer inaccurately reports a violation on their behalf, or follow-up testing information isn’t reported properly, they may be unjustly pulled from the road the next time they’re pulled over for a roadside inspection. It’s important that drivers monitor their records to ensure the information is an accurate reflection of their drug and alcohol testing history.
The takeaway here, is to make sure all prospective and current drivers have a Clearinghouse account set up as soon as possible. For prospective drivers, this means making it part of the conversation during the pre-hire process. For current drivers, you’ll want to bring it to their attention now and offer assistance (if needed) to ensure all drivers have accounts set up and ready to go.
If you need resources to help, we provide some free “how to” guides in our Clearinghouse Resources Center.
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