• When the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse launched, many users ran into some technical glitches.
• Though many bugs have been fixed, some problems remain, and they may require action from your drivers.

Many of the problems in requesting queries, entering data, or creating a driver’s personal Clearinghouse account revolve around the commercial driver’s license (CDL) number, since that’s how drivers are identified and tied to their Clearinghouse records.

The license number that a driver, motor carrier, or medical review officer enters into the system must be an exact match with the number on file at the driver licensing agency where the driver is licensed.

If there’s a mismatch, the system will not work as intended. For example, you may enter a driver’s CDL number to conduct a new-hire query, only to discover later that the driver never received notice of your request. This can cause both delays and frustration.

There are steps you or your drivers can take to fix the problem, depending on the reason for the mismatch.

The CDL number being entered incorrectly

This is the most common problem. If the CDL number has special characters such as spaces, dashes, or leading zeros, first try entering the CDL number without these characters. If that doesn’t work, try adding them. There is no uniform standard among the states, unfortunately, so it may take several tries to get the right match.

A broken link (pointer) in the national driver database

A broken “pointer” can result when a driver obtains a new license in a different state and that state’s licensing agency fails to connect (point) the driver’s new license to the existing driving record. A pointer can remain broken for years until someone discovers it.

With a broken pointer, even if a driver’s license number is entered properly in the Clearinghouse, the FMCSA will be unable to make the connection to the driver’s record. The FMCSA does not get involved in fixing broken pointers; it’s left up to the states. If a driver calls their state driver licensing agency to figure out what’s wrong, however, the state may not see any obvious problem and blame it on the Clearinghouse.

A broken pointer can be tough to diagnose and correct. If you or a driver suspects a broken pointer, the driver should be persistent in contacting the driver licensing agency and making sure the broken pointer gets fixed.

Drivers should first ‘verify’ their CDLs

The best place to start diagnosing a problem is in the driver’s personal Clearinghouse account, making sure the Clearinghouse has “verified” the driver’s CDL. If it hasn’t, there will be a message on the driver’s online dashboard, possibly indicating a broken pointer or a problem with the way the CDL information was entered.

Once the CDL is verified, the driver’s employer(s) — when running a query — should enter the CDL information exactly the same way the driver did.

If you confirm that a driver’s CDL has been verified but the driver still doesn’t see a pending consent request from your company, try canceling the request and submitting a new one, entering the CDL information exactly as the driver did.