Keep up with FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse regulations or get help, now!

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers and owner/operators requiring a commercial driver’s license (CDL) for work, think use of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is voluntary or on-hold. It’s not.

 The Clearinghouse has been up and running since Jan. 6, 2020, and participation by employers of CDL drivers and owner-operators is mandatory. Non-compliance with Federal Motor Carrier drug testing regulations may result in fines up to $10,000 per occurrence and the potential for an out-of-service order.

Keeping up with all Clearinghouse requirements as well as the many other FMCSA drug testing regulations and Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations makes ensuring compliance increasingly challenging. Even carriers and owner operators working with a consortium / third party administrator (C/TPA) find it difficult as they continue to struggle coordinating efforts. 

But it doesn’t have to be. 

Not all C/TPAs are created equal

A good C/TPA should make your job easier by managing all the moving parts required by the FMCSA while you manage your main job. At InOut Labs, we gained a number of new clients because their former consortium manager did not manage all the necessary steps to take the stress and worry out of their hands. 

As a full-service C/TPA, we add value because we specialize in both testing and compliance. We provide complete turnkey compliance systems consisting of comprehensive testing packages including random consortium pooling, supervisor & driver education, record keeping materials and more. 

InOut Labs makes clients’ jobs easier by:

  • Streamlining the random selection process and test result delivery with our secure, industry leading web platform
  • Providing real-time test result management. Our state-of-the-art system is completely automated. Results are input straight from the medical review office, eliminating traditional manual input which takes time and leaves room for error.
  • Conducting employee drug and alcohol testing solutions – including new hire screening — tailored to each client’s specific needs, through our nationwide network of more than 18,000 clinics.
  • Storing completed drug and alcohol test results
  • Sending alert notifications if there’s an issue with a file.
  • Providing medical review officer (MRO) services, with four full-time MROs and 12 MRO assistants 

 Compliance is an act of Congress

The FMCSA Clearinghouse, a secure online federal database that centralizes all alcohol and drug violations by driver CDL numbers, enables employers to quickly identify drivers in violation of federal requirements, before they are hired. The FMCSA Clearinghouse was mandated by Congress in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.

According to the latest report covering usage through July 30, 2020:

  • 130,475 employers registered
  • 42,348 owner-operators registered
  • 29,862 drug violations were reported
  • 684 alcohol violations were reported

Motor carriers, independent owner-operators, medical review officers, consortium /third party administrators (C/TPA), and substance abuse professionals must all report the following information as it pertains to commercial vehicle drivers who:

  • Test positive for drugs or alcohol
  • Refuse drug and alcohol testing
  • Go through the return to duty drug and alcohol rehab process 

If you are a carrier or owner/operator and you haven’t registered in the FMCSA Clearinghouse, we recommend you do so immediately. It is NOT optional. Employers using a C/TPA to to help manage their Clearinghouse requirements, such as InOut Labs*, must declare so when they register.

Check out why InOut Labs should be your C/TPA of choice.

If you have any questions about how to register or change C/TPA providers, give us a call. We make testing painless: 833.723.7997 

* In order for InOut Labs to conduct the queries as your C/TPA, you first must:

  • Register in the FMCSA Clearinghouse and select InOut Labs as your C/TPA, and
  • Purchase enough queries to enable current and future searches.
  • Provide us with driver CDL numbers and state of issuance for identification. Queries can only be conducted using the CDL # and state of issuance. 
  • Have a signed general consent form from each driver in order to allow annual queries. Consent forms must be kept on file by the employer.