# Get your Clearinghouse query results through an API

> Read your Clearinghouse query results and your queries available with one API call each. Or have a workflow check the results of your limited queries each morning and email you every driver with records found who needs a full query.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/fmcsa-drug-and-alcohol-clearinghouse
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on the Clearinghouse

### Get query results

Reads the results of the queries your account ran in a date range, one row per driver, with the query type and the result the Clearinghouse returned.

- Takes: From date, to date, query type (optional)
- Returns: Driver name, CDL number, CDL state, query type, date conducted, result

### Check queries available and prohibited drivers

Reads the quick stats on your dashboard: queries conducted, queries available for use and the number of your drivers in Prohibited status.

- Takes: Nothing
- Returns: Queries conducted, queries available, drivers prohibited

### Run a query for one driver

Selects Conduct a query and runs one query for a driver, using one query from your balance.

- Takes: First name, last name, date of birth, CDL number, country, state, query type
- Returns: Driver name, query type, date conducted, result or consent status

### Report a negative return-to-duty test

Reports a driver's negative return-to-duty test result with the test details the Clearinghouse asks for.

- Takes: Driver name, date of birth, CDL number, CDL state, reason for test, test date, date reported to you
- Returns: Driver name, CDL number, test date, result, report status

## Automate the Clearinghouse with a workflow

A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

### Drivers with records found after limited queries

Starts: Every weekday at 7:00

1. Get the query results from the last day.
2. Keep the drivers whose result is anything other than Not Prohibited.
3. Email you each one with CDL number, query type and result, so a full query is run within 24 hours.

### Weekly check of queries available

Starts: Every Monday at 8:00

1. Check the dashboard for queries available and drivers prohibited.
2. Stop when queries available is above the number you set.
3. Otherwise email you the counts, so a query plan is bought before the next batch.

### Pre-employment query results to your hiring system

Starts: When your hiring system calls the workflow's webhook with a candidate's CDL details

1. Run a Pre-employment Query for the candidate with the CDL details your system sent.
2. Get the query results for that driver.
3. Post name, CDL number, consent status and result to your hiring system's webhook.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

## Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Get query results” would look like.

Example request:

```
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/get_query_results",
    "input": {
      "from_date": "2026-11-10",
      "to_date": "2026-11-11",
      "query_type": "Limited Query"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "employer": "Acme Freight LLC",
    "results": [
      {
        "driver_name": "Jordan Ellis",
        "cdl_number": "D4410027",
        "cdl_state": "OH",
        "query_type": "Limited Query",
        "date_conducted": "2026-11-10",
        "result": "Not Prohibited"
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}
```

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

## The Clearinghouse’s own options

FMCSA describes the Clearinghouse as a website where employers, C/TPAs, MROs, SAPs and drivers each sign in to their own role's dashboard. Employers run queries one driver at a time or upload a bulk file built from the site's template, and buy query plans only on the site. FMCSA's employer guidance describes no API.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bulk upload | Many limited, full, pre-employment or limited-with-consent queries in one file, processed as a batch with an email when the report is ready. | A file in the Bulk Upload Template File format (Excel accepted) and one query from your balance per driver. |
| A designated C/TPA | Queries and violation reports run by a consortium or third-party administrator on your behalf. | Designating the C/TPA in the Clearinghouse first. Only the employer can buy query plans. |
| The Clearinghouse by hand | Conduct a query, query plans, consent requests, violation and return-to-duty reports, assistants and C/TPAs. | A Login.gov account registered in the Clearinghouse for each person. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [FMCSA: Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse presentation (PDF)](https://www.isbe.net/Documents/FMCSA-Drug-Alcohol-Clearinghouse-Presentation.pdf), [CCJ: Clearinghouse annual query walk-through](https://www.ccjdigital.com/business/article/14940167/quick-dot-clearinghouse-how-to-for-fleet-managers).

## Signing in to the Clearinghouse

The Clearinghouse signs people in through Login.gov, and each person registers on their own. Login.gov's second step is the device's face or fingerprint check, an authentication app, a security key, a text message or phone call, backup codes or a government employee ID. With Fous you sign in with your own Login.gov account, and the login is sealed with AES-256 and never seen by code or AI agents.

