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Driver qualification files · 49 CFR 391.51

Driver Qualification File Service: Every File Built and Kept

Reviewed

Direct answer

A driver qualification file holds the application, the driving record from every state for the prior 3 years, the prior-employer safety history, the road test or its equivalent, the medical certificate and each annual review, kept while the driver works for you and 3 years after (49 CFR 391.51). FileFlo builds every file from the records you send, checks each document against its rule and keeps the dates current.

Have every driver's file built and checked. Send FileFlo your records as they are.

Start the Audit-Ready Setup

Audit-Ready Setup: $499. Then, unless you cancel, Core, $199 a month for up to 15 trucks, or Fleet, $399 a month for 16 to 50.

30 days, every dollar back: if you are not happy with the Setup within 30 days of purchase, FileFlo refunds the full Setup price.

What it means for your business

Your audit
Driver files are the first thing an auditor opens. Using a physically unqualified or disqualified driver is an automatic failure (385.321(b)).
Your roadside
An expired medical certificate puts the driver out of service on the shoulder.
Your insurance
Underwriters ask how you qualify drivers. A complete file per driver is the answer.
Your hiring
Each new hire starts a clock: the safety performance history investigation is due within 30 days (391.23).

What FileFlo does about it, today

  • Every driver gets a qualification file in the order 391.51 lists it. Medical cards and CDLs are read, dated to their expiry and filed against the rule.
  • When you hire a driver, the file gets its list and its clock, and FileFlo drafts the safety performance history request to each prior employer for you to send.
  • The annual driving record review and the annual Clearinghouse query are tracked and dated for every driver.
  • FileFlo asks the driver and the office for each renewal at 45, 14 and 3 days before it is due, with an upload link, and requests missing records the day they are found.
  • Your gap report names each missing record, the rule that requires it and who owes it. Automatic-failure items come first.
  • The audit packet stays ready: every requirement with its citation, and a sealed inspector link with an expiry and a log of every access.
  • In the FileFlo Compliance Department, FileFlo's compliance team does all of it for you: builds and keeps every driver file, chases every renewal, keeps the audit packet ready and answers the auditor's document requests.

FileFlo is your compliance department, so you never deal with the compliance headaches again. Buy it two ways.

Run it yourself: Audit-Ready Setup: $499. Then, unless you cancel, Core, $199 a month for up to 15 trucks, or Fleet, $399 a month for 16 to 50. What the Setup builds

Done for you: The FileFlo Compliance Department: $1,500 a month for up to 15 trucks, Setup included. The Compliance Department

The file, item by item

  1. Employment application (49 CFR 391.21).
  2. Driving record from each state the driver held a license in the prior 3 years (49 CFR 391.23).
  3. Safety performance history from prior DOT employers in the prior 3 years (391.23(d)).
  4. Road test certificate, or the CDL accepted in its place (49 CFR 391.31, 49 CFR 391.33).
  5. Medical examiner's certificate, current (49 CFR 391.43), with the National Registry check.
  6. Each annual review of the driving record, signed (49 CFR 391.25).

Sources

Checked Written by Chad Griffith

Questions

What goes in a driver qualification file?

The application (49 CFR 391.21), the driving record from every state for the prior 3 years and the safety performance history from prior employers (391.23), the road test certificate or its equivalent (391.31, 391.33), the medical examiner's certificate (391.43), and each annual review of the driving record (391.25). 391.51 lists the file.

How long do I keep a driver qualification file?

For as long as the driver works for you and 3 years after the driver leaves (49 CFR 391.51(c)). Some records in the file can be discarded sooner, which 391.51(d) lists.

Can someone build the files for me?

Yes. The FileFlo Audit-Ready Setup builds each driver's file from the records you send, checks each document against the rule and names what is missing and who owes it. In the FileFlo Compliance Department, FileFlo's team builds and keeps every file for you.

What is the most common driver file gap?

Dates: a medical certificate that expired, an annual review that was never signed, or a safety performance history request that was never sent within 30 days of hire (391.23).