How to run a Clearinghouse query, step by step

49 CFR 382.701 · Updated September 2026

The FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse is a federal database of CDL drivers' drug-and-alcohol program violations. If you employ even one CDL driver, you're required to check it twice over: a full query before the driver's first dispatch, and a query on every CDL driver at least once every 12 months after that. The annual one is the item small fleets forget most — it takes minutes, costs $1.25, and skipping it is a violation an auditor finds in one screen.

The two kinds of query

Full query — shows the driver's actual record. Required pre-employment. The driver must log into the Clearinghouse themselves and consent electronically before results release.
Limited query — only tells you whether a record exists. This satisfies the annual requirement, and consent is simpler: a signed general consent form you keep in the driver's file (one form can cover all future limited queries). If a limited query comes back "record exists," you must run a full query within 24 hours.

Running one, start to finish

Register your company at the Clearinghouse site (clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov) using your USDOT number. You'll need a login.gov account.
Buy a query plan. Flat rate of $1.25 per query, limited or full — buy a small bundle sized to your driver count. If a limited query leads to a full query on the same driver, you're only charged once.
Get consent. For annual limited queries, have each CDL driver sign a general consent form once and file it. For pre-employment full queries, the driver consents electronically inside the Clearinghouse.
Run the query and save the result. Screenshot or download the confirmation showing the date — the query only counts in an audit if you can produce proof it happened.

Why auditors care so much

Missing pre-employment queries and missing annual queries are both cited constantly in new-entrant audits, and using a driver with a prohibited Clearinghouse status is the kind of violation that can end a new authority. The rule exists to stop a driver who failed a test at one company from quietly driving for another — so enforcement treats it as a big deal, even at a two-truck fleet.

One more thing while you're in there: the same 12-month clock applies to the driver's motor vehicle record and annual review — most fleets run all three together, once a year, per driver.

AxleFile tracks the 12-month clock on every CDL driver's query. You get nagged before it lapses, and the saved confirmation files itself in the right place for the audit. Join the early-access waitlist →

General information, not legal advice. Clearinghouse fees and procedures are set by FMCSA and can change.