By Justin Seyl, NATMI Certified Director of Safety, founder of CDL Manager, with 25+ years in CDL compliance.

Justin has personally overseen more than 650,000 citations and directed more than 10,000 Safety Fitness Determination upgrades.

The annual driver MVR review required by FMCSA is not an employee performance appraisal. It is an annual inquiry and review of the driver’s motor vehicle record under 49 CFR 391.25. Carriers must obtain the required driving record, review it for continued qualification and disqualification issues, and keep evidence that the review occurred.

For a small or mid-size fleet, the rule is easy to understand but easy to miss operationally. Each driver has a separate 12-month cycle, more than one licensing authority may be involved, and an MVR sitting in the file does not by itself prove that the required review happened.

CDL Manager helps carriers track annual MVR due dates, organize driver qualification files, and keep recurring qualification tasks from depending on one person’s memory.

What Does 49 CFR 391.25 Require Every 12 Months?

Under 49 CFR 391.25, a motor carrier must, at least once every 12 months, obtain the motor vehicle record of each driver it employs, covering at least the preceding 12 months.

The inquiry goes to each driver’s licensing authority where the driver held a commercial motor vehicle operator’s license or permit during that period. A driver who changed licensing jurisdictions during the year may require more than one record.

The carrier must then review the MVR to determine whether the driver still meets minimum safe-driving requirements or is disqualified under 49 CFR 391.15. The review must consider applicable FMCSR and Hazardous Materials Regulation violations, accident history, and traffic-law violations. The rule gives great weight to violations such as speeding, reckless driving, and operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Is the Annual MVR Different From the Pre-Employment MVR?

Yes. The annual inquiry under 49 CFR 391.25 is separate from the licensing-authority inquiry performed during hiring under 49 CFR 391.23.

A pre-employment MVR does not eliminate the later annual duty. Once the driver is employed, the carrier needs a recurring process that identifies when the next 12-month inquiry and review are due.

Can an Employer Notification System Satisfy the Annual Inquiry?

FMCSA allows motor carriers to use third parties and employer notification systems to obtain driving records. Agency guidance explains that a system providing the complete licensing-authority record and appropriate updates can satisfy the inquiry requirement in 49 CFR 391.25(a).

Automation does not eliminate the carrier’s review duty. Someone still must review the record under 49 CFR 391.25(b), and the carrier must maintain the evidence required by paragraph (c).

CDL Manager’s continuous compliance monitoring can track annual review dates and licensing changes as part of a broader driver compliance workflow.

What Must the Carrier Document After the Review?

49 CFR 391.25(c) requires two records in the driver qualification file:

• the MVR obtained for the annual inquiry; and
• a note containing the name of the person who performed the review and the date of the review.

The federal rule does not require a specific FMCSA form or a signature on that note. A carrier may use its own form, checklist, or compliant electronic record as long as the required information is maintained.

Obtaining the MVR and reviewing it are separate steps. If your files contain current MVRs but cannot quickly show who reviewed each one and when, CDL Manager can review the annual-review workflow before that documentation gap surfaces during an investigation.

Where Do Annual MVR Records Belong, and How Long Are They Kept?

49 CFR 391.51 requires a driver qualification file for each driver and specifically includes the annual MVR and annual-review note. The DQ file may be combined with the driver’s personnel file.

The annual MVR and review note may be removed three years after their date of execution under 49 CFR 391.51(d). That differs from the general rule in 49 CFR 391.51(c), which keeps the DQ file for the duration of employment plus three years afterward.

Where Can a Carrier Keep the Records?

For carriers with multiple offices or terminals, 49 CFR 390.29 permits required records to be kept at the principal place of business, a regional office, or a driver work-reporting location unless another rule says otherwise.

Records maintained at a regional office or driver work-reporting location must be made available for FMCSA inspection at the principal place of business or another location specified by the authorized representative within 48 hours after a request. Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays do not count toward that 48-hour period.

