C.F.R. » Title 49 » CHAPTER III—FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › SUBCHAPTER B—FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS › PART 391—QUALIFICATIONS OF DRIVERS AND LONGER COMBINATION VEHICLE (LCV) DRIVER INSTRUCTORS › Subpart F—Files and Records

49 C.F.R. § 391.51

General requirements for driver qualification files

Read at: eCFRecfr.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) Each motor carrier shall maintain a driver qualification file for each driver it employs. A driver's qualification file may be combined with his/her personnel file.

(b) The qualification file for a driver must include:

(1) The driver's application for employment completed in accordance with § 391.21;

(2) A copy of the motor vehicle record received from each driver's licensing authority pursuant to § 391.23(a)(1);

(3) The certificate of driver's road test issued to the driver pursuant to § 391.31(e), a copy of the license or certificate which the motor carrier accepted as equivalent to the driver's road test pursuant to § 391.33, or the original of the written statement providing that the motor carrier determined the driver is not required by § 391.44(d) to complete a road test pursuant to § 391.44(d)(3)(ii)(A) and the original, or a copy, of the driver's certification required by § 391.44(d)(3)(i);

(4) The motor vehicle record received from each driver's licensing authority to the annual driver record inquiry required by § 391.25(a);

(5) A note relating to the annual review of the driver's driving record as required by § 391.25(c)(2);

(6)(i) The medical examiner's certificate as required by § 391.43(g) or a legible copy of the certificate.

(ii) For CDL holders, beginning January 30, 2012, if the CDLIS motor vehicle record contains medical certification status information, the motor carrier employer must meet this requirement by obtaining the CDLIS motor vehicle record defined at § 384.105 of this chapter. That record must be obtained from the current licensing State and placed in the driver qualification file. After January 30, 2015, a non-excepted, interstate CDL holder without medical certification status information on the CDLIS motor vehicle record is designated “not-certified” to operate a CMV in interstate commerce. After January 30, 2015, and through June 22, 2025, a motor carrier may use a copy of the driver's current medical examiner's certificate that was submitted to the State for up to 15 days from the date it was issued as proof of medical certification.

(iii) If that driver obtained the medical certification based on having obtained a medical variance from FMCSA, the motor carrier must also include a copy of the medical variance documentation in the driver qualification file in accordance with paragraph (b)(7) of this section;

(7) A Skill Performance Evaluation Certificate issued by FMCSA in accordance with § 391.49; or the Medical Exemption document issued by a Federal medical program in accordance with part 381 of this chapter; and

(8)(i) For drivers not required to have a CDL, a note relating to verification of medical examiner listing on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners required by § 391.23(m)(1).

(ii) Through June 22, 2025, for drivers required to have a CDL, a note relating to verification of medical examiner listing on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners required by § 391.23(m)(2).

(c) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, each driver's qualification file shall be retained for as long as a driver is employed by that motor carrier and for three years thereafter.

(d) The following records may be removed from a driver's qualification file three years after the date of execution:

(1) The motor vehicle record received from each driver's licensing authority to the annual driver record inquiry required by § 391.25(a);

(2) The note relating to the annual review of the driver's driving record as required by § 391.25(c)(2);

(3) The medical examiner's certificate required by § 391.43(g), a legible copy of the certificate, or, for CDL drivers, any CDLIS MVR obtained as required by paragraph (b)(6)(ii) of this section;

(4) Any medical variance issued by FMCSA, including a Skill Performance Evaluation Certificate issued in accordance with § 391.49; or the Medical Exemption letter issued by a Federal medical program in accordance with part 381 of this chapter; and

(5) The note relating to verification of medical examiner listing on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners required by § 391.23(m).

