Opinion: For Hire -- New FMCSA Rules Apply

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B>By Adam Mertz

I>Senior Manager

nicru Inc.

Two new rules from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could soon have a substantial impact on the way motor carriers hire new drivers and put them to work. Known as the Safety Performance History (SPH) and Driver Investigation History Files (DIHF) regulations, here are a few suggestions to help separate the bark from the bite.

The rule on safety performance history for new drivers changes an important step in the hiring process by adding requirements for motor carriers to verify the driving and employment history of new drivers for the past three years. Now carriers must also verify safety performance information including accident involvement, a driver’s alcohol and controlled substance history, and any drug and alcohol rehabilitation efforts and/or failed efforts.

While carriers must respond within 30 days to a request for this information made by a driver’s new employer, American Trucking Associations has sent a petition to FMCSA requesting a change to five days.

The DIHF rule is scheduled to take effect Oct. 29. This new provision requires carriers to create a driver investigation history file for a holder of a commercial driver license whenever fleets perform a background investigation of a driver applicant. The DIHF is to be kept with the driver’s employment record, and is to follow him from employer to employer and contain at least three years employment history, background on any traffic violations and results of any previous drug or alcohol tests.

These new rules are already testing the trucking industry. In fact, I recently discussed some of these challenges with a large carrier that employs 50 people whose sole responsibility it is to manage the employment verification process.

Employees who might not remember their full work history, misstatements on applications, and even poor handwriting are just a few of the daily challenges faced by this group, contributing to a constant back-and-forth between recruiters, applicants and other carriers as they seek to verify a driver’s safety history.

Given that there will always be new and evolving FMCSA rules, there isn’t a silver bullet to solve the entire problem. However, with the aid of technology and solid business processes, we can remove some of the sting this paper-intensive process involves and enable a focus on improved internal communication and productivity in the hiring process. Here are a few best-practice suggestions:

Hiring Management Technology. Utilize technology to automate the hiring and starting processes. Not only can technology streamline these steps for you, but it can also eliminate a great deal of paperwork and administrative burden.

It can also help ensure that your recruiters can understand the verification process and that your employment-verification team has a view into recruiting. This two-way communication will allow the process to run more smoothly and effectively, as both parties have real-time access to the same information. It also will allow your recruiters to spend more time on strategy and recruiting good drivers to your organization and less time on the actual hiring process.

Prioritize. Prioritization is the key to maximizing recruiter efficiency. Presenting candidates to recruiters in such a way that the “hottest” prospects — those with the highest potential to pass your checks — are highlighted, is one of the best ways to prioritize recruiter resources. Automated assessments and other pre-qualification tools that illustrate a driver’s potential impact to your organization can be used early in the application process to help you define a driver’s priority.

This technology can be used to implement a consistent corporate policy and will help you get the best available drivers on the road as quickly, and intelligently, as possible.

Databases. Utilize and integrate third-party companies into your hiring workflow that have employee-verification databases. By scanning these databases for previous verified work histories, you can save time and money by immediately seeing results rather than waiting for a carrier’s response. By integrating the scan with your hiring management system, results can immediately be seen by your recruiting staff.

Moreover, by sending information on drivers who have left your organization to these providers, you can potentially save time verifying a driver’s history for future employers who also use such databases.

Technology, again, can help facilitate this process and enable a motor carrier to receive fairly substantial financial credits from their background check provider.

While presenting new challenges to the industry, these rules also present an opportunity for carriers to restructure their hiring processes and technology infrastructure with a focus on finding and hiring the highest quality drivers — drivers who will be with your organization for years to come.

Unicru, of Beaverton, Ore., provides automated workforce selection systems to industries, including trucking. The author specializes in transportation companies.

This story appeared in the Aug. 2 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.