Inside Simplex 4th Edition

WHAT ACTIONS MUST USERS
TAKE IN THE CLEARINGHOUSE?
1. Record – drivers’ drug and alcohol
violations and other information related in
the clearinghouse
2. Consent – authorization to conduct Query
• Requested by employers or C/TPA’s
• Approved or refused by Drivers
3. Query – Determine of the Clearinghouse
contains any records for the queried driver
WHAT IS A QUERY?
There are two types of queries motor carriers
must make:
1. Full queries must be done for all
pre-employment drug tests. When a query is ran,
the information returned by the clearinghouse
will show any violation of the drug-testing
regulations found in Part 382, as well as
return-to-duty status once driver has completed
a follow-up program.
2. Limited queries are done at a minimum, once
a year on each driver contracted or employed by
a carrier. It will only let you know if there is a
record for the driver. If something comes back,
the carrier will then need to run a Full Query for
that specific driver to obtain information on the
violation.
A driver’s permission is required for all full
queries, thus requiring them to register for the
clearinghouse as well. All companies must run a
query on every driver hired, to avoid penalties
with the FMCSA.
Simplex is committed to seeing that our clients
are complying with all regulations and also that
they are enrolled in Clearinghouse. We currently
have a minority of our clients enrolled in the
Clearinghouse, as CTPA we have reported
violations such as refusal and return to duty for
our drivers that are in a substance abuse
program. So far in 6 month there have been
25,168 of drug violations and 593 BAT violations
reported to the Clearinghouse (Figure 1). Our
MRO has reported at least 89 positive drivers
since this new rule was implemented and our
enrolled clients have run queries for their new
employees. As part of the drug testing team I
encourage all our client service representatives
to follow-up with your clients to ensure they are
enrolled in the clearinghouse.
VIOLATIONS
Total
Drug
Actual knowledge of drug violation
841
Monthly Trend
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
134
Drug test refusal
3,550
610
Positive drug test
20,777
3,843
Total
25,168
4,587
Alcohol
Actual knowledge of an alcohol violation
89
14
Alcohol test refusal
142
25
Concentration of 0.04 or greater
362
68
Total
593
107
Grand Total
25,761
4,694
Figure 1. National statistics form Clearinghouse portal
Now that we know more about the
clearinghouse, it is our opportunity to pass
along our knowledge to our clients to maintain
our mission and vision to keep on trucking,
while ensuring compliance.
LESLY ISCOA
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
PROGRAM SUPERVISOR
JULY 2020 11