90% of drivers seeking jobs fail to register in Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (with video)

Only one month in, FMCSA’s drug test database has recorded over 3,000 positive tests

Jeremy Reymer, founder of DriverReach, said that 90% of truck drivers applying for jobs have not registered in the drug and alcohol clearinghouse, a step that is required for driver looking for a job. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
[vimeo-autoplay video-id="390558872"]

Despite calls urging truck drivers to register in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA’s) Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse database, over 90% of drivers applying for jobs have not done so, said Jeremy Reymer, founder and CEO of DriverReach, a recruiting and compliance management company.

 Reymer told attendees at the Katz, Sapper & Miller 2020 Trucking Owners and Leaders Roundtable on Feb. 4 in Indianapolis that more than 3,000 failed drug and alcohol test results have been recorded in the database in the first 30 days of operation. The site went live Jan. 6.

“That is good news because now we are aware of them and previously they were going undetected,” he said.

While drivers are not required to register, carriers can be put in a tough spot where they are not allowed to pressure drivers to register, but without drivers registering and providing consent, carriers may not be able to meet legal requirements. Reymer noted that a carrier must do a “limited query” of its drivers in the database at least once a year. A limited query will only tell the carrier that a driver has something in their file. To get the full results, a full query must be conducted, and that requires the driver’s consent.

The flip side is that even though drivers are not required to register, carriers are unable to hire one until they provide full consent for a query, which can only be accomplished by registering.

To continue reading this article...

Already have an account? Sign In

Create a Free Account

No payment required

By signing up with your email, you will receive newsletters, special offers, and occasional third-party promotions from FreightWaves.com and its family of brands.

    Need Help? Contact Us

    19 Comments

    1. Tax Slave

      Anything to create more homeless. I started driving comercial in 1975, true glory days of trucking, then Ronny Raygun came in and deregulated freight rates, then he hired Elizabeth Dole, as secretary of the D.O.T – Department of Transportation. Before Dole came on board there was no reciprocal of information between states, meaning no sharing ticket information. if you where licensed in calli, and got a ticket in kentucky, the ticket stayed in kentucky. never made it back to your home state. more importantly, you could have a drivers license in as many states you could come up with an address. At one time I had 13 License’s. Once you received to many tickets on a license no big deal pay the tickets, trash the license. Info never made it to your home state, or your employer or insurance company. There was no law against this. A Greek Philosopher once said, the more laws, the more corrupt the state. America, no more corrupt than 2020.

    2. Mark Chauffepied

      I have already stop driving. 33 yrs of experience and I am being scrutinized on the presumption that I have to subject myself to more alcohol and drug testing. To many rules, and the Federal Govt and and backers of this Clearinghouse crap wonder why there is a driver shortage?. Oxymoron thinking. Simply put you can go to hell!

      1. Richard Page

        I 40 years in. I’m throwing in the towel. I couldn’t agree more. Anyone remember Jason’s law. Requiring each state to provide more truck parking. I have seen nothing of the sort. I’ve seen more states closing parking.

    3. Mike

      This is another attempt to discriminate CDL drivers… what difference does it make if a CDL driver is under 100% of control when the 4 wheeler is drunk, unqualified and under the influence of drugs… if he or she hits my steering wheel I am in a incident as well.
      Yet we are forced to give our consent to 100% surveillance… video in the cab, drug test at any time, elog…. “in the land of the free” LMFAO
      If this continues I will stop driving “get your stuff with a bysicle”

    4. Brian Gray

      90% of drivers aren’t registered because they are owner-operators. The FMCSA are telling these guys they don’t have to register until January 5, 2021. Once again, government making it difficult to comply with their rules.

    5. Will Bradford

      More regulations to take more money from the truckers. Meanwhile, those that want to use drugs still do. I know several that are mocking this as they have found loopholes to get around it. They even beat random drug test. Myself, I get called in frequently because the carrier knows I am clean. I have never done drugs but it cost me more in this legal garbage. I would love to know how much kick back this jerk that thought of this is getting? We need to shut down, but their are very few of us O/O’s

    Comments are closed.

    Brian Straight

    Brian Straight leads FreightWaves' Modern Shipper brand as Managing Editor. A journalism graduate of the University of Rhode Island, he has covered everything from a presidential election, to professional sports and Little League baseball, and for more than 10 years has covered trucking and logistics. Before joining FreightWaves, he was previously responsible for the editorial quality and production of Fleet Owner magazine and fleetowner.com. Brian lives in Connecticut with his wife and two kids and spends his time coaching his son’s baseball team, golfing with his daughter, and pursuing his never-ending quest to become a professional bowler. You can reach him at bstraight@freightwaves.com.