Starting November 18, a new rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will mandate state driver licensing agencies to downgrade the commercial driver licenses (CDLs) of truck drivers who fail drug or alcohol tests. This change is a part of the FMCSA’s updated Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse II regulation, aiming to prevent drivers with violations from operating until they complete the necessary return-to-duty process.
According to Bryan Price, the chief of FMCSA’s drug and alcohol programs division, “With this rule beginning in November, we’re going to feed all those CDL numbers down to the DMVs, and the DMVs are required by this new federal rule to downgrade that driver’s license at the state level.”
The Clearinghouse, implemented by Congress on January 6, 2020, focuses on preventing drivers from job-hopping after failing substance tests. It requires employers to check the Clearinghouse database for any drug or alcohol violations before allowing current or potential employees to drive commercial vehicles.
Under the new Clearinghouse II rule, state agencies must record any CDL downgrade on the Commercial Driver’s License Information System driver record within 60 days of notification. This ensures that approximately 177,000 drivers currently in prohibited status cannot legally drive until they complete the return-to-duty process.
Price commented on the importance of this update, stating, “When the state DMV downgrades the license, we think that if the driver’s company has insurance and runs an MVR [motor vehicle record] check and sees this guy’s license is no good, it’s going to go a long way toward helping us get more of these drivers off the road until they do the return-to-duty process.”
To return to duty, drivers must engage a certified substance abuse professional for evaluation, complete prescribed education or treatment programs, pass a return-to-duty test, and undergo follow-up testing.
The Clearinghouse currently registers around 5 million drivers and nearly 500,000 employers. Price noted that Texas leads with 14,000 drivers in prohibited status but has proactively downgraded 7,000 of those CDLs.
FMCSA will carry out annual program reviews to ensure state compliance with these new requirements, with potential funding consequences for non-compliance. Price added, “There are consequences for the states, up to potential funding ramifications if they don’t comply. We haven’t heard from any state so far that said, ‘We’re not doing this.’”
Source: Transport Topics
