By Justin Seyl, NATMI Certified Director of Safety, 25+ years in CDL compliance.
49 CFR 391.25 says every motor carrier has to at least once every 12 months, request each driver's motor vehicle record from every licensing authority where that driver held a CMV license or permit during that period, review it against minimum safe-driving standards, and write down who did the review and when. I've personally overseen the resolution of more than 650,000 citations in my career, and I'll tell you straight: a missing annual MVR or review note is one of the easiest gaps to spot in a driver qualification file.
At MVRs Online, we see the same mistake over and over. A carrier waits until an audit letter shows up to find out their driver qualification files are missing a note, a record, or both. By then you're not fixing a small paperwork gap. You're explaining to FMCSA why it never got done. The fix is simple once you know the rule, so let's get into what 391.25 actually asks of you.
What Does the Annual MVR Requirement Actually Cover?
391.25 packs two separate jobs into one rule, and carriers who treat them as one step usually miss something. The first, under 49 CFR 391.25(a), is the inquiry: at least once every 12 months, you have to make an inquiry to each driver's licensing authority where they held a commercial motor vehicle license or permit during that period and get their motor vehicle record covering at least the prior 12 months. If a driver held licenses in two states during the year, you need records from both. One pull from their current home state isn't enough.
The second job, under 49 CFR 391.25(b), is the review: you have to actually look at that record and decide whether the driver still meets minimum requirements for safe driving, or whether they're now disqualified under 49 CFR 391.15. Pulling the record and sticking it in a folder unread doesn't satisfy the rule. The review has to happen, every 12 months, not whenever someone remembers.
What Is a Reviewer Supposed to Weigh When Looking at the Record?
This isn't a pass/fail checkbox. Under 391.25(b)(1), you have to consider any evidence the driver violated the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations or Hazardous Materials Regulations. Under (b)(2), you have to consider the driver's accident record and any evidence of traffic law violations, and give great weight to violations such as speeding, reckless driving, and operating under the influence, because those show a disregard for public safety. A clean record with one old parking ticket is a different conversation than a record with three speeding violations in eight months.
Note the word "any" in (b)(2): the rule says any evidence of traffic law violations, not just what's printed on the MVR. If you've got other credible knowledge about how the driver's been behaving on the road, don't leave it out of the review.
How Do You Document the Review So It Holds Up?
This is where most files fall apart. Under 391.25(c), you have to keep a copy of the MVR itself in the driver's qualification file, and separately, a note naming the person who did the review and the date it happened. Two different items, both mandatory. A record with no note attached doesn't prove a review ever took place, and a note with no record attached doesn't prove you had anything to review.
49 CFR 391.51(b) confirms both items as required contents of the driver qualification file: the annual MVR tied to the 391.25(a) inquiry, and the review note tied to 391.25(c)(2). As for how long you keep them, 391.51(d) lets you remove the annual MVR and review note from the file three years after the date of execution. That's a different clock than the broader driver qualification file, which under 391.51(c) has to be kept for as long as the driver is employed plus three years. Don't mix the two up.
If you're reading this and you're not 100% sure every driver qualification file on your roster has both pieces (current MVR and dated review note), for every state a driver's held a license in — that's the moment to stop guessing. Order the records through MVRs Online and get a second set of eyes on what you've already got before an auditor finds the gap for you.
Does the Annual Violations Certification Under 391.27 Still Apply?
No, and this trips up a lot of safety managers who learned the rules years ago. FMCSA rescinded 49 CFR 391.27, the annual driver self-certification of violations, effective May 9, 2022, in its Record of Violations final rule (87 FR 13192, March 9, 2022, Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0224). The current text of that section in the eCFR just reads "[Reserved]." FMCSA's reasoning: the 391.25 annual MVR pull and review already captures a driver's violation history straight from the state record, so a separate self-certification is redundant.
If you're still running a parallel annual certification form because that's how your program was built a decade ago, you can retire it as a federal requirement. Just check your state's rules if you operate only in intrastate commerce, since state requirements can differ from the federal ones.
How Does the Annual Review Differ From the Pre-Employment MVR Check?
