FMCSA Clearinghouse: pre-employment, annual, and limited queries
If your last Clearinghouse audit went badly, you are not alone. The FMCSA has issued more Clearinghouse-related violations in 2025–2026 than every other DQF item combined. This guide explains the three query types and what each one requires.
Pre-employment (full) query
Required before any CDL driver can perform safety-sensitive functions for your company. Requires the driver's specific consent (signed in the Clearinghouse portal, not a paper form) and returns all DOT drug & alcohol violations from the past five years.
If the query returns a violation that has not been resolved (driver has not completed return-to-duty), the driver is prohibited from operating a CMV.
Annual query
Required every 12 months for every CDL driver you employ. Most carriers run the annual query as a limited query (only checks if there is information in the Clearinghouse, doesn't return details). If the limited query returns a hit, you must obtain consent and run a full query within 24 hours.
A missed annual query is a Critical violation in an audit — even if the driver had no actual violations.
Limited query
Only tells you whether the Clearinghouse has information about the driver. Requires the driver's general consent (collected once, valid for the duration of employment). Used for annual queries by carriers who don't want to run full queries on every driver every year.
A limited query takes seconds; a full query takes minutes. Cost: limited queries are $1.25, full queries are $1.25 — same price as of 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between full and limited Clearinghouse queries?
A full query returns all violations in detail and requires specific (per-query) consent. A limited query only tells you if there is information and uses a general consent collected once.
Do owner-operators need to be in the Clearinghouse?
Yes. Owner-operators acting as both employer and driver must register as both and conduct their own pre-employment and annual queries — including using a consortium/third-party administrator (C/TPA).
How much does Clearinghouse cost?
$1.25 per query (full or limited) in 2026. Bulk packages are available for fleets at slightly lower per-query rates.
Run your own numbers
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