The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week published a proposal that would establish a national clearinghouse of drug and alcohol test results for truck drivers.

Under the proposal, employers would be required to check the clearinghouse before hiring a driver and to conduct searches on current drivers at least once a year.

“Today’s proposal will help ensure dangerous drivers stay off the road while encouraging the employment of the many safe drivers who follow our drug and alcohol requirements,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in the announcement Feb. 12.

FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro said the proposal “moves us further down the road toward improving safety for truck and bus companies, commercial drivers and the motoring public.”

Under the proposal, truck and bus companies, medical review officers and drug and alcohol testing laboratories would be required to record information about a driver who fails a drug or alcohol test, or refuses to submit to a test.