How Far Back Does an MVR Go? The Federal Rule Asks for a 3-Year Driving History
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For the pre-employment inquiry, the federal rule answers this in one sentence. 49 CFR 391.23(a)(1) requires an inquiry, within 30 days of the date the driver’s employment begins, “to each State where the driver held or holds a motor vehicle operator’s license or permit during the preceding 3 years, to obtain that driver’s motor vehicle record covering that driver’s prior 3-year driving history.”
Three years is what you must obtain. It is not a cap on what a state will send you. How long an entry survives on the record you buy is set by the licensing agency, not by part 391.
How far back does an MVR go?
At hire, it must cover the driver’s prior three-year driving history. Whether it reaches further is the issuing state’s decision. Part 391 binds you; state retention law binds the agency. The one federal floor on the record itself sits in part 384, which binds the states: under 384.225(d) a state retains convictions, disqualifications and other licensing actions on the CDLIS driver record for at least three years, longer where § 384.231(d) requires it.
So identical queries on the same driver in two states can come back with different depth, and neither is defective as long as both cover the prior three years.
What does 391.23(a)(1) require you to obtain?
A record covering the prior three-year driving history from every state that licensed the driver in the preceding three years, in the file within 30 days of the first day of employment. The load-bearing word is held. A driver who surrendered a Georgia CDL fourteen months ago and now carries a Tennessee CDL puts two states in scope, not one. 391.23(b) then puts each record in the driver qualification file within the same 30 days, requires the inquiry to be made in the form and manner the authority prescribes, and requires documentation of a good faith effort where an agency sends nothing back.
| Pre-employment inquiry | Annual inquiry | |
|---|---|---|
| Rule | 391.23(a)(1) | 391.25(a) |
| Which agencies | Each State where the driver held or holds a license or permit in the preceding 3 years | Each licensing authority where the driver held a commercial license or permit in the period |
| Period the record covers | The driver’s prior 3-year driving history | ”At least the preceding 12 months” |
| Deadline | Within 30 days of the date employment begins | At least once every 12 months |
| Where it lands | DQ file, 391.23(b) | DQ file, plus a note of reviewer and date, 391.25(c) |
Build the state list before you order anything
What you do: take the license history off the application under 391.21, confirm it against the CDL in hand, order one MVR per state on that list, and diary the 30-day date on the driver’s first day.
Status: required. 391.23(a)(1) is written per state, not per driver.
The gotcha: the application does not reliably surface the second state. 391.21(b)(5) collects the issuing authority, number and expiration date of each unexpired commercial license or permit. 391.23(a)(1) reaches any motor vehicle operator’s license or permit held in the three years, commercial or not, current or surrendered. The three years of addresses under 391.21(b)(3) and the statement of any denial, revocation or suspension under 391.21(b)(9) are the fields that betray a state the license list left out.
Where carriers actually go wrong
Not on depth. On the list of agencies. A Kansas record reaching back five years does not discharge the obligation to query Oklahoma, and a second state that never gets asked leaves a hole 391.23(b) expects either a record or a documented good faith effort to fill.
Two caveats. If you buy the MVR through a screening company rather than direct from the state, federal consumer-reporting law may constrain what the report includes and how far back it goes — a question for your counsel, not for part 391. And do not substitute the driver’s own certified list of violations: 49 CFR 391.27 was rescinded by a final rule effective 9 May 2022 and now reads [Reserved].
What an MVR cannot tell you, at any depth
It records convictions and licensing actions, and is silent on everything a state does not adjudicate. A clean five-year record and a clean three-year record say the same thing: no court reported a conviction. That is why 391.23 pairs it with an investigation of safety performance history under (a)(2), why the Clearinghouse query is separate, and why the PSP report exists. Even together, those records have no field for whether the driver abandoned a load, no-showed after orientation, damaged equipment without a citation, or left mid-contract.
That gap is what cdlscan addresses: reviews written by carriers that actually employed the driver, about conduct no state adjudicates. It is a layer on top of the checks part 391 requires, never a substitute for any. Before using third-party information in a hiring decision, confirm with your own counsel which obligations attach under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Frequently asked questions
Does the MVR itself have to cover three years?
Yes. 391.23(a)(1) requires the record to cover “that driver’s prior 3-year driving history.” The same sentence fixes which states you ask.
The record came back covering less than three years. What now?
Go back to the agency in the form and manner it prescribes and ask for the full three-year history, and keep the request with the file. 391.23(b) also requires documented good faith effort where an authority returns nothing.
A driver held licenses in three states in three years. Do I need all three MVRs?
Yes. The rule is written per state, and it reaches licenses the driver held as well as the one he holds. All three go in the DQ file within 30 days of the date employment begins.
Is the annual inquiry the same query as the pre-employment one?
No. 391.25(a) is narrower on both axes: it reaches the authorities where the driver held a commercial license or permit, and asks for a record covering at least the preceding 12 months. See annual review of the driving record. For a state’s retention schedule beyond the federal minimum, ask that agency.
General compliance information for motor carrier hiring and safety staff, not legal advice. Every section cited here was read against the current CFR text on govinfo.gov and law.cornell.edu in July 2026 — 49 CFR 391.21, 391.23, 391.25 and 391.27, and 49 CFR 384.225 and 384.231. State retention periods beyond the federal minimum are state law and are not printed here; confirm the current schedule with the issuing agency. Last reviewed 2026-07.