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Clearinghouse

Clearinghouse Limited Query Consent: Where Drivers Sign

By Editorial Team · Updated August 28, 2026 · 9 min read · Editorial standards

Line-art sketch of a GPS unit mounted on a truck dashboard
On this page 7 sections

You have a limited query ready to run on a driver who has been with you since last winter. The query screen is open. The signed paper you thought was in the file is not in the file. Someone “remembered” the driver agreed at orientation. That is not consent. Clearinghouse limited query consent is a record you can produce, dated before the query, covering the type of query you are about to run.

This page is only that record: limited versus full, where each consent is obtained, and how you store it so an audit does not treat a clean query as a missing-authorization finding. It is not the annual-query calendar. For who needs a yearly check and how a limited query fits that cadence, use Clearinghouse annual query. For the broader employer checklist, use FMCSA Clearinghouse requirements and consent.

Rules change. Verify current requirements at fmcsa.dot.gov before you act on anything in this guide.

Two consents, two places they are obtained

The confusion on every safety desk is the same: people say “Clearinghouse consent” as if it were one signature. It is two different authorizations, collected in two different places, for two different query types.

Limited query — general consent, outside the system. A limited query only tells you whether information exists in the driver’s Clearinghouse record. It does not show the violation, the substance, or the return-to-duty status. Because it does not release that detail, the driver can authorize it with general written or electronic consent that you collect yourself: orientation packet, e-sign tool, or a standalone form. The driver does not have to create a Clearinghouse login for that limited-query signature.

Full query — specific electronic consent, inside the system. A full query releases the underlying record. That is the pre-employment query, and it is also the query you run when a limited query says information exists. The driver must approve that query in their own Clearinghouse account. You send the request from the employer side. They log in and consent. You cannot click it for them. A paper form in your DQ file does not substitute.

Match the consent to the query. A general form does not satisfy a full query. An in-system click does not replace the general consent you must retain for limited queries. Get the pairing right and the rest is filing.

49 CFR §382.701 is why you are querying at all: employers query the Clearinghouse as part of the drug-and-alcohol program. 49 CFR §382.703 is why consent and reporting are not optional paperwork. Read the current text on those pages rather than relying on a template someone downloaded years ago.

Limited-query consent is obtained wherever you already collect hiring and annual paperwork — as long as the driver signs before you query, and you can produce the signed record.

Common, workable places:

  • Orientation or onboarding packet. A standalone limited-query consent, not buried in a 40-page handbook initial page that nobody can find later.
  • E-sign at offer or at first dispatch. Same content as paper. Timestamped. Stored where safety can pull it without asking IT.
  • A periodic recapture when you change C/TPAs, legal names, or the time window the old form covered.

What the form needs to do, in plain language:

  • Identify the driver.
  • Authorize you (the employer named on the form) to run limited Clearinghouse queries.
  • State the period the authorization covers, if you intend it to last across more than one query.
  • Be signed and dated by the driver.

FMCSA publishes sample material on the Clearinghouse site. You can use a sample or a form counsel has adapted. The sample is a starting point, not a magic shield. If your form does not actually authorize limited queries, or does not name a timeframe when you are treating it as multi-year, you will argue with an auditor about English, not about intent.

What not to do:

  • Do not treat a handbook acknowledgment as limited-query consent unless the handbook page is clearly that authorization.
  • Do not run the query and then text the driver “sign this when you get a chance.”
  • Do not assume last year’s carrier’s consent travels with the driver. You need your consent.

Owner-operators who employ themselves still need a lawful querying setup. They cannot paper over the query duty with a self-signed sticky note. Confirm current owner-operator and C/TPA practice at fmcsa.dot.gov and in the Clearinghouse registration flow.

Full-query consent is obtained in one place: the driver’s Clearinghouse account.

You initiate the query request as the employer. The driver receives the request, logs in, and grants electronic consent for that query. Until they do, the full record does not release.

That is why pre-employment stalls at orientation. The driver is sitting in a classroom and has never registered. Registration is on them. You can tell them to register early. You cannot consent for them.

When a limited query on a current employee shows that information exists, you are back in this same in-system consent. General consent got you the limited query. It does not get you the full query. You need a new electronic approval inside the Clearinghouse, then you run the full query. Until that full query is complete and shows the driver is not prohibited, treat them as not cleared for safety-sensitive work. Confirm the live escalation rule in 49 CFR §382.701 and at fmcsa.dot.gov rather than inventing a buffer.

