The DQ file proves the driver was qualified under Part 391. Drug and alcohol testing records prove the Part 382 program ran. Those records are confidential, use different retention clocks (often one year for negatives, five years for positives and refusals), and should live in a restricted program file. Put a dated pointer in the DQ packet (pre-employment negative on file; Clearinghouse query complete) so an auditor can request the program file without every dispatcher seeing test results.
Why two cabinets
Test results are medical-privacy sensitive. A qualification packet that gets photocopied for a customer or left on a dispatch counter is the wrong place for them. Auditors know this and will ask for the program file separately if you are organized. If you are not, they will find results in the wrong pile and still cite the missing 391 items.
What the DQ packet should show
- Pre-employment drug test completed with a process that blocked dispatch until a negative, when Part 382 applies.
- Clearinghouse full query before CDL hire, with consent evidence.
- Annual limited-query due date for employed CDL drivers.
- A pointer: “program file held by [role], not in this packet.”
What stays in the program file
- Custody-and-control forms and laboratory results.
- Random pool lists and selection notices.
- Reasonable-suspicion and post-accident documentation.
- SAP referrals, return-to-duty, and follow-up testing plans.
- Clearinghouse violation detail beyond the query-complete stamp.
Retention snapshot (verify current 40/382)
A common working map is one year for negative and cancelled tests, five years for positives, refusals, and SAP records, and two years for some calibration and collection records. Do not apply the 391 three-year-after-employment rule to this cabinet. Do not apply the five-year positive clock to MVRs.
FAQ
Can the safety officer access both files?
Usually yes, that is the designated program role. Customer service, payroll, and other drivers should not. Limit logins and lock the drawer.
Does a Canadian alcohol policy replace Part 382?
No. A Canadian carrier policy is not the FMCSA Clearinghouse or Part 382 program. Cross-border CDL work needs the US program where those rules apply, plus whatever the provincial program requires at home.
Related guides
When you are ready for software
Editorial links to the TruckerPro product site (separate intent from these guides):
- Point DQ packets at Clearinghouse dates, not lab PDFs (truckerpro.ca)
- Clearinghouse obligation tracking (product) (truckerpro.ca)
Related reading on truckerpro.ca
Deeper regulatory articles and the software side of the same job, on our product site:
- Clearinghouse query tracking (truckerpro.ca)
Keeping annual and pre-employment queries evidenced against each driver. - Canada’s drug and alcohol Clearinghouse equivalent (truckerpro.ca)
What Canadian carriers use where US carriers query the FMCSA Clearinghouse. - Driver file management in a TMS (truckerpro.ca)
Expiry tracking, audit packets and version history without the binder. - Surviving a new-entrant safety audit (truckerpro.ca)
What an auditor asks a new carrier for, and the order they ask for it in.
Ready to digitize driver files?
TruckerPro tracks licences, medicals, abstracts/MVRs, and expiries for US and Canadian fleets — free company signup, free demo on request.