DOT pre-employment checklist: hiring a driver step by step

The checklist at a glance

Step 1: Before the application is submitted

Before the applicant hands in the application, tell them that the employment information they provide may be used, and their previous employers contacted, to investigate their safety performance history (391.21(d)).

For drivers with DOT-regulated employment in the past 3 years, you must also notify them in writing, on the application form or another written document before any hiring decision, of their rights to review the information previous employers send you, to have errors corrected and re-sent, and to have a rebuttal statement attached if they and the previous employer can't agree (391.23(i)). See what a DOT driver application must include.

Step 2: Before the driver's first trip

Completed, signed application (391.21)

The driver completes and signs an employment application on a form you provide, covering everything listed in 391.21(b). See the DOT driver application guide and template.

Basic qualifications (391.11)

Under 391.11, a driver is qualified if they are at least 21; can read and speak English well enough to talk with the public, understand road signs, respond to official questions and fill in reports; can safely operate the type of vehicle through experience or training; are physically qualified; hold one valid commercial motor vehicle operator's licence from one state; are not disqualified under 391.15; and have passed a road test or an accepted equivalent.

CDL drivers: Clearinghouse pre-employment full query (382.701(a))

Before a CDL driver performs any safety-sensitive function, run a full query of the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. A full query needs the driver's specific consent. If the driver refuses to consent, you must not let them operate a CMV (391.23(f)(2)).

CDL drivers: pre-employment drug test (382.301)

You need a verified negative controlled substances test result before the driver performs safety-sensitive functions (382.301). There is a limited exception: you may skip the test if the driver took part in a compliant testing program within the previous 30 days and, in that program, was tested within the past 6 months or was in a random testing program for the previous 12 months, and you've confirmed that no prior employer you know of has a record of a drug testing violation by the driver in the past 6 months. If you use the exception, you must obtain and keep the program information listed in 382.301(c).

Medical certification (391.23(m) and 391.43)

For non-CDL drivers, get the medical examiner's certificate (and any medical variance) and verify the examiner was on FMCSA's National Registry when it was issued, then put both in the DQ file before the driver operates a CMV. For CDL and CLP holders, use the CDLIS motor vehicle record from the current licensing state to verify and document the driver's medical certification status.

Road test, or an accepted equivalent (391.31 and 391.33)

Give a road test and issue a certificate, or accept a valid CDL (within the limits of 391.33) or a road test certificate issued within the past 3 years, and keep a copy in the DQ file.

Step 3: Within 30 days of employment starting

Motor vehicle records (391.23(a)(1) and (b))

Get a motor vehicle record covering the past 3 years from every state where the driver held a licence or permit in that period, and put it in the DQ file within 30 days of the date employment begins. If a state doesn't send a record, document your good-faith effort to get it.

Safety performance history (391.23(a)(2) and (c) to (g))

Investigate the driver's safety performance history with the DOT-regulated employers they worked for in the past 3 years. At a minimum, ask for employment verification and the accident information listed in 391.23(d), and for drivers in DOT-tested safety-sensitive jobs, the drug and alcohol information in 391.23(e).

• Previous employers must respond within 30 days of receiving your request, even if they have nothing to report (391.23(g)).
• Put the replies, or documentation of your good-faith efforts, in the driver investigation history file (391.53) within 30 days of employment starting. This file is kept separately from the DQ file.
• Since January 6, 2023, carriers subject to 382.701(a) use the Clearinghouse for the drug and alcohol part of this inquiry with FMCSA-regulated previous employers (391.23(e)(4)). Ask previous employers regulated by other DOT agencies directly.
• If the driver won't give the consent needed for previous employers to release drug and alcohol information, you must not let them operate a CMV (391.23(f)(1)).

Employment start isn't the same as first dispatch

The 30-day clock starts when employment begins, which may be before the driver's first trip. It doesn't postpone anything in Step 2.

After the hire: keep the file current

• Get a new MVR and review it at least every 12 months, and file a note with the reviewer's name and date (391.25).
• For CDL drivers, run at least one Clearinghouse query a year (382.701(b)).
• Track every medical certificate's expiry date.

See the full DQ file checklist for what the file needs and how long to keep it.

Is a PSP report required?

No. FMCSA's Pre-Employment Screening Program report is voluntary. It doesn't replace the required MVRs or the safety performance history investigation.

Running the checklist with Orange Fleet

• Applicants fill in Orange Fleet's online driver application, which moves through application review, HR approval, road test, medical and background check.
• Orange Fleet tracks the road test, medical and background check stages; you complete them with your usual providers.
• Once the driver is hired, the application becomes their DQ file, and automatic reminders go to both the driver and the fleet manager before DQ documents expire.
• Vehicle files and maintenance tracking sit in the same app.

driver hiring software, DQ file management software, see pricing.

DOT pre-employment checklist FAQ

What has to happen before a new driver's first trip?

A completed and signed application, the basic qualifications in 391.11, medical certification and a road test or accepted equivalent. CDL drivers also need a Clearinghouse pre-employment full query and a verified negative pre-employment drug test (or the documented exception) before any safety-sensitive function.

What's due within 30 days of hiring a driver?

Motor vehicle records from every state where the driver held a licence or permit in the past 3 years, and the investigation of their safety performance history with DOT-regulated employers from the past 3 years.

Do I need a pre-employment drug test if the driver was tested recently?

Possibly not. Under 382.301(b), you may skip it if the driver was in a compliant testing program in the previous 30 days and was tested in the past 6 months or was in a random program for the previous 12 months, and no prior employer you know of has a record of a violation by the driver in the past 6 months. You must obtain and keep the program information listed in 382.301(c).

What if the driver won't consent to the Clearinghouse query?

You must not let them operate a CMV (391.23(f)(2)).

What if a state or previous employer doesn't respond?

Document your good-faith efforts. Previous employers are required to respond within 30 days of receiving your request, even if they have no information to report.

Do non-CDL drivers need the drug and alcohol steps?

Not under Part 382, which applies to CDL drivers. The Part 391 steps, including the application, MVRs, road test, medical certification and safety performance history, still apply to non-CDL CMV drivers. See who needs a DQ file.

Is a PSP report required?

No. It's voluntary and doesn't replace the required MVRs or safety performance history investigation.

Does Orange Fleet run these checks?

No. Orange Fleet tracks the road test, medical and background check stages of each applicant, and the application becomes the driver's DQ file once they're hired. Your team completes the checks with your usual providers.

Hire your next driver with every step on record.

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