Lytx recently launched a Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse Service, which is designed to remove this labor-intensive regulatory burden for fleets, while delivering cost savings and protection from liability and risk.
The video telematics provider said the new service, which follows Lytx’s Unassigned Drive Time Service introduced in January, bolster’s its Compliance Services offerings, and delivers another customizable fleet solution.
The Clearinghouse service was created in response to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse Final rule, which went into effect January 6, 2020, requiring motor carriers to query the online database before hiring a driver, and once per year for existing drivers. This centralized agency database contains information on violations of FMCSA’s drug and alcohol testing program for the holders of commercial driver’s licenses.
Motor carriers that violate any of the provisions in this ruling, including accessing a driver’s record without gaining proper written consent from the driver, could be fined up to $5,833 for each violation.
“With no automated way to conduct Clearinghouse queries, fleets are struggling to manage this new and significant workload,” said Rick Walters, senior director of Lytx Compliance Services. “The Lytx Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse Service allows our clients to automate and remove the guesswork from their regulatory processes so they can avoid liability and risk, while reducing costs and freeing up valuable time that can be redirected back into their business.”
Lytx Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse Service manages this FMCSA-mandated process, conducting the required annual queries, including ensuring a driver’s consent is obtained and in the case of a violation, providing an escalation path for our clients to take required next actions. Lytx takes the process a step further, adding the resulting documentation into each driver’s qualification file. Through its Driver Qualification File Management Service, Lytx then proactively manages and conducts physical, line-by-line audits on all documentation required by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to help reduce gaps in the data that expose fleets to risk.
Lytx’s Driver Qualification File Management Service also issues proactive notifications when items become due, files become noncompliant or documentation is missing to further protect fleets. In addition to housing Clearinghouse documentation, Lytx’s Driver Qualification File Management Service helps fleets stay on top of the labor-intensive task of managing renewable and DOT-required documents with a comprehensive auditing service that stores all documents in a secure, centralized repository. Fleets can view and organize documents by company, region, or location and define specific user roles. The customizable file management system and auditing service is designed to help fleets save time and reduce risk while maintaining DOT compliance.