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What is a Clearinghouse violation?
A Clearinghouse violation is any drug-or-alcohol event reported to the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse under 49 CFR Part 382, Subpart G. The reportable events include positive drug tests, alcohol tests at 0.04 BAC or higher, refusals to test, and on-duty drug or alcohol use. Once reported, the driver is "prohibited" from safety-sensitive functions until they complete the §382.503 return-to-duty (RTD) process.
The Clearinghouse rule (49 CFR Part 382, Subpart G) lists the specific reportable events at §382.705. The reporting trigger is any event that puts a CDL driver in violation of the §382 drug-and-alcohol testing program: a verified positive drug test (controlled substances on the §40.85 panel), a confirmed alcohol test at 0.04 BAC or higher, a refusal to test (including adulterated or substituted samples), a reported observed use of alcohol within 4 hours of safety-sensitive function, and an actual-knowledge report of drug use by the employer.
Once a violation is reported, the driver's Clearinghouse status flips to "prohibited" and the FMCSA portal flags it on every subsequent query. A prohibited driver may not perform any §382.107 safety-sensitive function (driving, fueling, pre-trip, etc.) until they complete the §382.503 return-to-duty process: a substance-abuse-professional (SAP) evaluation, the recommended education or treatment, a follow-up SAP evaluation that authorizes RTD, and a directly-observed return-to-duty test administered by the new employer.
For a hiring carrier, the §382.701(a) pre-employment full query is the discovery point. If the query returns "prohibited," the carrier may not allow the driver to perform safety-sensitive functions and must document the result in the §391.51 DQ file. The driver remains prohibited regardless of which carrier they apply to next - Clearinghouse status is national, not employer-specific.
After RTD, the driver's Clearinghouse record retains the underlying violation until the driver completes RTD and follow-up testing or 5 years from the violation determination, whichever is later (§382.719(a)). The status flips from "prohibited" to "not prohibited" once RTD is documented in the Clearinghouse, but the violation history stays visible to any pre-employment full query until every §382.719(a) condition is met: the SAP report, a negative return-to-duty test, all follow-up tests completed, and 5 years since the violation determination. So it can stay longer than 5 years.