## Worth knowing

- **A full query needs the driver's consent**: Full and pre-employment queries need the driver's electronic consent in the Clearinghouse. When a limited query finds records, the full query must be done within 24 hours or the driver comes off safety-sensitive work.
- **Only the employer buys query plans**: C/TPAs cannot buy query plans. Each query, including each driver in a bulk file, comes out of the employer's balance.
- **Bulk results arrive later**: A bulk upload is processed as a batch, not right away like a single query. An email tells you when the report can be viewed on the site.
- **Designate your C/TPA first**: A C/TPA can query or report for you only after you designate it in the Clearinghouse. An owner-operator must designate one.

## More in Government: US federal

- [BSA E-Filing System](https://fous.com/automate/bsa-e-filing-system.md)
- [FINRA Gateway](https://fous.com/automate/finra-gateway.md)
- [PostalOne](https://fous.com/automate/postalone.md)
- [USPS Business Customer Gateway](https://fous.com/automate/usps-business-customer-gateway.md)
- [Invoice Processing Platform](https://fous.com/automate/invoice-processing-platform.md)
- [Wide Area Workflow](https://fous.com/automate/wide-area-workflow.md)
- [E-Verify](https://fous.com/automate/e-verify.md)
- [EPA Central Data Exchange](https://fous.com/automate/epa-central-data-exchange.md)
- [SAM.gov](https://fous.com/automate/sam-gov.md)
- [CM/ECF](https://fous.com/automate/cm-ecf.md)
- [EFTPS](https://fous.com/automate/eftps.md)
- [FBI NICS E-Check](https://fous.com/automate/fbi-nics-e-check.md)
- [FLAG](https://fous.com/automate/flag.md)
- [HUD Secure Systems](https://fous.com/automate/hud-secure-systems.md)
- [USCIS online account](https://fous.com/automate/uscis-online-account.md)
- [IRIS Taxpayer Portal](https://fous.com/automate/iris-taxpayer-portal.md)
- [Motus](https://fous.com/automate/motus.md)
- [TRACS / iMAX](https://fous.com/automate/tracs-imax.md)
- [USPTO Patent Center](https://fous.com/automate/uspto-patent-center.md)
- [EDGAR Filer Management](https://fous.com/automate/edgar-filer-management.md)
- [COD](https://fous.com/automate/cod.md)
- [IRS e-Services](https://fous.com/automate/irs-e-services.md)
- [IRS Tax Pro Account](https://fous.com/automate/irs-tax-pro-account.md)
- [EIV](https://fous.com/automate/eiv.md)
- [USPTO Trademark Center](https://fous.com/automate/uspto-trademark-center.md)
- [SSA Business Services Online](https://fous.com/automate/ssa-business-services-online.md)
- [NetDMR](https://fous.com/automate/netdmr.md)

Other industries: [PlanetBids](/automate/planetbids), [Georgia Tax Center](/automate/georgia-tax-center), [Vestwell State Savings employer portal](/automate/vestwell-state-savings-employer-portal), [京东企业购](/automate/jd-enterprise), [Magnit VMS](/automate/magnit-vms), [340B OPAIS](/automate/340b-opais).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse have an API?

FMCSA's employer guidance describes no API. For many drivers at once it offers a bulk upload of a file in its template format, and everything else, from query plans to return-to-duty reports, is done on the site or by a designated C/TPA.

### Is Fous affiliated with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration?

No. Fous is an independent product. It builds methods that work with the Clearinghouse through your own Login.gov account, and each method does only what your account can do.

### What query types can a bulk file hold?

Four: 1 for a Limited Query, 2 for a Full Query, 3 for a Pre-employment Query and 4 for a Limited Query with Automatic Consent Request. Type 4 sends the consent request for a full query by itself when the limited query finds records.

### Can my C/TPA run the annual queries for us?

Yes, once you designate it in the Clearinghouse. The C/TPA uses queries from your balance, because only employers can buy query plans.

### What happens if a driver is not registered when I need a full query?

The driver cannot give electronic consent until they register, and each driver must register themselves. FMCSA then notifies the driver by mail at the address on the CDL, and expects that to take at least 10 days.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.