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FMCSA launching online driver records
By Max Kvidera
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Oct. 7 it plans to start a Driver Pre-Employment Screening Program in December that expands on private programs by allowing carriers to access driver inspection and crash records electronically.
Private companies, notably the former USIS with its DAC reports, now called HireRight, provide employment screening and other services, including motor vehicle records. A Department of Transportation spokesperson said fees for FMCSA’s program haven’t been set.
Currently federal and state law enforcement personnel have access to commercial driver safety records, and drivers can obtain the information through the Freedom of Information Act. After the pre-employment screening program is triggered, driver safety records will be made available to motor carriers regardless of state or jurisdiction. Under federal privacy laws, drivers must give written consent for their records to be released, as they do for DAC reports.
The new program will allow more carriers to have more information to assess a prospective driver safety risk, FMCSA said. And drivers will have additional opportunities to verify their driving history data and correct discrepancies.
The new program will make use of FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). MCMIS data includes roadside inspection and compliance review results, enforcement data, state-reported crashes and motor carrier census data.
“Making this information more transparent will make our roads and highways safer for everyone,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
FMCSA has awarded NIC Technologies a one-year contract for the program, with four, single-year renewals, NIC said.
Users will probably will pay an annual $100 subscription fee and a $10 transaction fee for each record pulled. Additional fees exist for records requested via fax or mail. Individual drivers requesting their own record will not pay a subscription fee, NIC said.
Kent Ferguson, HireRight director of transportation solutions, said the FMCSA’s new Driver Pre-Employment Screening Program will offer up to three years of driver inspection information and up to five years of crash data.
HireRight, the leading company for driver pre-employment checks, still offers information that is not provided in the Driver Pre-Employment Screening program. These include employment motor vehicle reports from 50 states, criminal record checks on a county and state level and a proprietary database of 3,000 companies on employment history.
“This (DPES) is just going to be a new pierce of information they can use,” Ferguson said. “We have started dialogue on how we can get access to its information for our customer base.”
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