In May, PSP information became available to drivers and motor carriers. PSP information consists of records from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations (FMCSA) Motor Carrier Information System (MCMIS) and contains the most recent 5 years of crash data and 3 years of roadside inspection data from the FMCSA MCMIS system.
You have no doubt been hearing and reading about CSA2010. This PSP information affects a motor carrier’s score, so this may become an important component of their screening process.
This availability is brand new: it is not known how many carriers will order the information, how the information will affect eligibility for hire (though I’ll take a wild guess here and wager that a report with a lot of crash data will do some affecting) and how often a particular carrier will use (i.e., will they order it on every driver applicant, only drivers they are prepared to hire or somewhere in between).
In the early-1980s, computerized MVRs arrived on the scene; the late 1980s brought DAC employment history reports; in the early 1990s, criminal records began to be used. Outside of a few other, less important screening reports, not much has changed in the past decade or so. So this information will probably affect drivers’ eligibility for employment more than any other new information that has arrived in a decade. It should be noted that motor carriers are NOT required to obtain this information when hiring drivers—it is up to their discretion.
My recommendation to DOTJobHistory driver members has been that, like your driving, DAC, employment, and infraction/misdemeanor/felony record information, you should obtain your PSP information, see what it says and correct any errors. (DOTJobHistory members: log into your account at http://www.dotjobhistory.com/index.asp?partnerid=ticketvoid, click on “Order PSP Report” and read more or order your report). If you are not registered with DOTJobHistory, I would still recommend you obtain your report.
The cost of the report is $10. The turnaround time is typically immediate. If you do find errors or misinformation on your report, all requests to correct information must be handled by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Department of Transportation
Again, it remains to be seen how critical a driver’s PSP report will be to his eligibility for driving employment. On the one hand, motor carriers are not required to order the information, it’s not cheap and insurance companies will not be able to order PSP reports as they can do with MVRs (driving records). On the other hand, insurers may review carrier driver qualification files while “suggesting” to their carrier insured’s that they obtain this information prior to hire and follow their underwriting guidelines regarding same.
In spite of these “known unknowns and unknown unknowns” I would advise obtaining all your information including your PSP report. If there are errors, correct them. If the information is not good, know what you’re dealing with. If the information is good—use your information to get the job you desire.

Derek Hinton

Here in Oklahoma, in the 1980s, the conventional wisdom was that energy, specifically oil, prices could only go up. After Three Mile Island, new nuclear power was at a standstill. Developing nations, to say nothing of the industrialized world would need more oil. OPEC was a cartel who controlled much of the world supply, some of the countries weren’t too stable and they would not do anything to slay their golden goose. Meanwhile, not much of the world was left unexplored for new oil and there sure didn’t seem to be any new dinosaurs dying to make new oil. So what happened? For a good decade the price of oil tanked. Oil is still relatively cheaper than 30 years ago. There’s a lot of faded bumper stickers on cars around Oklahoma that say “Dear God: Please let there be another oil boom. I promise not to [whiz] it away this time.”

This is similar to the “driver shortage” conventional wisdom of a few years back. Trucking companies needed drivers and they needed them now. The “old breed” of drivers were retiring. Young, potential drivers had other, more attractive career opportunities. Increased regulations and standards (drug testing, CDL testing, etc.) would further limit the demographic pool. Motor carrier transport as opposed to other forms of transport kept growing. Also, commercial driving was one job you couldn’t out-source to China. As a professional driver with even a halfway reasonable record, driving jobs were easy to come by.

And what has happened? If you’re like most drivers, you’ve discovered that it is not as easy to get a job as it used to be. I spoke with Brian Thomforde, CEO of Truckdriver.com, one of DOTJobHistory’s partners, a while back and there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. Brian has been in the business since 1996, and said “Some companies are starting to look for drivers again, although nothing like in the past.”

But one of the problems for drivers in the job hunt is that the downturn sent many past employers out of business. And so when potential employers try to verify past employment, the company has gone out of business and the employment is tough to verify. In the past several months, I have had far more conversations with drivers in which they have obtained their MVR, criminal record database scan, SSN check and “DAC Report” through our service and the DAC report does not list even half their employment. Many of their other past employers have gone out of business. And at the same time, because most employers are not desperate for drivers, they can afford to be more selective than they have in past times.