If the driver refuses either kind of consent, you do not have a workaround. No consent, no query you are allowed to run, no safety-sensitive functions. Document the refusal. Do not “just skip it this quarter.”

Line-art sketch of a GPS unit mounted on a truck dashboard

The procedure is short. The failures are all about sequence and filing.

Decide which query you are running

What you do: Pre-employment = full query. Annual check on a current driver = usually a limited query. Limited query that returned “information exists” = escalate to a full query. Write the type down before anyone clicks.

The gotcha: Running a full query because “we always do full” without the in-system consent sitting there, or running a limited query with no general consent on file because the last full query “should cover it.” Consent types do not substitute.

What you do: For a limited query, pull the signed general consent or obtain it now, on paper or e-sign, outside the Clearinghouse. For a full query, send the electronic consent request and wait until the driver approves it in the Clearinghouse.

The gotcha: Dating the paper the day after the query. Auditors compare dates. Consent-before-query is the rule you will be asked to prove.

What you do: Log into the FMCSA Clearinghouse, run the query you have consent for, and save the result with the driver’s file. If you use a C/TPA, confirm in writing who is actually clicking and who is retaining the consent. The employer duty does not move just because a vendor has a portal.

The gotcha: Assuming the C/TPA keeps your general consent. Many keep query receipts and not the outside form. If the form lives only in an onboarding email, you will not find it during an audit.

What you do: File, together:

  • The signed general consent (limited queries), with the date range it covers.
  • Proof of electronic consent / query receipt (full queries).
  • The query result and the date you ran it.

Keep them with the drug-and-alcohol records you already retain. Confirm current retention practice in 49 CFR §382.703 and at fmcsa.dot.gov before you purge. Do not invent a house rule that is shorter than the federal record.

The gotcha: Storing consent in HR and query receipts in safety, with neither desk able to produce both. One file, one driver, both artifacts.

Re-check the form when the window ends

What you do: If your general consent was written to cover a defined period, calendar the end of that period. Obtain a new signature before the next limited query. If the form was written as a one-time authorization, do not reuse it for next year’s annual limited query.

The gotcha: A form that never states a timeframe, used for years, because “they still work here.” Write the window on the form so you are not guessing later.

For the annual cadence those limited queries serve, go back to the annual query page. This page stops at consent.

Limited-query consent does not:

  • Authorize a full query.
  • Replace pre-employment consent inside the Clearinghouse.
  • Travel from a previous employer to you.
  • Cure a refused consent.
  • Tell you whether the driver shows up, finishes loads, or is worth rehiring.

The last point is the operational limit, not a legal footnote. A driver can have a clean Clearinghouse record, a valid general consent in your file, and a history of walking off equipment. None of that behavior is a testing violation, so none of it is in the Clearinghouse. After you have the consent and the query, search the driver on CDLScan by name and read what prior carriers reported. Search on cdlscan.com does not replace the query. It covers the reliability layer the query was never designed to hold.

Frequently asked questions

What is clearinghouse limited query consent?

It is the driver’s general written or electronic authorization, collected outside the Clearinghouse, that lets you run a limited query to see whether any information exists in their record. It is not the in-system click used for a full query.

Where does the driver sign limited-query consent?

On a form you provide — paper or e-sign — in onboarding or as a standalone authorization. They do not sign it inside the Clearinghouse. You retain that form in your records.

Where does the driver grant full-query consent?

Inside their own Clearinghouse account, in response to the employer’s electronic request. A paper form on your letterhead does not unlock a full query.

Can one general consent cover more than one limited query?

It can if the form is written that way and still covers the date you query. If the form is one-time or the stated window has ended, obtain a new signature before the next limited query. Verify current practice at fmcsa.dot.gov.

What if the driver refuses to consent?

Do not run the query without consent, and do not put the driver in safety-sensitive work. Document the refusal. There is no substitute signature you can invent on their behalf.

Does annual-query consent have to be the limited-query form?

The annual check is often a limited query, which uses general consent outside the system. If you choose to run a full query instead, you need in-system electronic consent for that query. See Clearinghouse annual query for the yearly duty.

How long should we keep the signed consent?

Keep the consent with the query record for as long as the drug-and-alcohol record rules require. Confirm the current retention language in 49 CFR §382.703 before you destroy anything.

Does a consented Clearinghouse query tell us if the driver is reliable?

No. It answers whether a federal drug-or-alcohol program record exists, and on a full query, what that record contains. For how the person actually worked, read prior-carrier comments on CDLScan.