Do we need to verify an owner-operator’s participation in a consortium?

No. Future employers are not responsible to verify an applicant’s participation in a consortium if they were a for-hire owner-operator. If the applicant was noncompliant under their independent authority (i.e., did not enroll in a consortium), it will have no bearing on a new employer’s program. Only the owner-operator would be held responsible by FMCSA for noncompliance under their DOT number.

Instead, the new employer must perform a CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse preemployment query, since any violations occurring since January 6, 2020, would have been reported to the database by the consortium for the owner-operator.

As a best practice, some prospective or new employers ask owner-operators to sign a specific written consent allowing them to ask the driver’s former consortium to respond to questions about violations, especially those occurring prior to January 6, 2020.