What screening packages do you offer?

Five packages spanning the full DOT pre-hire stack. (1) MVR Basic — $40, single Motor Vehicle Record, best for non-CDL drivers and §391.25 annual reviews. (2) MVR + CDLIS — $60, adds the AAMVA cross-state CDL check required at every CDL hire under §391.23. (3) DOT Hire-Ready — $80, adds FMCSA PSP (5-yr crash + 3-yr inspection history) for candidate vetting before formal hire. (4) DOT Pre-Employment — $100, the full pre-hire stack: MVR + CDLIS + PSP + FMCSA Clearinghouse pre-employment query (mandatory under §382.701(a) before a CDL driver's first dispatch). (5) Annual Refresh — $60, MVR + Clearinghouse limited annual query for §382.701(b) recurring compliance.

How much does a single MVR cost?

A single MVR is $40 flat (MVR Basic package). No per-state surcharges, no sign-up fees, no monthly minimums. Same-day digital delivery from the issuing-state DMV.

Which package do I need before hiring a CDL driver?

DOT Pre-Employment ($100). FMCSA requires four reports before a CDL driver's first dispatch — MVR (§391.23), CDLIS (§391.23(a)(1)), PSP, and a Clearinghouse pre-employment query (§382.701(a)) — and DOT Pre-Employment bundles all four. Buying anything cheaper means you still need the missing pieces before the driver can legally operate.

What is the difference between DOT Hire-Ready and DOT Pre-Employment?

DOT Hire-Ready ($80) gives you MVR + CDLIS + PSP — three reports you can pull without driver Clearinghouse consent. It's the candidate-vetting step. DOT Pre-Employment ($100) adds the FMCSA Clearinghouse pre-employment query, which requires the driver to e-sign a consent through the FMCSA Clearinghouse portal. The Clearinghouse query is the report you legally need before a CDL driver's first dispatch.

How does Annual Refresh work?

Annual Refresh ($60) bundles a yearly MVR (for §391.25 driver record review) with a Clearinghouse limited annual query (for §382.701(b) recurring compliance). Run it on every CDL driver every 12 months and your annual driver-side compliance is done in one click. It's a one-time charge, not a subscription — buy it again next year when the driver's anniversary rolls around.

How quickly will I get the report?

MVR, CDLIS, and PSP come back in minutes. The FMCSA Clearinghouse query lands within 1 business day after the driver e-signs consent in the Clearinghouse portal — that's the FMCSA system's response time, not ours. We email each report the moment it's delivered.

What information is on an MVR?

A Motor Vehicle Record lists the driver's license status, class and endorsements, expiration, restrictions, accidents, citations, suspensions, withdrawals, and any actions taken against the license over the FMCSA-required look-back period. It is the document you keep in the DQ File for §391.25 annual reviews.

What does the FMCSA Clearinghouse query show?

The pre-employment Clearinghouse query (limited consent) returns whether the driver has any unresolved drug or alcohol program violations on file in the FMCSA Clearinghouse — the federal database every CDL employer must check before hiring. The driver e-signs consent in their FMCSA Clearinghouse account and the query lands within 1 business day. Annual Refresh uses the same limited-consent query for the §382.701(b) recurring check.

What is PSP and why include it?

PSP — the FMCSA Pre-Employment Screening Program — is a federally-maintained database of every commercial driver's 5-year crash history and 3-year roadside-inspection history. It catches patterns (repeated HOS violations, brake-system failures, OOS orders) that a clean MVR would never surface. Both DOT Hire-Ready and DOT Pre-Employment include it.

Do I need the driver's consent before pulling these reports?

Yes — different consents for different reports. MVR + CDLIS need a written DPPA + FCRA driver authorization (our checkout collects this). PSP needs a written FMCSA-form consent (also collected at checkout). The FMCSA Clearinghouse query uses a digital handshake — the driver creates a Clearinghouse account at clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov and approves your query in their portal. Packages that include any Clearinghouse component require this digital consent before we run the report.

What if the driver's license is from a state your service does not cover?

We cover all 50 states + D.C. Some states (e.g., Pennsylvania, Washington) require an extra step the system handles automatically. You see one package price — no per-state surcharges — regardless of issuing state.

What is the Driver Qualification (DQ) File?

A DQ File is the federally-required folder of documents every motor carrier must keep on each commercial driver they employ. It includes the application, MVRs, road test, medical card, drug-test records, and supervisor reviews. 49 CFR §391.51 spells out the contents.

What does the $25 DQ File template add-on include?

The same DQ File our compliance team uses internally to onboard drivers, packaged as a fillable PDF + editable Word doc. Includes the application for employment, road-test certificate, MVR review form, drug & alcohol consent, prior-employer verification, annual review checklist, and the driver certification of violations. Fill in the gaps for each driver and you have an audit-ready §391.51 file in minutes — without rebuilding the form from scratch every time.

Is the DQ File template a one-time purchase or per-driver?

One-time. You buy it once, save it, and reuse the template for every driver you onboard. We email a fillable PDF and an editable Word doc the moment your order completes.

Who needs to pull MVRs and run CDLIS checks?

