MVR Requirements for CDL Drivers: A Carrier's Guide

For the bigger picture, read our US truck driver shortage 2026.

The MVR requirements for CDL drivers come down to three duties for the carrier: keep a motor vehicle record (MVR) for every driver you employ, request a fresh one every 12 months, and keep each record for 3 years, according to FMCSA's New Entrant guidance. The record comes from the state that issued the driver's license, and you must review it to decide whether the driver meets the minimum safety requirements or is disqualified. This guide covers when to pull the MVR, how to review it, what goes in the driver qualification file and the mistakes that show up in audits.

Picture a 15-truck carrier that hires a CDL-A driver on Monday, November 9. The safety manager pulls the MVR from his current state on Tuesday, files it, and puts a reminder on the calendar. Eleven months later nobody looks at the reminder, and the driver goes into the next audit with a record that is a month past due. This is a calendar problem, not a compliance mystery, and a simple system fixes it.

What an MVR is and what it shows

An MVR is the driving record kept by the state that issued the license. FMCSA says the carrier gets it from the state motor vehicle department that issued the driver's license. Schneider's driver guide lists seven kinds of information on an MVR:

• ★License class and status
• ★Endorsements and restrictions
• ★Violations and convictions
• ★Suspensions and revocations
• ★Crashes
• ★Medical certification
• ★State driving record points

The exact layout and the fee change from state to state, according to Schneider. Drivers can also request their own record from the state DMV, so an applicant can see what you will see.

An MVR is not a PSP report. The MVR is the state record of convictions and license status. The PSP report is FMCSA's record of crashes and roadside inspections. Keller Encompass makes the same split: PSP adds a 5-year crash history and a 3-year roadside inspection history, and shows violations even without a conviction. Read our guide to the PSP report for how the two work together.

MVR requirements for CDL drivers: when to pull the record

There are three moments, and they are separate tasks.

1. 1.Before or at hire. DISA says an employer must request a pre-hire MVR in every state where the driver held a CDL in the previous 3 years. Keller Encompass says the MVR goes into the driver qualification file within 30 days of the employment date, and CBIA says to request it within 30 days of hire. Get the driver's written consent before you request it, as CBIA advises.
2. 2.Every 12 months. FMCSA says the carrier must request each driver's MVR every 12 months and keep the record for 3 years.
3. 3.When medical certification changes. For CDL holders, 49 CFR 391.51(b)(6)(ii) says the carrier must obtain the CDLIS motor vehicle record from the current licensing state when it holds medical certification status, and put it in the driver qualification file. A non-excepted, interstate CDL holder whose CDLIS record has no medical certification status is designated "not-certified" to operate a CMV in interstate commerce, per the same section.

One change to watch. Older guides, including Keller Encompass (updated October 2024), describe using a copy of the medical examiner's certificate for up to 15 days as proof of certification. The current text of 391.51(b)(6)(ii) limits that option to the period through June 22, 2025. Do not build a process on the 15-day shortcut.

The annual review: due date and what to write down

The annual MVR has two parts: the inquiry (you request the record) and the review (someone qualified reads it and decides). 49 CFR 391.51(b)(4) and (b)(5) require both in the driver qualification file: the MVR from the annual inquiry and a note about the annual review of the driver's driving record.

Foley's compliance guide gives a clean date example: if a driver's last MVR review was dated March 15, 2026, the next one must be completed by March 14, 2027. Foley also notes that continuous MVR monitoring is not a substitute for the annual review. You need both if you use a monitoring service.

Here is a simple tracker for a new hire, using the 30-day figure from Keller Encompass and CBIA for the first step.

Put the due date in the safety manager's calendar on the day you file the record, not at audit time.

What goes in the driver qualification file

49 CFR 391.51 lists the MVR items a carrier keeps for each driver:

• ★A copy of the MVR from the driver's licensing authority received at hire, under 391.23(a)(1)
• ★The MVR from each annual inquiry
• ★A note about each annual review of the driving record
• ★For CDL holders, the CDLIS MVR when it carries medical certification status

The file stays for as long as the driver is employed and for three years after, per 391.51(c). Under 391.51(d), the annual MVR and the annual review note may be removed 3 years after the date they were executed. The initial hire-time MVR is not on that removal list, so it stays with the file.

CBIA also advises against accepting an MVR the driver hands you, because such documents are easily falsified, and says to document your efforts if a state returns no record. Pull it yourself from the licensing state.

How to read an MVR: patterns, not single tickets

Federal disqualification rules decide who cannot drive. Your own hiring standard decides who you want to hire, and that is a business choice. Foley's guide lists disqualification periods under 49 CFR 383.51 for serious violations within 3 years: 60 days for 2 serious violations and 120 days for 3 or more. It also lists a one-year disqualification for a first major offense such as DUI, and lifetime for a second. Check the current text of 383.51 before you act on a specific case.

A useful screen has three questions:

• ★Is the driver currently licensed and not disqualified?
• ★Does the record show a pattern (several speeding or lane violations close together) or one old ticket?
• ★Does the MVR match what the application and the PSP report say? A crash or violation on one record and not the other is a reason to ask, not a reason to reject.

Our guide on how to hire CDL drivers that actually stay explains why flagging patterns keeps good drivers in the funnel when a driver shortage makes every seat harder to fill. For the market side, see CDL driver shortage 2026.

Where carriers fail audits on MVRs

Foley lists common audit failures tied to MVR reviews. Based on that list and the file rules above, these are the four to prevent:

• ★The annual MVR was pulled but no review note was written.
• ★The review happened after the 12-month mark.
• ★The MVR is missing for a state where the driver held a license.
• ★The record sits in someone's inbox instead of the driver qualification file.

A short checklist fixes all four: one folder per driver, one due date per driver, one named person who signs the review note, one monthly check of what is due in the next 30 days.

What this means for a small fleet

For a fleet that hires 10 drivers a year, the MVR work is 10 hire-time pulls plus one annual pull for every driver on the roster. The cost is time and the per-state fee, which varies by state according to Schneider. The expensive mistake is a missing or late record found during an audit. Treat the MVR as part of your hiring flow, right after the application and consent, and put it next to the PSP report, as we describe in the mobile-first CDL driver application guide.

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