A query is an electronic check-in the Clearinghouse, conducted by an employer or their designated C/TPA, to determine if current or prospective employees are prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions, such as operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), due to unresolved drug and alcohol program violations.
Queries in the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse (DACH) are conducted by employers or their designated Consortium/Third Party Administrators (C/TPA). Full queries are required for new driver applicants being hired by the company. The limited query is used for the required annual query of all drivers.
For the limited query the employer must obtain a paper consent. This is obtained outside the Clearinghouse. Employers may obtain a multi-year general consent from the driver for limited queries. A sample limited consent form from CleainghouseServices.com is available. CleainghouseServices.com is a private company dedicated to providing assistance to all Clearinghouse users.
An employer must be registered in the FMCSA Clearinghouse and have purchased a Query Plan in order to run a query. A driver must be registered in the FMCSA Clearinghouse in order to provide electronic consent for a full query.
In order to run queries, the employer must purchase a query plan. The cost of queries are $1.25 each, only the employer can purchase the query plan. These are the only fees charged for use of the Clearinghouse. These query plans must be purchased direct from the FMCSA Clearinghouse.
Follow the steps provided below to conduct a Query
- To conduct a query, you must log in to your DACH account.
- Go to My Dashboard at the top of the page
- Go to the Queries column
- Then to Conduct a Query. If you are C/TPA conducting a query on behalf of an employer, you will need choose the employer prior to beginning the steps below.
- Enter the drivers information, first and last name as spelled on the license, date of birth, the CDL or Driver License number (this includes all number and any letters but no dashes and no spaces), and the Country and State the license is issued in
- Click on Verify Driver Information
- Once the driver information is verified, click next
- Select the type of Query you are conducting. If you are conducting a Limited Query you will need to certify that you have the driver’s general consent to conduct the query. If you are conducting a Pre-employment Query you will need select Full Query and then select Yes that this is a Full Query being conducted as part of a pre-employment screening.
- Click Next
- Click on Send Consent Request
For a full query once you send the consent request your query will be performed when the driver provides the consent. If the driver does not provide consent the driver is not allowed to operate in a FMCSA covered position. For new drivers coming onboard your company, they cannot drive until you get back a clear record on the query.
Queries can also be conducted with a bulk upload file when you have many drivers to query. These bulk orders are placed into batches. These batches are processed each night, between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. ET., in order to avoid overloading the system during peak user hours.
Need Help Navigating the Clearinghouse?If you need any help navigating the FMCSA Clearinghouse, help is available from a private company – CleainghouseServices.com. Assistance is available for both employer and drivers.
