Truck Driver Safety – Hiring and Background Checks

Ensuring road safety involves multiple elements, and hiring practices are one part of a comprehensive safety approach for commercial vehicles.

Anyone from the Beaumont area knows that I-10 can turn into a parking lot at any given moment. When it does and traffic stops, it is much easier to see just how much 18-wheeler traffic flows through this area. Commercial trucks have safety issues that are unique to the truck industry. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the lead federal government agency responsible for regulating and providing safety oversight of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), such as 18-wheelers. Its stated mission is to “reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.” Their efforts play a significant role in reducing crashes throughout Texas and primarily in the Beaumont area where we have so much commercial hauling related to the petrochemical industry.

In addition to regulatory oversight, industry practices often evolve as safety priorities develop in response to changing transportation needs.

In order to fulfill its safety mission of protecting drivers from automobile accidents, the FMCSA develops and enforces regulations that balance safety and efficiency in the trucking industry. These regulations are known as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR). In them, you will find safety regulations about (1) driver qualifications, (2) truck and trailer inspections, (3) drive-time limits to reduce fatigue-related accidents, (4) required post-accident drug and alcohol testing, among other topics relevant to keeping our roads safe.

These categories reflect areas where motor carriers and drivers interact with established standards designed to promote responsible operation.

One way the FMCSA reduces accidents is through ensuring that commercial trucks and trailers are driven by safe, qualified drivers. This is done by requiring employers (i.e., the motor carriers) to create application forms that gather information about that driver’s driving, safety, and work history. Potential employers are required to then verify this information to see if there are any safety concerns before hiring the person. Below is a summary of current FMCSR rules regarding driver background checks:

1. Application for Employment – 391.21: Every motor carrier must furnish an employment application form with the following information:
   1. The employing motor carrier’s name and address;
   2. The applicant’s name, address, date of birth, and social security number;
   3. The addresses the applicant has resided during the prior three (3) years;
   4. The application date;
   5. The issuing driver’s licensing authority, number, and expiration date of each unexpired commercial motor vehicle operator’s license or permit issued to the applicant;
   6. The nature and extent of the applicant’s experience in the operation of motor vehicles, including the type of equipment (such as buses, trucks, truck tractors, semitrailers, full trailers, and pole trailers);
   7. A list of all motor vehicle accidents in which the applicant was involved during the prior three (3) years, specifying the date and nature of each accident and any fatalities or personal injuries it caused;
   8. A list of all violations of motor vehicle laws or ordinances (other than violations involving only parking) the applicant was convicted or forfeited bond or collateral during the prior three (3) years;
   9. A statement setting forth in detail the facts and circumstances of any denial, revocation, or suspension of any license, permit, or privilege to operate a motor vehicle that has been issued to the applicant, or a statement that no such denial, revocation, or suspension has occurred; and
   10. A list of the names and addresses of the applicant’s employers during the prior three (3) years, including the dates of employment, the applicant’s reason for leaving the employer, and whether the applicant was subject to the FMCSRs while there.
2. Investigations and Inquiries – 391.23: After receiving the application, a motor carrier must then investigate the information provided to ensure it is correct by doing the following:
   1. Within 30 days, contact each State where the applicant has had a CMV license or permit in the past three (3) years;
   2. Investigate the driver’s safety performance history with DOT regulated employers during the preceding three (3) years. Copies of the applicant’s motor vehicle record(s) must be placed in the driver qualification file within 30 days and be retained. Investigations may be done via personal interviews, telephone interviews, letters, or any other method deemed appropriate; however, the carrier must make a written record with respect to each previous employer contacted, or good faith efforts to do so. The motor carrier must also document failures to contact a previous employer or that previous employer’s failures to provide required safety performance information; and
   3. Investigations must include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
      1. General driver identification and employment verification information;
      2. Data elements for accidents involving the driver in the prior three (3) years; and
      3. Whether the applicant violated federal alcohol or controlled substances prohibitions.
3. How to Assess Information – 391.25: In determining employment, motor carriers must consider evidence that a driver has previously violated any applicable FMCSRs and give great weight to driving violations such as speeding, reckless driving, or operating a vehicle while under the influence.

Properly investigating a driver’s background will not prevent every accident, but it will help to reduce them. We have handled many cases where these required background checks were either pencil-whipped or not done at all. Failure to perform driver background investigations increases the risk that an unqualified or outright dangerous driver will go unnoticed and cause a crash. From our experience, the failure to perform these basic investigations is usually indicative of a much larger problem with that company’s overall safety culture.

In a broader context, effective safety cultures often include regular review and improvement of hiring practices, training, and compliance measures.

We are experienced personal injury attorneys who have worked on many cases where we have uncovered background investigation violations that have contributed to crashes. These violations are not always obvious, and they require having a legal team that is familiar with the FMCSRs and experienced in uncovering violations. If you have been involved in an 18-wheeler or commercial motor vehicle wreck, we are a local, Beaumont personal injury attorney who can review your case to see if the failure to perform a required background check of an 18-wheeler truck driver played a part in your automobile wreck.