FMCSA postpones queries after Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse crash
FreightWaves Staff
FMCSA said it is working to correct connection issues. Credit: Jim Allen/FreightWaves
by John Gallagher, FreightWaves Washington Correspondent
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is providing temporary relief to employers who are trying to hire new truck drivers but are unable to complete required background checks in the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse.
“If you are an employer currently experiencing technical difficulties accessing the Clearinghouse and are unable to conduct required pre-employment queries, you may hire a driver using solely the procedures set forth in 49 CFR 391.23(e),” the agency states in an alert posted on the clearinghouse website. “Once FMCSA has determined and announced that users are able to access the Clearinghouse, pre-employment queries must also be conducted as required by section 382.701(a).”
Pre-employment queries became a federal requirement for carriers as of Jan. 6, when the clearinghouse opened for conducting such checks. However, the system began crashing over the past several days due to a flood of registrations and query requests.
“If the FMCSA didn’t provide this allowance, carriers would be in limbo with drivers that they couldn’t put to work until the query results were returned, potentially losing out on revenue,” said Marilyn Surber, transportation adviser for Tulsa, Oklahoma-based trucking compliance consultant Tenstreet. “They did the right thing.”
Surber cautioned, however, that while FMCSA’s query postponement means employers can temporarily hire drivers without conducting a full query, “the clearinghouse regulatory mandate is still in place, meaning that once the clearinghouse site is back up, employers still have to run a full query for all drivers hired on or after January 6, 2020.”
Although new guidance on mask wearing returns the industry to some semblance of normalcy after over a year of lockdowns and restrictions, employers should remain cautious in revising policies.
While Texans are accustomed to living life free of excessive state-level taxes, they were in for a shock when their own U.S. Senator, Republican John Cornyn, used his national platform to advocate for the establishment of a truck-only vehicle miles traveled tax.
As we discuss ways to improve the sales relationship between carrier and shipper, the term “commodity” always comes up. Most carriers feel being a commodity diminishes the services they provide. It doesn’t have to be that way.
The nation’s top trucking research group plans to update previous studies on the effects of legalized marijuana and other drugs on truck safety along with integrating 18- to 20-year-old drivers into the industry.
Throughout the entire 90-year history of trucking in the United States, excessive detention has been a scourge on the industry. An upcoming 90-minute immersive workshop will share tools and strategies to combat this issue and keep the wheels moving and profitable.
While a request for Supreme Court review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to overturn an injunction banning enforcement of California’s AB5 will almost certainly follow, at this time, motor carriers who operate in California must be prepared to act in accordance with AB5.
The word “safety” is everywhere in the trucking industry. It is talked about nearly every day in the press, Congress has zeroed in on it, and most carriers will say that it is their top priority. With all this attention, it’s easy to believe that safety has become cliché. But it’s not.
A day after Colonial Pipeline said there was light at the end of the tunnel for the line’s closure due to a cyberattack, the impact of the shutdown on the ground is being felt.
Truck drivers and fleets have two months to prepare for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) annual Operation Safe Driver Week, which is set for July 11-17. Here is what inspectors will be looking for.
