49 C.F.R. § 383.73
(a) Commercial Learner's Permit. Prior to issuing a CLP to a person, a State must:
(b) Initial CDL. Prior to issuing a CDL to a person, a State must:
(3) Initiate and complete a check of the applicant's driving record to ensure that the person is not subject to any disqualification under § 383.51, or any license disqualification under State law, and does not have a driver's license from more than one State or jurisdiction. The record check must include, but is not limited to, the following:
(iii) A check with the Problem Driver Pointer System (PDPS) to determine whether the driver applicant has:
(c) License transfers. Prior to issuing a CDL to a person who has a CDL from another State, a State must:
(4) If such applicant wishes to retain a hazardous materials endorsement, require compliance with standards for such endorsement specified in §§ 383.71(b)(8) and 383.141 and ensure that the driver has, within the 2 years preceding the transfer, either:
(d) License Renewals. Prior to renewing any CDL a State must:
(e) License upgrades. Prior to issuing an upgrade of a CDL, a State must:
(f) Non-domiciled CLP and CDL.
(2) State procedures for the issuance of a non-domiciled CLP and CDL, for any modifications thereto, and for notifications to the Commercial Driver's License Information System must at a minimum be identical to those pertaining to any other CLP or CDL, except as set forth in paragraphs (f)(2)(i) through (iv) and (f)(3) of this section.
(ii) Applicants domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction.
(g) Social Security Number verification.
(k) Drivers convicted of fraud related to the testing and issuance of a CLP or CDL.
(m) Document verification. Except as provided in paragraphs (m)(1) and (2) of this section, the State must require at least two persons within the driver licensing agency to participate substantively in the processing and verification of the documents involved in the licensing process for initial issuance, renewal or upgrade of a CLP or non-domiciled CLP and for initial issuance, renewal, upgrade or transfer of a CDL or non-domiciled CDL. The documents being processed and verified must include, at a minimum, those provided by the applicant to prove lawful immigration status and (if applicable) domicile, the information filled out on the application form, and knowledge and skills test scores. This section does not require two people to process or verify each document involved in the licensing process.
(2) Document verification and retention for applicants domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction. States must verify evidence of lawful immigration status for applicants domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction before initial issuance and before any subsequent issuance (which includes amending, correcting, reprinting, reinstating, or otherwise duplicating a previously issued CLP or CDL), transfer, renewal, or upgrade of a non-domiciled CLP or CDL.
(n) Computer system controls. The State must establish computer system controls that will:
(2) Suspend the issuance process whenever State, CDLIS, and/or PDPS driver record checks return suspect results. The State must demonstrate that it has a system to detect and prevent fraud when a driver record check returns suspect results. At a minimum, the system must ensure that:
(o) Medical recordkeeping—(1)(i) Status of CLP or CDL holder. Before June 23, 2025, for each operator of a commercial motor vehicle required to have a CLP or CDL, the current licensing State must:
(B) Post the information from the medical examiner's certificate within 10 calendar days to the CDLIS driver record, including:
(1) Medical examiner's name;
(2) Medical examiner's telephone number;
(3) Date of medical examiner's certificate issuance;
(4) Medical examiner's license number and the State that issued it;
(5) Medical examiner's National Registry identification number;
(6) The indicator of medical certification status, i.e., “certified” or “not-certified”;
(7) Expiration date of the medical examiner's certificate;
(8) Existence of any medical variance on the medical examiner's certificate, such as an exemption, SPE certification, or grandfather provisions;
(9) Any restrictions (e.g., corrective lenses, hearing aid, required to have possession of an exemption letter or SPE certificate while on-duty, etc.); and
(10) Date the medical examiner's certificate information was posted to the CDLIS driver record; and
(C) Post the medical variance information within 10 calendar days to the CDLIS driver record, including:
(1) Date of medical variance issuance; and
(2) Expiration date of medical variance;
(ii) Status of CLP or CDL holder. On or after June 23, 2025, for each operator of a commercial motor vehicle required to have a CLP or CDL, the current licensing State must:
(B) Post the information from the medical examiner's certificate received from FMCSA to the CDLIS driver record, including:
(1) Medical examiner's name;
(2) Medical examiner's telephone number;
(3) Date of medical examiner's certificate issuance;
(4) Medical examiner's license number and the State that issued it;
(5) Medical examiner's National Registry identification number;
(6) The indicator of medical certification status, i.e., “certified” or “not-certified”;
(7) Expiration date of the medical examiner's certificate;
(8) Existence of any medical variance on the medical examiner's certificate, such as an exemption, Skill Performance Evaluation (SPE) certification, or grandfather provisions;
(9) Any restrictions (e.g., corrective lenses, hearing aid, required to have possession of an exemption letter or SPE certificate while on-duty, etc.); and
(10) Date the medical examiner's certificate information was posted to the CDLIS driver record;
(C) Post the medical variance information received from FMCSA within 1 business day to the CDLIS driver record, including:
(1) Date of medical variance issuance; and
(2) Expiration date of medical variance;
(2) Status update.
(3) Variance update.
(4) Downgrade.
(i) If a driver's medical certification or medical variance expires, or FMCSA notifies the State that a medical certification was invalidated or voided or a medical variance was removed or rescinded, the State must:
(A) (1) Before June 23, 2025, notify the CLP or CDL holder of his/her CLP or CDL “not-certified” medical certification status and that the CDL privileges will be removed from the CLP or CDL unless the driver submits a current medical examiner's certificate and/or medical variance, or changes his/her self-certification to driving only in excepted or intrastate commerce (if permitted by the State).
(2) On or after June 23, 2025, notify the CLP or CDL holder of his/her CLP or CDL “not-certified” medical certification status and that the CDL privileges will be removed from the CLP or CDL unless the driver has been medically examined and certified in accordance with 49 CFR 391.43 as physically qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle by a medical examiner, as defined in 49 CFR 390.5, or the driver changes his/her self-certification to driving only in excepted or intrastate commerce (if permitted by the State).
(q) Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. Beginning November 18, 2024, the State must, upon receiving notification that pursuant to § 382.501(a) of this chapter the CLP or CDL holder is prohibited from operating a commercial motor vehicle, initiate established State procedures for downgrading the CLP or CDL. The downgrade must be completed and recorded on the CDLIS driver record within 60 days of the State's receipt of such notification. As used in this paragraph, the term “downgrade” means the State's removal of the CLP or CDL privilege from the driver's license, as set forth in paragraph (4) the definition of CDL downgrade in § 383.5.
(3) Reinstatement after Clearinghouse error correction. If, after the State completes and records the downgrade on the CDLIS driver record, FMCSA notifies the State that the driver was erroneously identified as prohibited from operating a commercial motor vehicle, the State shall:
(ii) Expunge from the CDLIS driver record and, if applicable, the motor vehicle record, as defined in § 390.5T of this chapter, any reference related to the driver's erroneous prohibited status.
Editorial Note:For Federal Register citations affecting § 383.73, see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding Aids section of the printed volume and at www.govinfo.gov.
[76 FR 26883, May 9, 2011]