The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published an Information Collection Request in the Federal Register (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/15/2025-06345/agency-information-collection-activities-renewal-of-a-currently-approved-collection-driver). An ICR is required by law whenever a federal regulatory agency seeks to gather information and data from the public. The public can comment on whether the information requested is necessary for the agency to do its job and on the estimated cost of providing the data.
Here, the ICR concerns Driver Qualification Files and is intended to correct calculation errors made in a December 23, 2024, ICR on the same topic. It also serves as a timely reminder of a critical step motor carriers and truck drivers must take to stay compliant.
Driver Qualification Files include documents displaying the training, licensing, violation history, and medical qualification and medical examiner’s report of a truck driver. DQ files must be maintained by the motor carrier for each truck driver. The ICR does not propose any changes to the Driver Qualification Files currently required. As PrePass readers know, effective June 23, 2025, FMCSA will directly transmit medical examiner’s reports to the state driver licensing agency, relieving drivers of the need to hand-carry that paperwork (https://www.prepassalliance.org/truck-driver-medical-exam-results-going-digital/).
However, the medical examiner’s report contained in the DQ file must come from an examiner listed on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (https://nationalregistry.fmcsa.dot.gov/home). Recently, FMCSA disqualified two Houston-area chiropractors, jeopardizing 15,225 commercial motor vehicle drivers, who received DOT physicals from Drs. Jenny Le or Dustin Mai between March 2023 and March 2025.
Motor carriers and truck drivers should always check that a medical examiner is listed on the National Registry. If a change must be made, the National Registry has a Search feature on its homepage to find a new examiner. “DQ” may mean Driver Qualification, but a report from a disqualified examiner may result in a driver also being “dq’d.”