Every motor carrier that employs commercial drivers - both CDL and most non-CDL commercial drivers. FMCSA requires an MVR before hiring (49 CFR §391.23) and an annual review (49 CFR §391.25). CDLIS is required for CDL holders under §391.23(a)(1).

Are the reports admissible for FMCSA audits?

Yes. We pull from the same state DMV, AAMVA CDLIS, FMCSA PSP, and FMCSA Clearinghouse sources used by enterprise screening services. The PDFs we deliver carry the issuing-source header and timestamp FMCSA auditors expect to see in the DQ File.

Can I run an MVR on a driver who is not yet hired?

Yes - that is the most common use case. A pre-hire MVR is required by §391.23 before the first day of operation. As long as you have the driver's signed consent, you can run the report.

What is the §382.701(a) Clearinghouse pre-employment query rule?

Since January 6, 2020, FMCSA requires every motor carrier to run a Clearinghouse pre-employment query on each CDL driver before that driver's first dispatch (49 CFR §382.701(a)). The query checks the federal Clearinghouse database for any unresolved drug or alcohol program violations on the driver's record. Operating a CDL driver without the query on file is a documented violation — the DOT Pre-Employment package handles it.

What is the §382.701(b) annual Clearinghouse query?

In addition to the pre-employment query, FMCSA requires every motor carrier to run a limited-consent Clearinghouse query on each CDL driver every 12 months (49 CFR §382.701(b)). The Annual Refresh package bundles this with the §391.25 annual MVR review so a year's worth of recurring driver compliance happens in one click.

MVR & CDLIS for Freight Brokers

Freight brokers and 3PLs increasingly carry liability for the drivers their carriers put behind the wheel. A clean carrier MC number with a satisfactory SAFER score doesn't tell you whether the specific driver hauling your high-value or hazmat load has a recent suspension on file. FastDriverScreening sells an MVR + CDLIS pull on the actual driver — with their consent — for $60 flat, or the DOT Hire-Ready package (MVR + CDLIS + FMCSA PSP, the federal 5-year crash and 3-year inspection history) for $80, which is the strongest negligent-selection record a broker can put in the file. MVR Basic is $40, and the DQ File template is $25 more if your contract requires it.

Negligent-selection liability is moving toward brokers

The trend in plaintiff trucking litigation is clear: when an over-the-road accident happens, plaintiff's counsel sues the carrier, the driver, the shipper, and the broker. Federal preemption arguments under FAAAA have softened in several circuits, and brokers can no longer count on being dismissed early. The defensible posture is documentation: showing a court that you vetted the carrier's authority and insurance, that you made reasonable inquiry into the carrier's safety history, and — for high-value or sensitive freight — that you confirmed the actual driver's license was current and clean.

MVR + CDLIS is the cleanest single document available for that last piece. It is not required by FMCSA for brokers, but it is the document plaintiff's counsel will subpoena, and the broker who has it on file is the broker who walks away early.

Driver consent is the gating step

A broker pulling an MVR on a carrier's driver needs the driver's signed consent. This is non-negotiable under DPPA (18 USC §2721) and FCRA. Most brokers handle this one of two ways: they include an MVR-consent clause in the carrier-onboarding packet that the driver signs alongside a W-9 and certificate of insurance, or they request the consent on a per-load basis for sensitive freight. The consent form is short — driver name, license number, state of issue, signature, date — and lives in the broker's file alongside the rate confirmation and BOL.

Without consent, the broker has no DPPA permissible purpose and the pull is not lawful. With consent, it's a standard $60 transaction (or $80 if you want PSP layered on for the negligent-selection file).

What an MVR + CDLIS shows you about a hired driver

The MVR returns the driver's current license status, class and endorsements, accidents, citations, suspensions, and any administrative actions in the past three to seven years (depending on state). CDLIS layers on top of that by surfacing every state the driver has ever held a CDL. For brokered freight, the value is in the multi-state pattern: a driver with current Texas CDL plus surrendered Arkansas and Tennessee CDLs may be perfectly fine, but if one of those out-of-state records shows a recent suspension, it's worth a conversation before the load goes out.

Confirms the CDL listed on the rate confirmation is real, current, and unrestricted
Surfaces out-of-state CDL history the carrier may not have disclosed
Shows endorsements (HazMat, Tanker, Doubles/Triples) for sensitive cargo
Documents the broker's reasonable-inquiry steps for negligent-selection defense

Where MVR fits in the broker workflow

For most brokered freight, MVR pulls are not part of every load. They're triggered by category: high-value cargo above a contracted dollar threshold, hazmat loads, white-glove or tradeshow freight where a single driver works the whole route, or new carriers within their first dozen loads. The pay-per-pull model fits that triggered-vetting workflow — a broker doesn't need a subscription to a carrier compliance platform to occasionally pull an MVR; they need the ability to pull one in fifteen minutes when the situation calls for it.

Vet the driver behind the load, not just the SAFER score

Negligent-selection liability is moving toward brokers

Driver consent is the gating step

What an MVR + CDLIS shows you about a hired driver

Where MVR fits in the broker workflow

Broker pricing