What Happened to the Old 49 CFR 391.27 Violations List?

FMCSA eliminated the former annual driver-completed record-of-violations requirement in 2022. The Record of Violations final rule became effective May 9, 2022.

The change removed the duplicative requirement for drivers to prepare and submit an annual list of traffic convictions. It did not eliminate the carrier’s annual inquiry and review under 49 CFR 391.25.

Carriers should avoid both mistakes: continuing to treat the old §391.27 form as federally required, or assuming its removal ended the annual MVR review.

What Should a Carrier Look for During the Annual Review?

The regulation requires a real review, but this checklist is not a complete driver-qualification decision procedure. The carrier should confirm the record belongs to the correct driver and review information relevant to continued qualification.

FMCSA guidance says carriers should consider as much information about the driver’s experience as is reasonably available, including known violations and other information indicating a lack of due regard for public safety. When the MVR raises a licensing or disqualification question, verify the underlying issue before treating the annual review as complete.

Common Annual MVR Review Mistakes

The most common problems are process problems:

• treating the pre-employment MVR as the annual review;
• obtaining only the current licensing-authority record when another authority also applies to the 12-month period;
• keeping the MVR but not the required reviewer-name-and-date note;
• assuming an automated monitoring feed performs the carrier’s review automatically;
• continuing to use the obsolete §391.27 annual violations form as a federal requirement; and
• purging annual MVR records on the wrong retention schedule.

A recurring tracker should make the driver, last inquiry date, next due date, reviewer, and completion status visible without becoming a full compliance SOP.

How CDL Manager Helps With Annual Driver MVR Reviews

CDL Manager helps small and mid-size carriers manage recurring DQ-file work without building a full in-house safety department. Its DQ file management service includes annual-review management, while its broader managed compliance services connect MVR deadlines with license monitoring, medical-certification tracking, and other recurring driver requirements.

The goal is not to guarantee an audit result. It is to give annual MVR inquiries and reviews a clear owner, visible due dates, and organized documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the annual driver MVR review?

It is the annual inquiry and review required by 49 CFR 391.25. At least once every 12 months, the carrier obtains the driver’s MVR from each applicable licensing authority, reviews the record for continued qualification and disqualification issues, and keeps the required MVR and review note.

Does the pre-employment MVR satisfy the annual review requirement?

No. The pre-employment licensing-authority inquiry under 49 CFR 391.23 and the annual inquiry and review under 49 CFR 391.25 are separate requirements. Once the driver is employed, the carrier still needs a process for completing the annual MVR inquiry and documented review every 12 months.

What happened to the old 49 CFR 391.27 violations list?

FMCSA removed the annual driver-completed record-of-violations requirement effective May 9, 2022. That eliminated the duplicative §391.27 list, but it did not change the carrier’s annual obligations under 49 CFR 391.25 to obtain the applicable MVR, review it, and maintain the required documentation.

How long should annual MVR review records be kept?

Under 49 CFR 391.51(d), the annual MVR obtained under 49 CFR 391.25(a) and the review note required by 49 CFR 391.25(c)(2) may be removed three years after their date of execution. Other DQ-file records can follow different retention rules within the same section.

Can an employer notification system replace the manual MVR inquiry?

An employer notification system can satisfy the annual inquiry when it provides the required licensing-authority information, according to FMCSA guidance. The carrier still must perform the review required by 49 CFR 391.25(b) and retain the MVR and reviewer-name-and-date documentation required by paragraph (c).

Does the annual review note have to be signed?

49 CFR 391.25(c)(2) requires the note to include the name of the person who performed the driving-record review and the date of the review. The regulation does not separately require a signature or a specific FMCSA form, although carriers may use their own signed forms internally.

If your annual-review process still depends on spreadsheets, calendar reminders, or one person’s memory, CDL Manager can review the current files and help establish a managed process for the next review cycle.