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.

What is a driver qualification file service?

A driver qualification (DQ) file service helps motor carriers maintain compliance with FMCSA 49 CFR Part 391 by creating, managing, and auditing the driver documentation every motor carrier must keep on file — driver application for employment, Motor Vehicle Records, medical examiner certificates, road-test certificates, drug and alcohol records, prior-employer safety-performance history, and annual driver reviews. Most DQ services offer secure electronic, audit-ready storage and automated tracking of expiring documents (CDL, DOT medical card, MVR review, driver list of violations) so a carrier passes a new-entrant safety audit, compliance review, or roadside DQ-file request without scrambling. FastDriverScreening provides the report-generation side (MVR, CDLIS, PSP, FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse) plus a $25 fillable §391.51 DQ-file template (PDF + editable Word) reused for every driver — the carrier still owns the DQ file but the screening reports and template come from us.

What documents does FMCSA require in a DQ file?

Under 49 CFR §391.51, every motor carrier must keep a DQ file on each commercial driver containing: the driver application for employment (§391.21), a Motor Vehicle Record from every state where the driver held a license in the past 3 years (§391.23), the road-test certificate or equivalent (§391.31), the annual MVR review (§391.25), the driver's list of violations from the prior 12 months (§391.27), the current medical examiner's certificate or CDL with medical certification (§391.43), and prior-employer safety-performance history covering the past 3 years (§391.23). For CDL drivers, FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse pre-employment and annual queries (§382.701) join the file. Files must be retained for the duration of employment plus 3 years; certain components (drug-test results, MVRs) follow longer retention under §391.53. FastDriverScreening's $25 DQ-file template covers every required form.

How do I run a DOT background check on a driver?

A complete DOT pre-employment background check requires four reports under FMCSA Part 391 + Part 382: a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) from the state DMV (49 CFR §391.23), an AAMVA CDLIS cross-state CDL check that surfaces any license held in another state in the past 3 years (§391.23(a)(1)), an FMCSA Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) report covering the driver's 5-year crash history and 3-year roadside-inspection history, and an FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse pre-employment query (§382.701(a)) that flags any unresolved drug or alcohol program violation in the federal database. The MVR, CDLIS, and PSP need written DPPA + FCRA driver consent collected at checkout; the Clearinghouse query uses a digital handshake the driver approves in their FMCSA Clearinghouse account. FastDriverScreening's DOT Pre-Employment package ($100) bundles all four with same-day delivery — running them piecemeal costs more.