FMCSA Announces Pre-Employment Screening Program

As mandated by Congress in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, Title 49 U.S. Code, section 31150 Public Law 109-59, Section 4117, the DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has recently announced the launch of their Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP). The PSP is a screening tool that allows motor carriers and individual drivers to purchase driving records from the FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Management Information System
(MCMIS). Records are available for 24 hours a day via Web request.

The FMCSA believes that making this driver data available to potential employers and operator-applicants will improve the quality of safety data and help employers make more informed decisions when hiring commercial drivers. The PSP provides more rapid access to commercial driver safety performance information than was previously available only under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or Privacy Act requests.

This program is a voluntary tool available to motor carriers. It includes:

• 5 years of crash data
• 3 years of inspection data
• Will not include conviction history
• Motor Carriers will be required to consent in writing that they will only use the records for pre-employment screening purposes,
• They also have to obtain the written consent of all applicants whose records they purchase, and that they will abide by regulations provided under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, among others.

The PSP is designed to assist the motor carrier industry in assessing individual operators’ crash and serious safety violation history as a pre-employment condition. There is a $10 fee for each driver’s history a carrier requests. An annual subscription fee of $100 will also apply. Carriers with fewer than 100 power units will qualify for a discounted annual fee of $25 per year. Individuals will be able to request a personal driving history for a fee of $10. No subscription is necessary for individual drivers.

Eventually, a drivers entire driving, licensing, medical and even drug and alcohol testing compliance history will be available via a web-based application much like this. Other businesses such as the insurance industry are prohibited from accessing the information. For more FAQ’s go to: http://www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov/Pages/FAQ.aspx

For information on the entire program, including how to enroll go to: http://www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov/Pages/default.aspx