Guidance on Maintaining Employer Records

Q&A

What records should employers maintain in a driver qualification file to meet the requirements of section § 382.701(e)?

Guidance:

As of January 6, 2020, employers are required to conduct both electronic queries in the Clearinghouse and traditional manual inquiries with previous employers to meet the three-year timeframe required by 49 CFR § 391.23. This will be required until January 6, 2023, at which point a query of the Clearinghouse will satisfy this requirement.

The Clearinghouse retains a record of every query an employer conducts. This includes any queries conducted by a designated consortium/third-party administrator (C/TPA) on their behalf. Employers may choose to maintain separate copies in addition to these Clearinghouse records.