These are two separate duties covering two different points in time, and carriers sometimes assume one covers the other. It doesn't. 49 CFR 391.23 governs the pre-employment side: before you put a driver behind the wheel, Under 391.23(a)(1), you have to request the MVR from every licensing authority where the driver held a license or permit in the preceding 3 years, within 30 days of the date employment begins, and under 391.23(b) a copy has to go into the driver qualification file within that same 30 days, retained in line with 391.51.
391.25 picks up from there and keeps running for the life of the employment relationship: every 12 months, for as long as the driver's on your roster. Think of 391.23 as the gate you check before hiring, and 391.25 as the ongoing check that keeps running in the background the whole time someone works for you.
Do FCRA and DPPA Rules Affect How You Pull the Annual MVR?
They can, depending on how you get the record. If you use a third-party consumer reporting agency to order the MVR rather than going straight to each state's licensing authority, that record is generally treated as a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq. Under 15 U.S.C. §1681b(b), that means disclosure to the driver and the driver's authorization before you pull it, separate from the DOT requirement itself.
The Driver's Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. §2721 et seq., is the other piece. It restricts what a state DMV can release from a driver's record, but 18 U.S.C. §2721(b)(9) permits use by an employer or its agent or insurer to obtain or verify information about a CDL holder that is required under federal motor carrier law (49 U.S.C. chapter 313). Neither FCRA nor DPPA is a Title 49 regulation, so don't cite them as CFR sections. They sit alongside 391.25, not inside it, and you need to satisfy both layers when you order MVR online through a third-party source.
How MVRs Online Helps With Annual MVR Reviews
When you send us a file, here's what we actually do with it. We pull the current motor vehicle record for every licensing authority where the driver held a license in the prior 12 months, not just their current state, because that's where carriers often come up short without realizing it. We check that the record was reported correctly and flag anything that looks off before it becomes your problem at audit time. If an entry looks wrong (wrong driver, outdated status, a citation that was reduced or dismissed but still shows), we identify the state's dispute path and the documents the state will want to review it. Any correction is the state's decision.
We also help you build the paper trail 391.25(c) actually demands: a complete annual MVR review process with the record and the dated reviewer note sitting together in the file, every time. Don't wait for a DOT auditor to tell you your driver qualification files are incomplete. Get your drivers' records ordered through MVRs Online now and know exactly where you stand before anyone else checks for you.
FAQ
How often does a motor carrier have to review a driver's MVR?
At least once every 12 months, per 49 CFR 391.25(b). The rule doesn't build in a grace period, so the practical move is to build the review into a recurring calendar task tied to each driver's hire date or a fixed annual cycle, whichever your system handles more reliably.
Does the annual MVR pull need to come from every state the driver was licensed in?
Yes. 49 CFR 391.25(a) requires an inquiry to each licensing authority where the driver held a CMV license or permit during the preceding 12 months, not just their current home state. Missing a prior state's record leaves the file incomplete.
What has to be kept in the file after the review is done?
49 CFR 391.25(c) requires a copy of the MVR plus a note naming the reviewer and the review date, both kept in the driver qualification file per 49 CFR 391.51(b). Missing either piece means you can't prove the review happened even if it did.
How long do you have to keep the annual MVR and the review note?
Under 49 CFR 391.51(d), the annual MVR and review note can be removed from the file three years after the date of execution. That's a separate clock from the full driver qualification file, which 391.51(c) requires keeping for the length of employment plus three years.
Do I still need to have drivers sign an annual certification of violations?
No, not under federal rule. FMCSA rescinded 49 CFR 391.27 effective May 9, 2022, and the section now reads "[Reserved]" in the eCFR. The annual MVR pull and review under 391.25 covers that ground now, though intrastate-only carriers should check their state's rules.
Is the annual MVR review the same thing as the pre-employment MVR check?
No. The pre-employment check falls under 49 CFR 391.23, with the inquiry made and the record filed within 30 days of the date employment begins. The annual review under 391.25 is a separate, ongoing duty that repeats every 12 months for as long as the driver works for you.
Justin Seyl is a NATMI Certified Director of Safety and NATMI Certified Audit Specialist with more than 25 years in CDL compliance. He has personally overseen resolution of over 650,000 citations and directed more than 10,000 Safety Fitness Determination upgrades. He is the founder of CDL Consultants, CDL360, and CDL Manager.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
- 49 CFR Part 391.25
- 49 CFR Part 391.15
- 49 CFR Part 391.51
- 49 CFR Part 391.27
- 49 CFR Part 391.23