Safety Information and Updates

Posts about:

cdl

FMCSA Clearinghouse Turns 3 in January. What's Changing?

On January 6, 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) instituted a “clearinghouse”, or online database where information about commercial driver’s license (CDL) holder’s drug and alcohol violations are maintained. (For a refresher on the Cleaninghouse, go here: FMCSA Clearinghouse )

Despite having a secure online repository providing real-time information about CDL holder’s drug and alcohol violations, potential new employers have still been required to perform inquiries to all DOT regulated former employers where the prospective employee performed a safety sensitive function within the previous three years. Soon this will no longer be the case.

Effective January 6, 2023, the Clearinghouse will turn three years old. This means that for the first time ever, there will finally be three years of information contained in the Clearinghouse, so prospective employers will no longer be required to perform the drug and alcohol portion of the previous employer inquiry. Great news, right? Not so much. Unfortunately, while the Clearinghouse will satisfy the drug and alcohol portion of employment verifications required by 49 CFR §391.23(e), prospective employers will still be required to satisfy the requirements of 49 CFR §391.23(d) pertaining to accident information.

So what does this mean? As an employer of a new CDL driver, you will still be required to perform the previous employer inquiry to any employer the driver worked for as a CDL driver in the past three years. You won’t HAVE to inquire about their drug and alcohol history, but you will have to ask about any DOT recordable crashes they were involved in. Similarly, as a previous employer of a driver who may have left to seek employment elsewhere, you will no longer be required to provide information about the former employee’s drug and alcohol history, but you will still be required to provide answers about their recordable accident history.

While nothing prevents former or prospective employers from continuing to ask for, or continuing to provide drug and alcohol information, the only real change is that this information will no longer be required. Inquiries will still need to be made, and responses will still need to be given. The only change is to exactly what is required to be asked for, and what is required to be provided.  

IFor more information on the clearinghouse and specific requirements, check their site here: https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/

FMCSA Screengrab

 

Read More

Reminder -FMCSA Clearinghouse Mandatory Registration Deadline is Jan 6

Drug Testing

The FMCSA Clearinghouse deadline is January 6th, 2020, which believe it or not, is only a few weeks away. While CDL drivers do not technically need to register immediately, they will need to do so for mandatory employer pre-employment inquiries so it's better to just get it out of the way now.

The clearinghouse will be a comprehensive database with information on CDL holders' drug or alcohol violations, as well as information on whether that driver has completed required rehabilitation in order to return to work legally. The requirements are applied to ALL CDL drivers, from school bus drivers to interstate truckers. Violations will include any positive drug or alcohol test, DUI conviction, refusal to submit to testing, or acknowledgement of a substance abuse issue. 

Employers, medical review officers and third party administrators will be legally required to report drug or alcohol violations to the database. Employers will also be required to query the database to confirm new hires are eligible to work (no violations, or have completed required rehabilitation) and will also need to annually query to make sure current employees remain eligible to be a commercial driver. State licensing agencies (like the MA RMV) will also be required to query the system when reissuing CDL licenses. 

The goal of the database implementation is to ensure that CDL holders who have drug or alcohol violations are removed from the road until they have fulfilled steps to show they are a safe operator again.

This past summer the State of Massachusetts had an extremely tragic example of what can happen when CDL license holders are not properly vetted by licensing agencies and/or employers in regard to their drug or alcohol violations when a multiple violator killed 7 motorcyclists in New Hampshire while under the influence. Comprehensive, multi-agency efforts like the FMCSA Clearinghouse are put in place to make sure the proper checks are in place to get unsafe drivers off the road, and try to reduce the likelihood another incident like the one in New Hampshire happens again.     

 

The DOT has a great powerpoint presentation that runs through some of the major points regarding the Clearinghouse that you can access here: Final Rule: Commercial Driver's License Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse

You can also access the full rule text here: Commercial Driver's Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

 

Read More

CDL questions in Massachusetts & Social Medias role in hiring drivers

The crash on route 79 in Fall River last Sunday has raised a lot of questions about how CDL licenses are obtained in Massachusetts, and how companies can go about hiring safe, qualified CDL drivers to avoid catastrophes like we saw in Fall River. The driver of the truck involved had several violations on his driving record, as well as a drug distribution charge that temporarily suspended his license in the past. Obviously, certain types of violations ought to carry more weight than others, but incidents like this crash serve to highlight issues surrounding safety policy, and the importance of taking an overall assessment of a candidate for a drivers position. 

As I discuss in the article in the Taunton Gazette last week, most companies now do background checks on potential drivers, beyond the anticipated driving record check. At Dennis K Burke, we look at a candidates 10 year driving history for any infractions that would indicate habitual unsafe driving. Its also important to check references listed on applications, for any position, but especially a CDL driver. Any gaps in employment should be evaluated as well, to ensure a gap in work history was not due to a suspension or infraction as was the case with the driver involved in the Fall River accident.

(You can Read the Story in the Taunton Gazette here - it does a really great job explaining a lot of the rules and regulations related to CDLs in Massachusetts)

A new approach we also use, in keeping up with the changing ways people share and interact now is checking social media. Generally, social media accounts are harmless, fun ways for people to stay in touch but on occassion they can raise a red flag, much the way they would for a prospective university, job, etc. Its easy to overlook social media as a valuable tool to learn more about an applicant, but I think doing so is a mistake. People live their lives online now, for better or for worse, and by skipping out on social media, you skip out on an easy avenue to get a general feel for who someone is and how they will fit with your organization. Its free, it takes 5 minutes - why not give it a shot?

Speaking of Social Media - you can follow us at @DennisKBurkeInc on Twitter, or http://www.facebook.com/DennisKBurkeInc  - We'd love to hear your feedback, comments and insights!



 

 

 

 

Read More