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Get a Free ConsultationA driver qualification file (DQ file) is the record FMCSA requires a motor carrier to keep for every driver it employs. It proves the driver is qualified: the employment application, driving records, road test proof, the annual review, and medical certification. You keep it while the driver works for you and for three years after.
Our team builds and maintains these files for you.
Every motor carrier keeps a driver qualification file for each driver it employs, under 49 CFR 391.51. It may be combined with the driver’s personnel file. The file is your proof that the driver meets the federal commercial driver qualification criteria.
Driver qualification is one of the record areas FMCSA reviews in a new entrant safety audit (49 CFR 385.311), and a compliance review examines it too. Our DOT safety compliance page covers the other record areas.
Each file holds the items below. Some are created once at hiring; others renew on a schedule, which is where most files fall behind.
| Item | When it is due | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Employment application, completed and signed by the driver | Before the driver drives | 391.21 |
| Motor vehicle record from each licensing authority of the past 3 years | Within 30 days of hire | 391.23(a)(1), (b) |
| Road test certificate, or a copy of the CDL or road test certificate accepted instead | Before the driver drives | 391.31, 391.33 |
| Medical certification: the CDLIS driving record for CDL holders, the medical examiner’s certificate for other drivers | Before the driver drives, then at least every 24 months (every 12 months for some conditions) | 391.23(m), 391.45 |
| Note verifying the medical examiner’s National Registry listing (drivers without a CDL) | Before the driver drives | 391.23(m)(1), 391.51(b)(8) |
| Motor vehicle record from each licensing authority covering the past 12 months | At least every 12 months | 391.25(a) |
| Note of the annual review, with the reviewer’s name and the date | At least every 12 months | 391.25(c)(2) |
| Medical variance, Skill Performance Evaluation certificate, or federal medical exemption, if the driver has one | With the medical certification | 391.51(b)(6)(iii), (b)(7) |
For CDL holders, the file also documents the type of operation the driver self-certified to the state, verified on the same CDLIS record. The full checklist, with the retention period for each record, is in our DQF checklist.
Medical proof for CDL drivers has changed. Since June 23, 2025, medical examiners issue a paper certificate only to drivers who won’t need a CDL or learner’s permit, and the CDLIS record is the proof for CDL holders. A federal exemption that let carriers rely on a paper copy for up to 60 days after it was issued ended on October 11, 2026. FMCSA renewed it for Alaska only, the one state that hasn’t implemented the rule, through October 12, 2027.
Two sets of driver records are required but must be kept in a secure location with controlled access, apart from the DQ file: the driver investigation history file with previous employers’ replies (49 CFR 391.53), and drug and alcohol testing records (49 CFR 382.401).
One item is no longer required: FMCSA eliminated the driver’s annual list of violations effective May 9, 2022, because the annual driving record already covers it.
You investigate the driver’s safety performance history with every DOT-regulated employer from the preceding three years, and file the replies, or your documented good-faith attempts, within 30 days of the date employment begins (49 CFR 391.23).
Where these checks fall in a hiring workflow is covered in our truck driver onboarding guide, and the query types in our FMCSA Clearinghouse guide.
Incomplete driver files can lower your safety rating. In a compliance review, FMCSA scores them against the acute and critical regulations listed in Appendix B to Part 385:
Each acute violation adds a point. A critical violation adds a point once it forms a pattern: more than one violation, and at least 10% of the records examined. Two missing medical certificates in a sample of 20 files meet that test. Driver files fall under the rating’s driver factor, which is rated Conditional at 1 point and Unsatisfactory at 2 or more.
For a new carrier, knowingly using a disqualified or physically unqualified driver means failing the new entrant safety audit automatically (49 CFR 385.321). Our new entrant safety audit support helps you get the files ready before the auditor asks. Files kept at a terminal or regional office must be produced within 48 hours of a request, not counting weekends and federal holidays (49 CFR 390.29).
Any format works if the record holds up. Under 49 CFR 390.32, you can keep DQ files electronically and use electronic signatures, as long as the records can be retained and accurately reproduced when an authorized party asks for them.
FMCSA’s sample Safety Performance History Records Request predates the Clearinghouse requirement. For FMCSA-regulated previous employers, the Clearinghouse query now handles the drug and alcohol part; use the form’s drug and alcohol section for employers under other DOT agencies.
We work with you and your drivers to build each file, keep it current, and have it ready when an auditor asks. Driver file work is part of our compliance programs for trucking companies.
Use the form below with your USDOT number and how many drivers you run. Our team will review where your files stand and recommend the program that fits.
A DQ file, or driver qualification file, is the record a motor carrier must keep for each driver it employs under 49 CFR 391.51. It shows the driver is qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle, and you keep it for the length of employment plus three years.
The employment application, motor vehicle records from hiring and every 12 months, the annual review note, the road test certificate or accepted equivalent, and medical certification, plus any medical variance or SPE certificate. For drivers without a CDL, add a note verifying the medical examiner’s National Registry listing.
Yes. Since 2018, 49 CFR 390.32 has allowed FMCSA-required records and signatures to be electronic, as long as the records can be retained and accurately reproduced for FMCSA or another authorized party when requested.
Yes. FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Planner has a free forms library with a sample driver employment application and a Safety Performance History Records Request. You don’t have to use FMCSA’s exact form, but your application must contain the information listed in 49 CFR 391.21.
It is the request you send previous employers for the driver’s safety performance history, which 49 CFR 391.23 requires for every DOT-regulated employer from the past three years. Previous employers must answer within 30 days, and the replies go in the driver investigation history file, not the DQ file.
For as long as the driver works for you and three years after. Annual driving records, review notes, and medical records may be removed three years after their date.
The rules on this page come from these official sources, checked on October 5, 2026.