• Former employers must comply with DOT recordkeeping requirements to answer questions from prospective employers.
• Former employers must provide copies of DOT testing records when requested.
• Release of the testing history and records requires consent from the driver.

Previous employers must provide the responses to the questions asked or copies of DOT testing records requested by prospective employers after receiving the driver’s consent to release it.

Requests from non-FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) DOT employers to former FMCSA employers may include records of DOT testing violations. Non-FMCSA employers do not have acess to the CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.

Requests from FMCSA employers to non-FMCSA DOT employers are covered under 40.25. Even though the former DOT-regulated employer is not subject to the FMCSA inquiry in 382.413, it is obligated to respond to three years’ worth of history because the driver signed a specific written consent.

If you are the recipient of a request for a driver’s FMCSA testing history from another motor carrier, and it includes the driver’s specific written consent for release, any response is voluntary since the inquiry is a best practice on the part of the prospective employer.

Employers that receive requests for DOT testing history on current or former employees must keep records of those requests and the responses. Specifically, employers must keep the following for one year:

• A record of each request received from prospective employers; and
• A record of any response that was sent, including:
  • The date,
  • The party to whom it was released, and
  • A summary identifying what was provided.

This demonstrates Department of Transportation (DOT) compliance if the former employer’s recordkeeping comes into question or if the driver wishes to contest the information presented to the new or prospective employer.