Commercial Driver Onboarding Checklist Template

What the Commercial Driver Onboarding Checklist Covers

1. 1
   Phase 1 — Before Hire

   Phase 1: Application and Consent

   5 tasks

   Part 391 starts with paperwork the driver completes and signs. Give the application and the notices before the driver fills it in, and collect the consents the later checks depend on. The answers on the first task decide which tasks appear.

   • Set up the driver onboarding run — the driver, the vehicle they will drive, any DOT-regulated work in the last 3 years, hazardous materials, the orientation start date and the four people; later tasks are assigned from these fields
   • Give the driver the application and the written notices — your employment application form, the notice that previous employers will be contacted to investigate their safety performance history, and written notice of their rights to review, correct and rebut what those employers send
   • Check the completed application against 49 CFR 391.21 — every item is filled in and the driver has signed the certification at the end; send back anything incomplete before you rely on it
   • Check the driver meets the general qualifications — at least 21 years old, reads and speaks English well enough for the job, can safely operate the vehicle by experience or training, holds one valid CDL from one state, and is not disqualified
   • Collect the driver’s written consent for previous employers — specific written consent for each previous employer to release the driver’s drug and alcohol history to you; a driver who refuses must not operate a commercial motor vehicle for you
2. 2
   Phase 2 — Before Hire

   Phase 2: Driving Record and Employment History

   7 tasks

   Check the license and driving record first, because a driver without the right CDL class or endorsements cannot be used at all. Then ask the previous employers. The motor vehicle records and the employer replies, or proof of your good-faith efforts, must be on file within 30 days of the start date.

   • Request the motor vehicle record from every state that licensed the driver — each state where the driver held a license or permit in the last 3 years, covering 3 years of driving; from the current licensing state, get the CDLIS motor vehicle record
   • Verify the CDL on the CDLIS record — the class, endorsements and restrictions fit the vehicle and loads you will assign, the license is current and not disqualified, the driver holds only one, and the type of operation the driver self-certified is recorded
   • Review the driving record against your hiring standard — accidents and convictions in the last 3 years, giving great weight to speeding, reckless driving and driving under the influence, which show a disregard for public safety
   • Request the safety performance history from previous DOT-regulated employers — employment verification and accidents from every employer that had the driver operate a CMV in the last 3 years, with a written record of each contact
   • Request drug and alcohol history from employers regulated by another DOT agency — the Clearinghouse holds only FMCSA records, so ask each FAA, FRA, FTA, PHMSA or USCG-regulated employer from the last 3 years directly, with the driver’s written consent
   • Record that no previous employer investigation was possible — a dated note in the driver investigation history file that the driver had no DOT-regulated employment in the last 3 years
   • File every record and reply within 30 days of the start date — the motor vehicle records in the DQ file, and each previous employer reply or your documented good-faith efforts in the driver investigation history file
3. 3
   Phase 3 — Before Any Safety-Sensitive Work

   Phase 3: Drug and Alcohol Clearance

   6 tasks

   Two results must be in hand before the driver performs any safety-sensitive function, which includes inspecting, loading and waiting to be dispatched as well as driving: a Clearinghouse full query with no prohibition and a verified negative pre-employment drug test.

   • Give the driver your drug and alcohol policy materials — the educational materials on Part 382 and your own policies, with the person who answers questions about them, and a signed certificate that the driver received them
   • Get the driver’s consent for the Clearinghouse full query — the driver’s written or electronic consent to the query, then their electronic consent given through the Clearinghouse itself before it releases their record to you
   • Run the Clearinghouse pre-employment full query — a full query, which tells you whether the driver has a positive, adulterated or substituted drug test, an alcohol test of 0.04 or higher, a refusal or a reported violation, and whether return-to-duty is complete
   • Send the driver for the pre-employment drug test — a DOT controlled substances test under 49 CFR Part 40 at a collection site, plus an alcohol test only if your policy tests every new driver
   • Receive the verified result from the medical review officer — the driver cannot perform any safety-sensitive function until you have received a verified negative result from the MRO or your consortium or third-party administrator
   • Record the drug and alcohol outcome — cleared only when the Clearinghouse query shows no prohibition, the pre-employment test is a verified negative and no previous employer reported a violation without completed return-to-duty
4. 4
   Phase 4 — If a Violation Is Found

   Phase 4: If a Violation Is Found

   4 tasks

   Applies only when the drug and alcohol outcome records a violation; otherwise its tasks stay hidden. The driver must not perform any safety-sensitive function until the return-to-duty process in 49 CFR Part 40, subpart O, is complete, and you are not required to hire them once it is.

