The full picture

Carriers prepare for new pre-employment screening era

By Aaron Huff

Carriers soon will be able to access a driver’s crash and inspection history from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is making this data available for its new pre-employment screening program (PSP).

This news may not seem revolutionary since fleets already can access this data on their own drivers through FMCSA’s Compass portal. But now the entire motor carrier industry will be able to access this data to assess individual drivers when making hiring decisions. The PSP reports will include five years of U.S. Department of Transportation-recordable crash data and up to three years of roadside inspection violation information.

CSA 2010 will force fleets to be more selective in hiring.

Obtaining driver crash and inspection history through PSP reports is not required by law, but anytime Congress mandates FMCSA to make information available, it “behooves motor carriers to use the data,” says Kent Ferguson, director of transportation solutions at HireRight, a provider of pre-employment screening services.