Overview
The Commercial Driver’s License Information System, known as CDLIS, is a nationwide system that links the commercial driver licensing records held by every state. It answers one question: where has this person held a commercial driver’s license?
It exists because commercial driving is interstate work and licensing is a state function, a combination that created a gap federal law was written to close.
The Problem It Solves
Before the states were linked, a commercial driver whose license was suspended in one state could apply for a new one in another, and the second state had no practical way to know. A driver could hold licenses in several states at once and spread violations across them, so that no single record showed a pattern.
Federal legislation in the 1980s addressed this by requiring that commercial drivers hold one license, that states check with each other before issuing one, and that convictions be reported back to the state that issued the license. CDLIS is the system that makes those requirements workable.
A Pointer, Not a Record
CDLIS does not hold driving histories. It holds identifying information and a pointer to the state that has the record. A search tells you which states to ask. The driving history itself comes from those states as a motor vehicle report.
The distinction matters when reading a report. A CDLIS search that returns 3 states has not produced 3 driving histories. It has identified 3 places where a record exists, each of which is then obtained separately.
Because the system matches on identity rather than on a license number alone, it can connect records held under different license numbers, and in some cases under name variations, which is what allows it to find a history a driver did not disclose.
What a Search Returns
| States of record | Every state that holds or has held a commercial licensing record for the person. |
| License numbers | The number issued in each of those states. |
| Identifying information | Name and date of birth as recorded by each state. |
| Current license state | Which state holds the license now. |
| Status indicators | Whether a record shows a disqualification or other action, depending on what the system returns to the requester. |
The One License Rule
Federal regulation prohibits a commercial driver from holding more than one license. A driver moving to a new state surrenders the previous license and the new state becomes the state of record.
A CDLIS search showing several states is therefore normal for a driver with a career spanning moves. What it identifies is history, not a set of live licenses. A search showing more than one currently valid commercial license is a different matter, and it is one of the situations the system was built to detect.
What CDLIS Does Not Cover
- Driving history detail. Violations, accidents, and suspensions come from each state’s MVR.
- Non-commercial licenses. The system covers commercial licensing.
- Criminal records, established through a county criminal search.
- Crash and inspection history, covered on our PSP Crash History page.
- Drug and alcohol program violations, covered on our FMCSA Clearinghouse page.
- Employment history, which is verified separately as employment history.
Where It Fits Under the FCRA
Where a screening company obtains CDLIS information for employment purposes and reports it to an employer, it forms part of a consumer report, with the disclosure, authorization, accuracy, and dispute requirements that attach to one. Our FCRA Overview covers those requirements in full.
Access to commercial licensing information is also governed by the federal statute restricting release of state motor vehicle records, described on our Motor Vehicle Report page.
Where information located through a CDLIS search contributes to a decision not to hire, the required notice steps apply. See The Adverse Action Process.