   • Keep the driver away from every safety-sensitive function — no driving, inspecting, loading, waiting to be dispatched or riding in the vehicle on duty, and tell dispatch and the trainer today
   • Give the driver a list of substance abuse professionals — names, addresses and phone numbers of SAPs readily available to the driver and acceptable to you, free of charge, including when the driver is only an applicant
   • Decide whether to continue with the hire — withdraw the offer, or continue once the driver has completed the SAP process and a negative return-to-duty test
   • Confirm return-to-duty is complete before any safety-sensitive work — the SAP’s report of successful compliance, a negative return-to-duty test and the follow-up testing plan, all shown in a new Clearinghouse full query
5. 5
   Phase 5 — Before Driving

   Phase 5: Medical Certification and Road Test

   4 tasks

   The driver must be medically certified and have passed a road test, or shown an accepted equivalent, before driving for you. The road test tasks appear only when you give the test yourself.

   • Verify the medical certification on the CDLIS record — a valid medical certification and any medical variance, shown on the CDLIS motor vehicle record from the current licensing state, before the driver operates a CMV
   • Decide on the road test or an accepted equivalent — give a road test in the vehicle you will assign, or accept a valid CDL earned with a road test in that type of vehicle, or a road test certificate issued in the last 3 years
   • Give the road test in the vehicle you will assign — by a person competent to judge the driver, long enough to judge their skill, covering the eight operations in 49 CFR 391.31(c), each rated on your road test form
   • Issue the certificate of road test — in substantially the form in 49 CFR 391.31(f), signed by the examiner; give the driver a copy and keep the signed form and the certificate in the DQ file
6. 6
   Phase 6 — If Hazmat

   Phase 6: If Hauling Hazardous Materials

   3 tasks

   Applies only when the driver will haul hazardous materials that require placards; otherwise its tasks stay hidden. The driver needs the H endorsement before the first hazmat load, and hazmat training within 90 days of starting, working under direct supervision until it is done.

   • Confirm the hazardous materials (H) endorsement — the H endorsement is on the CDLIS record, and its expiry date is recorded so it can be renewed in time
   • Give the driver hazmat training — general awareness, function-specific, safety and security awareness training, within 90 days of the start date, with direct supervision by a trained hazmat employee until it is complete
   • Record the hazmat training and set the recurrent date — the driver’s name, the date of the most recent training, the training materials used, the trainer’s name and address and a certification that the driver was trained and tested; recurrent training is due at least every 3 years
7. 7
   Phase 7 — Orientation

   Phase 7: Hours of Service, ELD and Inspections

   7 tasks

   Orientation starts on the anchor date. It covers the rules the driver is checked against at roadside: hours of service, the ELD and its information packet, the pre-trip inspection and the driver vehicle inspection report.

   • Get the driver’s signed statement of the last 7 days on duty — the total time on duty in the 7 days before they start with you and the time they were last relieved from duty
   • Train the driver on the hours-of-service limits that apply — the driving limit, the on-duty window, the 30-minute break where it applies and the 60- or 70-hour limit, with your own scheduling rules
   • Create the driver’s ELD account — on an ELD listed on FMCSA’s registered ELD list, with the driver’s name as on the license, the license number and issuing state, and a unique username that is not the license or Social Security number
   • Train the driver on the ELD and its information packet — logging in, recording duty status, sending records to an officer and what to do when the ELD malfunctions; the packet in the cab holds both instruction sheets and blank duty-status grids for at least 8 days
   • Train the driver on the pre-trip inspection and the inspection report — check the parts in 49 CFR 392.7 before driving, review and sign the last inspection report, and at the end of each day write a signed report of any defect found on each vehicle driven
   • Walk the driver through company policies and their reporting duties — your safety and accident procedures, and the driver’s duty to tell you of a license suspension by the end of the next business day and of any traffic conviction within 30 days
   • Enroll the driver in the random testing pool — every covered driver must be in the random pool, where each driver has an equal chance of selection every time and tests are unannounced
8. 8
   Phase 8 — First Trip

   Phase 8: Supervised First Trip and Sign-Off

   8 tasks

   A trainer rides along on the first trip before the safety manager signs the driver off for unsupervised work. Nothing after that sign-off can be completed until it is given.

   • Confirm every requirement for driving is in the file — the signed application, consent, a clear Clearinghouse query, a verified negative test, medical certification, the road test or equivalent, and a CDL that fits the job
   • Plan the supervised first trip — a route, load and vehicle typical of the work the driver will do, and the trainer who rides along
   • Ride along on the first trip — the trainer watches the pre-trip inspection, ELD use, driving, any coupling, delivery and the end-of-day inspection report
   • Debrief the driver and recommend a decision — what went well, what needs practice and the trainer’s recommendation to the safety manager
   • Safety manager signs the driver off for unsupervised trips — the DQ file, the drug and alcohol clearance and the first trip together; nothing after this can be completed until the decision is recorded
   • Release the driver to dispatch — add the driver to the dispatch schedule with any conditions from the sign-off
   • Set the renewal dates for this driver — the medical certification expiry, the annual motor vehicle record inquiry and review, the annual Clearinghouse query and the CDL expiry
   • Close the onboarding file — the DQ file holds everything 49 CFR 391.51(b) lists, and it is kept for as long as the driver works for you and three years after