So what is the driver to do when faced with more selective companies (who will most certainly want to verify previous employment) when past employers are not around? The drivers who are getting jobs, at least the better jobs, are those who are those that make it easy on potential employers. Having an MVR, criminal record scan, correct DAC report has always been a good idea—a “secret weapon” for many drivers today is a verified report from the IRS that lists past employers of the past 5 years. In this way, regardless of whether the company has gone out of business, or reports to DAC, a potential driver employee can prove employment. (And speaking of the IRS, fees that you spend in your job search are tax deductible.)

The old conventional wisdom for getting a job is changing—but if you’re looking for a driving job, there are things you can do to stay a step ahead.
Derek Hinton

A Truck driver husband and wife are shopping in their local Wal-Mart. The husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts it in their cart. [They’re in their personal car and off duty of course.]
“What do you think you’re doing?” asks the wife.
“They’re on sale, only $10 for 24 cans,” he replies.
“Put them back, we can’t afford them,” demands the wife, and so they carry on shopping.
A few aisles further on along, the woman picks up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket…
“What do you think you’re doing?” asks the husband.
“It’s my face cream. It makes me look beautiful,” replies the wife.
Her husband retorts: “So do 24 cans of Budweiser and they’re half the price.”
The store intercom crackles and an announcement is made: “Cleanup on aisle 25, we have a husband down.”

There are times when even though something is true, it’s better left unsaid. If you’ve been married long enough, you know that to be true. If you’ve been in the working world long enough, you probably also know that to be true. (If I could go back in time, I’d sew my smart mouth shut a few times.)

Some of the times when less is better are when you are rebutting (adding your version of events) to an employment reference that has been provided by one of your former employers. There is an art to this. On the one hand, you should always dispute and provide all manner of proof to rebut something on your employment history that is false. You should guard your good employment history as your livelihood depends on it.

That said, there are occasions when things are better left unsaid. To give an extreme example, I remember one driver who had a “no show” on his DAC employment history. He had refused dispatch and wanted to state that, being a safe driver, he had been to a party and was in no condition to drive or take a drug test should his name be picked. For a potential employer, this rebuttal would have made things worse, not better. The goal of a rebuttal is to improve your employment chances, and even though something may be true, or it might feel really good to lambast your past employer, it pays to be smart when rebutting a negative employment reference.

Smarter still is to take steps to avoid having to rebut something in the first place. Attempt to leave an employer on the best of terms—though it might feel good to cause them some grief. Give written notice of your leaving and keep a copy of the notice. During your employment if your equipment is damaged in any way, document the circumstances and damage.

If there is something wrong with your history, dispute it with all the documentation you can provide. Having something removed is preferable to rebutting something. If you need to rebut something, try to keep it short, direct and pertinent. “I had just gotten in a fight with my wife,” “I was talking on the cell phone,” “the dispatcher was a 400 pound jerk” all may be true—but don’t help your cause. If you rebut with multiple paragraphs every employment history you’ve ever had, potential employers may be turned off.

If you’re registered with DOTJobHistory, we’re here to assist, but even if you’re not, you can help your cause by thinking through your rebuttal and keeping potential future employers in mind.
Derek Hinton

In February 2008 FMCSA launched a field test of the Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010). CSA 2010, is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce commercial motor vehicle (CMV)-related crashes, injuries and fatalities.
• February 2008 the Operational Model was implemented in Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, and New Jersey. Quantitative and qualitative data relating to the CSA 2010 Operational Model will be collected through the conclusion of the test in mid-2010.
• CSA 2010 shall develop a new Safety Measurement System (SMS) that will use all roadside inspection and crash data and the development of a new interventions toolbox to deal efficiently and effectively with safety problems of various natures and different levels (as identified in SMS).
The most critical factor in the determination of your safety profile will be based on the last 12 months of your driving history. Violations that have occurred in the last 12 months will have their point value tripled in the calculation of your safety profile. A speeding ticket violation for 3 points will count as 12 points in determining your safety profile.

