When do Clearinghouse annual queries run?

The annual Clearinghouse query runs on a rolling 12-month clock from the date of each driver's last query — not a calendar year. There is no December 31 deadline. Under 49 CFR 382.701(b), employers must query every CDL driver at least once a year; FMCSA's guidance measures that year from the date of the last query.

Is there a December 31 deadline?

No. Many fleets treat this like a calendar-year renewal: run everything in December, reset in January. That habit is not wrong, but the regulation does not require it. The clock is individual to each driver and starts from whenever their last query ran. A driver queried on March 10 is due again by March 10 of the following year. A driver queried on July 22 is due by July 22. The dates are independent of each other and of the calendar year.

How do I know when my clock started?

Your FMCSA Clearinghouse account keeps a query history for each driver. The date of the last query is recorded there. Add 12 months to it. If the resulting date has already passed, the query is overdue now.

What about new hires?

Every new CDL hire requires a query. That query date then starts the rolling 12-month clock for the annual re-query going forward.

What if a query runs late?

A late query starts the next 12 months from its own date, but it does not erase the gap. The regulation's floor is at least one query per driver per year.

What happens if a query is missed?

Fines can run up to $7,155 per missed query. The practical anchor is each driver's last query date: it is in your Clearinghouse account, and 12 months from it is the deadline.

This page is the standing answer. When the rule behind it changes, The Fleet Brief carries the change to subscribers that Monday, with the date and the official link.