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 2126-004) [63 FR 33277, June 18, 1998, as amended at 66 FR 49874, Oct. 1, 2001; 69 FR 16721, Mar. 30, 2004; 73 FR 73127, Dec. 1, 2008; 75 FR 28502, May 21, 2010; 77 FR 24133, Apr. 20, 2012; 79 FR 2380, Jan. 14, 2014; 80 FR 22822, Apr. 23, 2015; 83 FR 28782, June 21, 2018; 84 FR 51434, Sept. 30, 2019; 86 FR 32651, June 22, 2021; 86 FR 57076, Oct. 14, 2021; 87 FR 3419, Jan. 21, 2022; 87 FR 13209, Mar. 9, 2022]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 18 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1976–2025 · leading case: Walters v. Am. Coach Lines of Miami, Inc., 569 F. Supp. 2d 1270 (S.D. Fla. 2008).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Walters v. Am. Coach Lines of Miami, Inc., 569 F. Supp. 2d 1270 (S.D. Fla. 2008). · cites it 3× “) Defendant requires that its drivers become qualified to drive all types of vehicles used by it for passenger transportation and Defendant maintains a “driver qualification file” for each driver as required by 49 C.F.R. § 391.51 (a). (Def.’s SMF ¶ 6.) Defendant is required to…”
Fowler v. Smith, 516 S.E.2d 845 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 2× “Fowler, Atlanta Motor Lines and Liberty assert the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the Smiths on the issue of whether Atlanta Motor Lines failed to retain a driver qualification file on Fowler pursuant to 49 CFR § 391.51 (a) & (c), which require motor carriers…”
Sorreda Transp., LLC v. US Dept of Transp., 980 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2020). “See 49 C.F.R. § 391.51 (a), (b)(7). It argues that the agency erred in crediting the FMCSA investigators' version of - 7 - events rather than Sorreda's.”
M.T. v. Saum, 3 F. Supp. 3d 617 (W.D. Ky. 2014). “11 (b)(3), stating that a qualified driver is one who "[c]an, by reason of experience, training, or both, safely operate the type of commercial vehicle he/she drives”; 49 C.F.R. § 391.51 , describing what must be contained in a driver qualification file; 49 C.”
Wallen v. Allen, 343 S.E.2d 73 (Va. 1986). “and wilfully permitting drivers to make interstate hauls “without first maintaining driver qualification files for said drivers, including a current, valid Medical Examiners Certificate, a driver’s road test, a driver’s written examination, a driver’s employment examination, a…”
Nat'l Labor Relations Bd. v. A. Duie Pyle, Inc., 606 F.2d 379 (3rd Cir. 1979). “As to all of these requirements, Pyle must keep certain records, 49 C.F.R. §§ 391.51 , 1020.1, and the company must require a daily log from every driver, 49 C.”
Chao v. First Class Coach Co., Inc., 214 F. Supp. 2d 1263 (M.D. Fla. 2001). “Assuring the drivers’ qualifications to drive interstate routes, First Class maintains a “driver qualification file” for each driver as required by 49 C.F.R. § 391.51 (a). These files show that drivers are qualified under MCSRs.”
Usery v. Tamiami Trail Tours, Inc., 531 F.2d 224 (5th Cir. 1976). “4, 49 C.F.R. 391.51, it is appropriate to invoke the doctrine of Primary Jurisdiction to require the parties to submit to the Department of Transportation (DOT) the question of the use by interstate bus operators of maximum age restrictions for driver applicants.”
Weber v. Leaseway Dedicated Logistics, Inc., 5 F. Supp. 2d 1219 (D. Kan. 1998). “§ 31135 ; 49 C.F.R. § 391.51 (c)(2). As stated previously, the employment application must include the applicant's social security number.”
Bratton v. Roadway Package Sys., Inc., 77 F.3d 168 (7th Cir. 1996). “Bratton ( 49 C.F.R. § 391.51 ). Mr. Bratton conceded that Mrs.”
12 Fair empl.prac.cas. 1233, 11 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 10,916 W. J. Usery, Sec'y of Labor, United States Dep't of Labor v. Tamiami Trail Tours, Inc., 531 F.2d 224 (5th Cir. 1976). “4, 49 C.F.R. 391.51, it is appropriate to invoke the doctrine of Primary Jurisdiction to require the parties to submit to the Department of Transportation (DOT) the question of the use by interstate bus operators of maximum age restrictions for driver applicants.”
Ferguson v. Garkusha (N.D. Ga. 2020). “See 49 C.F.R. § 391.51 . One of these requirements is that the employer obtain the driver’s driving records for the past three years from each state where he held or holds a license.”
Show all 18 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.