Five Steps to get Started

1. Register for the Clearinghouse

   Click this link to register for the Clearinghouse.
   https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/

   Call now

2. Designate your SAP

   Click this link for instructions on how to choose Nichelle Chandler as your SAP.
   https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/Resource/Index/Designate-SAP

   You must be registered yourself before you can designate anyone, and you search using the exact name the SAP is registered under. Once a SAP accepts your request you cannot switch to a different one, so speak to us first.

3. Make your payment

   Go to the ‘Payments’ tab on this website to make your payment. It’s only $250 to get started: $250 for your initial evaluation, and $350 for your follow-up when you get there. Need to be seen today? Call and ask about our same-day SAP services.

4. Get Microsoft Teams

   Appointments are conducted virtually over Microsoft Teams, so it does not matter which state you are in. It is free. Pick your device:

   iPhone or iPadApp Store AndroidGoogle Play Windows or MacMicrosoft download

   Joining by phone or tablet? The app is required — Teams meetings can’t be joined from a phone’s web browser. On a computer you can use the app or join in Chrome or Edge. Test your camera and microphone before your appointment. No Microsoft account needed: tap the meeting link and choose Join as guest.

5. Schedule your appointment

   Call 214-901-7079 to schedule your appointment. Same-day appointments are often available Monday to Friday, and you are guaranteed an appointment within 5 days.

   Once you are booked, we email you a confirmation with a private link to your forms — the driver intake form and short questionnaires. Complete them before your appointment.

What happens after you book

The return-to-duty process is set out in 49 CFR Part 40, Subpart O. A driver with a verified drug and alcohol program violation is prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions until that process is complete. The steps must be completed in order.

Once you are booked, the process works like this:

1. Evaluation

   You meet with one of our DFW SAP substance abuse professionals for an evaluation, usually conducted virtually over Microsoft Teams, so there is no office to travel to and we can work with you anywhere in the U.S. (In-person evaluations are available by appointment in Dallas if you prefer.) The evaluation itself usually takes less than 2 hours. Before we can record anything for you, you must have designated us as your SAP in the Clearinghouse and we must have accepted that request.

2. Determination

   The DFW SAP substance abuse professional determines if you need assistance with the alcohol misuse or illegal drug problem. The substance abuse professional is required to provide appropriate documentation to the DER who is your company’s designated employer representative to the DOT. We report the date this initial assessment was completed to the Clearinghouse by the close of the next business day.

3. Education or treatment referral

   The DFW SAP substance abuse professional will refer you to the appropriate education or treatment services based upon the needs identified in your evaluation. At a minimum, the substance abuse professional may recommend drug education. If necessary, you will receive a referral to two facilities that provide the drug classes or drug treatment you are required to complete.

4. Return to duty evaluation

   The DFW SAP substance abuse professional will conduct a follow-up evaluation to determine if you have complied with the recommendations for drug treatment or drug education that you were given when you were initially evaluated. If you have, we report the date you were determined eligible for return-to-duty testing — again by the close of the next business day.

5. Follow-up testing

   Last, the DFW SAP substance abuse professional will establish a follow-up testing regimen. The substance abuse professional may recommend drug and alcohol testing for those employees who have poly-substance abuse problems. You are required to complete at least six tests in the first year upon your return to safety sensitive duty on your job. Substance abuse professionals may recommend continuation of testing up to sixty months. Substance abuse professionals may also recommend a “continuing care” regimen (aftercare, meeting with a 12-Step sponsor, 12-Step meetings, etc).

After your follow-up evaluation

Being found eligible for return-to-duty testing is not the end of the process. Your current employer — or, if you are an owner-operator, your designated C/TPA — must send you for the return-to-duty test. You are no longer prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions once that test comes back negative and your Clearinghouse status moves from Prohibited to Not Prohibited.

Any employer you work for during the prescribed period must then carry out the follow-up testing plan we set. The employer reports the negative return-to-duty test result and, in time, the date the follow-up testing plan was completed. We do not report either of those, and we do not upload the testing plan itself — it is not held in the Clearinghouse.

A violation record stays in the Clearinghouse for five years from the date of the violation determination, or until the follow-up testing plan is successfully completed, whichever is later.