Answer

What is the FMCSA Clearinghouse for?

The FMCSA established the Clearinghouse rule to require mandatory use of the Clearinghouse for employers to report and collect information about a driver’s drug and alcohol history and violations. The Clearinghouse will contain violations per the FMCSA regulations, including any positive drug or alcohol test results and test refusals. The database provides real-time access, helping employers identify drivers who aren’t legally permitted to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), thus further protecting their company by filtering out employees who could pose a dangerous risk.

As of last year, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture no longer distributes stickers or window hangs, instead a paper permit must be kept in the vehicle at all times.

DOT Compliance related

What is FMCSA compliance?

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration holds motor carriers and drivers responsible for meeting safety standards and regulations. Carriers can find their data stored on FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS), which they use to track the number, severity, and date of safety violations, as well as crash and inspection data. Data is derived from unsafe driving, crash indicator, Hours of Service (HOS) compliance, vehicle maintenance, controlled substances/alcohol, hazardous materials compliance, and driver fitness. The FMCSA makes available a compliance manual to help companies operating CMVs comply. The FMCSA Compliance Manual can be downloaded here.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA), each vehicle should carry a log to track Spotted Lanternfly inspection or control measure activities and must keep those records for two years.

The following are examples of logs that you can use:

Form Example A

Form Example B

Form Example C