CDL owner-operators

FMCSA Clearinghouse registration for owner operators, step by step

The FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is the federal database of CDL drivers' drug and alcohol violations. Employers must check it before a driver starts and every year after. As an owner-operator with a CDL, you're the employer and the driver, so you register in both roles. Non-CDL drivers, like many 26 ft box truck and hotshot drivers, aren't part of it.

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Before you start

What to have ready before you register

Your USDOT number and company details exactly as FMCSA has them
Your CDL number and the state that issued it
An email address you'll keep for years, for Login.gov
A phone that can receive security codes
A payment card to buy your query plan
The name of your consortium, if you've already joined one

Set aside time when you're parked, not between loads. Identity checks and account setup can take a while the first time, and it's easier on a laptop than a phone.

Registration

Register in the Clearinghouse: six steps, one merged lane

Work through the six steps and tick each one off. Every finished step merges its lane into the road on the right. The descriptions say what each screen asks for, in plain words.

Registration zones

0/6 lanes merged

1. Create a Login.gov accountThe Clearinghouse uses Login.gov for sign-in and identity checks. Use an email you'll keep.
2. Register as an employerRegister your company with your USDOT number. As an owner-operator, choose the option for an employer who is also a driver.
3. Register as a driverConnect your CDL to the same account, so you can give consent to queries on yourself.
4. Buy a query planQueries are bought in plans before you run them. One driver needs very few a year.
5. Designate your C/TPAName your consortium as your C/TPA, so it can report and query for you.
6. Run your pre-employment full queryQuery yourself, give consent from your driver role, and keep the result on file before your first load.

Tick each step as you finish it.

Order matters. You can't designate a C/TPA until you've joined a consortium, and you can't run your pre-employment full query until you're registered as a driver and can give consent. If you haven't chosen a consortium yet, start there: DOT drug testing consortium.

Drivers register at clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov through a Login.gov account and connect their CDL, and log in to give electronic consent for full queries. Keep the same Login.gov email for both roles so you're not juggling two accounts.

Once everything is set up, the yearly routine is short: renew your query plan if it runs low, run the yearly limited query on yourself, and check that your consortium is still listed as your C/TPA. Put a reminder in your calendar a month before the anniversary of your first query.

Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse registration process, as described July 2026, October 2026

Queries

Clearinghouse queries for an owner operator, explained

Full query

Releases any violation information on the driver. Needs the driver's specific consent, given inside the Clearinghouse. An employer must run a pre-employment full query of the Clearinghouse, with the driver's specific consent, before a driver performs safety-sensitive functions.

Limited query

Only shows whether information exists, without releasing it. Needs a general written consent, which can cover more than one year. Used for the yearly check.

Employers must query the Clearinghouse at least once a year for every driver they employ; a limited query, with a general consent that can cover more than one year, meets this requirement.
If a limited query shows the driver has information in the Clearinghouse, the employer must run a full query within 24 hours or take the driver off safety-sensitive duty until it's done.
Cost: $1.25 per query, limited or full, bought in query plans. A one-truck carrier needs very few.

Source: 49 CFR 382.701(b), October 2026

Source: FMCSA Clearinghouse query pricing, as reported July 2026 (heavyvehicleinspection.com); confirm in the Clearinghouse before buying, October 2026

Dual role

Why an owner-operator registers as employer and driver

The Clearinghouse is built around two parties: employers, who query and report, and drivers, who consent and can see their own records. A carrier with employed drivers is one party, the drivers are another.

An owner-operator is both. Your company has to run the pre-employment and yearly queries, and you as a driver have to consent to them. That's why you register as an employer who is also a driver, and then connect your CDL so the same person can act on both sides.

If someone else handles your paperwork, such as an office manager, the Clearinghouse lets an employer add assistants who can act for the company. Your consortium, once designated as your C/TPA, can also run queries and report for you. You stay responsible for compliance either way.