Each driver shall be assigned a percentile from 0 to 100; a score of 100 indicates the worst performance. Each time you sit behind the wheel remember that unsafe driving for a deadline could create a negative blemish on your Safety Profile.

• Initial field test shall encompass about 50 percent of the carriers and government resources in each State. New interventions are being applied to all interstate and hazmat motor carriers domiciled in these States utilizing all government resources on the test.
• In spring 2009, FMCSA added Montana and Minnesota to the test group.
• December 2010 shall be the full implementation of CSA 2010.
CSA 2010 Operational Model has three major components:
• Measurement
• Evaluation
• Intervention
1) Measurement - CSA 2010 shall measure safety performance in a new format, by evaluating inspection and crash results to identify carriers whose behaviors could reasonably lead to crashes.
Carriers shall be evaluated under a Safety Measurement System which uses a motor carrier’s data from roadside inspections, including all safety-based violations, State-reported crashes, and the Federal motor carrier census to quantify performance in the following Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs).
Carriers shall be evaluated by CSA 2010 BASICs:
• Vehicle Maintenance — Failure to maintain commercial vehicle. Violations: Brakes, lights, mechanical defects and failure to make required repairs. (FMCSR Parts 393 and 396)
• Driver Fitness: Has the driver operated a commercial vehicle when unfit. Unfit operation would be qualified as lack of experience, medical problem or lack of training. Violations: Failure to have a valid and appropriate commercial driver’s license and being medically unqualified to operate a CMV. (FMCSR Parts 383 and 391)
• Unsafe Driving: Has driver incurred the following violations: improper lane change, reckless driving, speeding and inattention. (FMCSR Parts 392 and 397)
• Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service): Has driver operated commercial vehicle in non- compliance with Hours of Service. Violations: Operating a CMV while ill or fatigued and logbook violations. (FMCSR Parts 392 and 395)
• Controlled Substances/Alcohol — Operation of commercial vehicle when impaired by illegal drugs, prescription drugs or alcohol. Violations: Use or possession of controlled substances/alcohol. (FMCSR Parts 382 and 392)
• Cargo-Related — Failure to properly prevent shifting loads, spilled or dropped cargo, overloading, and unsafe handling of hazardous materials on a CMV. Violations: Failure to secure loads properly, retention of cargo, size/weight, and handling of hazardous material. (FMCSR Parts 392, 393, 397 and HM Violations)
• Crash Indicator— Histories or State-reported crashes. Is there a pattern of high crash involvement and how severe was the accident

2) Evaluation – Safety evaluation is the process of determining how to address carriers with poor safety performance. SMS allows FMCSA to more effectively evaluate safety performance using new measures.
• CSA 2010 will help FMCSA and its State partners cure risk behavior by contacting more carriers and drivers, with interventions tailored to their specific safety problem, as well as a new safety fitness determination methodology.
• CSA 2010 shall recognize which carriers require what type of intervention using a policy-driven process called intervention selection.
• Determine which carriers should be proposed “unfit” to operate, using a regulatory process called Safety Fitness Determination (SFD).
• (An Unfit Suspension will prohibit a carrier from operating, based on the conclusion of a SFD. The details of Unfit Suspension will be described in the SFD Rulemaking.)

3) Intervention - CSA 2010 encompasses the full range of safety issues – from how data is collected, evaluated, and shared to how enforcement officials can intervene most effectively and efficiently to improve safety on our roads.
• FMCSA and State partners will use measurement results to identify carriers for CSA 2010 interventions. These interventions will offer an expanded suite of tools ranging from warning letters to comprehensive on-site investigations that supplement the labor-intensive compliance review to better address the specific safety problems identified.
• CSA 2010 investigators will be equipped to systematically evaluate why safety problems are occurring, to encourage and recommend remedies or corrective action(s), and, where corrective action is inadequate, to invoke strong penalties. Interventions shall give carriers the information necessary to understand their safety problems and provide a remedy to unsafe behavior early on.
Interventions under CSA 2010 can be broken into 3 basic categories:
• Contact
• Investigation
• Follow-Up

