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Professional drivers need to monitor, protect their driving records diligently

The cop pulled the Oklahoma truck driver over and asked if he had any ID. The driver looked at the cop, scratched his head, looked around, looked back at the cop and said, “’Bout whut?”

Motor carrier employers also want to see some ID, specifically your Commercial Driver’s License.

The CDL document gives them the information they need to order your driving record.

In fact, if you have been licensed in more than one state in the past three years, the carrier will order a record from each state.

The reason is because the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require them to “make an inquiry into the driver's driving record during the preceding three years to the appropriate agency of every state in which the driver held a motor vehicle operator's license or permit during those three years.”

As a professional driver, you should monitor your driving record to see what information it shows.

Violations drop off, administrative actions can be taken and it pays to know and protect your record. Incidentally, if you request your DAC report, you will not receive a copy of your MVR unless it has been ordered on you within the past 60 days by an employer or potential employer.

(If you are registered at www.dotjobhistory.com , you may request and obtain all your information online.)

A driving record from any state contains four basic categories of information:

Driver’s license status. The status indicates the type or class of license issued, what kinds of vehicles can be operated, what materials can be hauled, and any special conditions placed on the license. These permissions and limitations are known as endorsements and restrictions. Traffic violations and accidents. The core of the driving record is a list of traffic tickets for which there has been a conviction. Typical information includes date of issue, date of conviction, points assessed, type of court and court location. Accident involvement is also reported, but reporting who is at fault is spotty at best (See the article Crashes, Accidents, Incidents and Woopsie-Daisies in The Hire Road Archives at www.dotjobhistory.com/articles/crashes.asp). Administrative actions. The most common actions are suspensions, revocations, disqualifications or withdrawals taken against the individual’s driving privilege by a court or motor vehicle department. Personal information about the driver. This information includes the licensee’s address, height, weight, date of birth, social security number, photograph and in some states, medical information.
Keep in mind that states communicate with each other when a conviction occurs out of state or when a CDL driver moves out of state. The Commercial Driver License Information System (CDLIS) exists to serve as a clearinghouse of information related to all U.S. commercial drivers.

Understanding driving records and the information they contain can be surprisingly complex. Trucking companies have a harder time than most because they see driving records from multiple states and the state information, policies and codes change.

The good news is there are two excellent books written on the subject of MVRs.

I recommend any drivers and trucking companies wanting to understand the intricacies of MVRs to consider obtaining these resources.

The MVR Book. This book details the privacy restrictions, access procedures, regulations and systems of all state driver and vehicle records. The MVR Decoder Digest. This book translates the codes and abbreviations used on MVRs to report violations (including out-of-state) and license status categories for all states.
You may read more about these books or even order them online at www.brbpub.com/DOTJobHistory .

Derek Hinton has more than 20 years experience in the areas of employment screening, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Motor Carrier Safety regulations. He began his career at DAC Services in 1984 and is the author of “The Criminal Records Manual,” a book that details criminal records in the hiring process. Contact information for Hinton can be found at www.dotjobhistory.com .

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