C/TPA

Why a C/TPA helps a one-truck carrier

Without a C/TPA, you run every query yourself, remember the yearly deadline, and report any violation on your own. With one, the consortium that already runs your random pool can handle the Clearinghouse work too, so testing, queries and records sit in one place.

An employer may use a service agent such as a C/TPA to make random selections, and its drivers may be part of a larger random pool. For an owner-operator on the road most days, that's less to keep track of between loads.

Source: 49 CFR 382.305(j), October 2026

Common snags

Where owner operator registration usually gets stuck

Two accounts by mistake. Registering the company and yourself under different Login.gov emails splits your roles. Use one account and add the driver role to it.

CDL details that don't match. The CDL number and state must match your license exactly, or the driver profile won't connect.

No query plan. You can't run a query without buying a plan first, which catches people out right before a first load.

Consent not given. A full query waits until the driver logs in and consents. As an owner-operator, that driver is you: log in as the driver after requesting the query as the employer.

Skipping it

What happens if you don't register

Without a pre-employment full query, a CDL driver can't legally start driving for your company, and that includes you. Missing yearly queries and an unregistered company tend to show up in a compliance review, along with the rest of your testing program.

It also slows business. Brokers setting you up as a new carrier may ask about your testing program, and a consortium will want your Clearinghouse designation in place. An hour of setup now avoids a stalled first week.

Records

Clearinghouse records to keep on file

The signed general consent for limited queries, kept while it's in effect
A record of each pre-employment full query and its result
A record of each yearly query, by driver and date
Your C/TPA designation and consortium enrollment certificate

Query records sit alongside your testing records, which have their own retention periods. For example: 5 years: alcohol results of 0.02 or greater, verified positive drug results, refusals, driver evaluations and referrals, calibration records, program administration records and annual summaries. Keep copies of queries and consents for at least as long, so an auditor can see every driver was checked before driving and every year after.

Source: 49 CFR 382.401(b)(1), October 2026

More on what's required: owner-operator drug testing requirements and DOT drug test cost.

Adding drivers

When you add a driver

Hiring a CDL driver, or bringing on a second truck, means the same steps for that driver from your employer account: their consent, a pre-employment full query before their first load, enrollment in your random pool and a yearly query after that. The driver registers with their own Login.gov account to give consent; you never use theirs.

Then, loads

Registered and queried? Let's find your first load

With your Clearinghouse registration, C/TPA and pre-employment query done, you're ready to haul. Our dispatch desk works with new authorities on every truck from 26 ft box trucks to step decks. Nothing is booked until you say yes, and the broker sends the rate con straight to you. See new authority dispatch and how it works.

Clearinghouse registration: straight answers

Q01How often do I need to run a query?

Run a full query before any driver, including yourself, first drives for your company, and then at least one query a year for every driver you employ. A limited query meets the yearly requirement. If a limited query shows the driver has information in the Clearinghouse, you must run a full query within 24 hours.

Q02Do owner-operators need to register in the Clearinghouse?

Yes, if you drive a truck that needs a CDL under your own authority. You register twice in effect: as an employer, because your company must query and report, and as a driver, so you can consent to queries on yourself. Non-CDL drivers, such as many 26 ft box truck and hotshot drivers, aren't part of the Clearinghouse.

Q03How much does a Clearinghouse query cost?

Queries are bought in plans before you run them. As of October 2026, the reported price is $1.25 per query, limited or full, bought in query plans, the same for limited and full queries. A one-truck owner-operator needs only a few queries a year. Check the current price in the Clearinghouse before buying.

Q04What is a C/TPA and do I need one?

A consortium/third-party administrator runs the testing program for small carriers and can be designated in the Clearinghouse to report violations and run queries for you. An owner-operator needs to be in a random pool of two or more drivers, which in practice means joining a consortium, so most owner-operators designate that consortium as their C/TPA.

Compliant. Registered. Ready for loads.

Apply in about 2 minutes. Every load is your call.

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