The path back to driving, in plain words

The Clearinghouse says you can't drive. Here's the exact path back.

You failed or refused a DOT drug or alcohol test, so the Clearinghouse put you in 'prohibited' status — you cannot drive a CDL job until the return-to-duty process is finished. The dashboard shows your status — it doesn't give next steps, costs, deadlines, reinstatement steps, or hiring help. This page gives all five, starting with a free checker.

Where am I? — free checker See the whole path

Free checker. No upload, no login, nothing filed for you. We are not a SAP and we don't do evaluations. We will never ask for your Clearinghouse login.

The free stage checker

Where am I in the process?

FMCSA counts 210,007 drivers in prohibited status as of February 1, 2026 — and 79.5% had not started the return-to-duty process (FMCSA). Most are not refusing. They don't know the first step, what it costs, or whether a lost job ends it. Answer seven plain questions; get your stage, your exact next step, a priced range, and a never-do list fitted to your branch.

No upload. No login. Nothing leaves this page. Answer in plain words; the checker names your stage in FMCSA's own stage language, translated, then gives your exact next step, what it typically costs, and realistic timing. We will never ask for your Clearinghouse login.

Why this site exists

Every other voice in this maze is selling you one step of it

SAP offices sell the evaluation

Their guides end at buying a $399–$600 evaluation. Useful — but the evaluation is step 2 of 6, and nobody there prices the other five steps or helps you get hired at the end.

Step services sell single steps

$149.95 to submit one test. $134.95 to enroll in follow-up. $498 just for registration help. Each fee is real; none of them is a map.

Scammers sell a shortcut that doesn't exist

Fake 'SAPs' in Facebook groups charged 600–1,000 drivers $100–$350 each to 'clear' records. FMCSA warned about it in January 2026. There is no shortcut — there is a path, and it is on this page.

The path, in six steps

From prohibited to driving again

  1. Choose and designate your SAP — your employer must hand you a free SAP list; you pick, you designate in the Clearinghouse, and after a SAP accepts you cannot switch.
  2. The SAP evaluation — face-to-face, and it must end with an education or treatment requirement. Nobody can override the SAP.
  3. Education or treatment — the longest step, and the one the Clearinghouse does not record at all.
  4. Follow-up evaluation and eligibility — the same SAP decides whether you complied, records your eligibility, and creates your follow-up plan.
  5. The return-to-duty test — directly observed, negative (or under 0.02 for alcohol), reported by the close of the third business day. Only then does your status flip.
  6. The follow-up testing years — at least 6 unannounced tests in the first 12 months, for up to 5 years, while you work.

The full path, step by step · What the whole maze costs · No job? Your path is different at step 5

Included in the $49 ReturnToDuty Kit

  • Choosing a SAP: the price table ($399–$600 bundled is normal), the questions to ask before you designate, split-pricing and bait-pricing red flags, and the payment-plan truth
  • The no-job path in full: registering as an owner-operator in the Clearinghouse and designating a C/TPA for the test — what step services charge versus doing each piece yourself
  • The follow-up years: plan math (at least 6 tests in year one, up to 5 years), changing employers mid-plan, and what a new employer must do
  • Getting hired: the SAP-friendly carrier search method, what to say on an application and in an interview, and the consent forms — honestly, with no invented list of companies
  • Records and licenses: Clearinghouse consent, what employers actually see, the state downgrade defense timeline, and the cost tracker worksheet

Get the ReturnToDuty Kit — $49

One payment of $49. No subscription. The kit is a web page you can return to and print — the full playbook for choosing a SAP, taking the test with no employer, managing the follow-up years, and getting hired again.

The two ends nobody explains

Your state license — and your next job

Finishing the federal process makes you eligible for state reinstatement; it does not restore your CDL by itself. Under Clearinghouse-II your state had to downgrade your CDL within 60 days of FMCSA's notice, and each state restores it differently. Your state's agency and steps. And the question drivers ask most — who will hire me during follow-up testing? — has an honest method, not a magic list. Getting hired again

Questions, in plain words

Asked by drivers, answered straight

The Clearinghouse says I'm prohibited. What does that actually mean?

It means a violation — a failed drug test, a failed alcohol test, or a refusal, which counts the same — was reported, and under 49 CFR 40.285 you cannot do any safety-sensitive (CDL driving) work until the SAP process is complete and a negative return-to-duty test is reported. The dashboard shows that status. It does not walk you through what to do next.

How long does the SAP program take?

There is no fixed number of days — your SAP controls the pace. An education-only path is most often weeks from first evaluation to a passed return-to-duty test; a path with treatment is usually months. The follow-up testing plan then runs at least 12 months and can run up to 5 years (49 CFR 40.307), but follow-up testing happens while you are back at work, not while you wait.

How much does the whole thing cost?

A SAP evaluation is typically bundled at $399–$600. The whole process typically runs about $500–$1,500 on an education-only path and $1,000–$5,000 or more with treatment, before lost wages. The costs page prices every step with dated market ranges — including the step services that charge $135–$195 for a single step.

I lost my job over this. Can I still finish the process?

Yes. The SAP steps do not need an employer. Only the return-to-duty test needs someone to order and report it — and FMCSA's own FAQ (November 22, 2024) gives the no-employer route: register in the Clearinghouse as an owner-operator for this limited purpose and designate a C/TPA (testing service) for the test. You do not apply for a USDOT number for this.

Can I just wait it out?

No. The violation record stays in the Clearinghouse for 5 years from the violation or until the follow-up plan is complete, whichever is later — and you stay prohibited the whole time. FMCSA counted 210,007 drivers in prohibited status as of February 1, 2026; 79.5% had not started the process.

Someone on Facebook says they can clear my record. Should I pay them?

No. That is the exact scam FMCSA warned about on January 16, 2026, and trade press documented in March 2026: a fake 'SAP' charged drivers $100–$350 by Zelle to fraudulently flip records. A real record only changes through the real steps, reported by the real parties. If your record is genuinely wrong, the legal fix is a DataQs / record-correction challenge — the wrong-record page walks it.