• Contact
• Warning Letter - Correspondence sent to a carrier’s place of business that specifically identifies a deficient BASIC(s) and outlines possible consequences of continued safety problems. The warning letter provides instructions for accessing carrier safety data and measurement as well as a point of contact.
• Carrier Access to Safety Data and Measurement - Carriers have access to their measurement results (BASICs scores), as well as the inspection reports and violations that went into those results. With this information, carriers can chart a course of self-improvement. Carriers can also monitor this data for accuracy and challenge it as necessary through FMCSA’s DataQs system: https://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov/login.asp.
• Targeted Roadside Inspection - CSA 2010 provides roadside inspectors with data that identifies a carrier’s specific safety problems, by BASIC, based on the new measurement system. Targeted roadside inspections occur at permanent and temporary roadside inspection locations where connectivity to the SMS information is available. As Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) technologies evolve they will be incorporated into the roadside inspections.

• Investigation
• Off-site Investigation - A carrier is required to submit documents to FMCSA or a State partner. These documents are used to evaluate the safety problems identified through the SMS and to determine their root causes. Types of documents requested may include third party documents such as toll receipts, border crossing records, or drug testing records. The goal is to identify issues responsible for poor safety performance. If the carrier does not submit requested documents they may be subject to an on-site investigation or to subpoena records (see below).
• On-site Focused Investigation - The purpose of this intervention is to evaluate the safety problems identified through the SMS and their root causes. An on-site focused investigation may be selected when deficiencies in two or less BASICs exist. “Focused” on-site investigations target specific problem areas (for example, maintenance records), while “comprehensive” on-site investigations address all aspects of the carrier’s operation.
• On-site Comprehensive Investigation - This intervention is similar to a CR and takes place at the carrier’s place of business. It is used when the carrier exhibits broad and complex safety problems through continually deficient BASICs, worsening multiple BASICs (three or more), or a fatal crash or complaint.

• Follow-Up
• Cooperative Safety Plan (CSP) - Implemented by the carrier, this safety improvement plan is voluntary. The carrier and FMCSA collaboratively create a plan, based on a standard template, to address the underlying problems resulting from the carrier’s substandard safety performance.
• Notice of Violation (NOV) - The NOV is a formal notice of safety deficiencies that requires a response from the carrier. It is used when the regulatory violations discovered are severe enough to warrant formal action but not a civil penalty (fine). It is also used in cases where the violation is immediately correctable and the level of, or desire for, cooperation is high. To avoid further intervention, including fines, the carrier must provide evidence of corrective action or initiate a successful challenge to the violation.
• Notice of Claim (NOC) - An NOC is issued in cases where the regulatory violations are severe enough to warrant assessment and issuance of civil penalties.
• Settlement Agreement - A Settlement Agreement is a contract negotiated with the carrier to enact remedies that address the root cause of a safety problem, defer or reduce penalties, or terminate enforcement proceedings.
• CSA 2010 mandates proactive and progressive interventions for carriers and drivers that have been identified with safety deficiencies. CSA 2010 interventions are unique tools designed to communicate, investigate, and correct carrier safety performance problems before crashes occur. The interventions increase in severity and degree of interaction based on the risk posed by the carrier. FMCSA and its state partners will use CSA 2010 interventions to maintain a strong enforcement presence by more effectively targeting motor carrier safety deficiencies soon after those problems are identified.

FMSCA has the goal of incorporating the following attributes in the industry:
• FLEXIBILITY - Adapt to Changing Environment. Accommodates changes to the transportation environment, such as evolutions in technology and changing programmatic responsibilities.
• EFFICIENCY - Maximize Use of Resources. Improves Federal and State enforcement staff productivity, as well as the safety performance of members of the motor carrier community.
• EFFECTIVENESS - Improve Safety Performance. . Identifies behaviors associated with safety risk; focuses compliance, enforcement, and remediation efforts on those unsafe behaviors.
• INNOVATION - Leverage Data and Technology. Improves safety through the innovative use of technology to track and update safety performance data.
• EQUITABILITY - Be Fair and Unbiased. Assesses and evaluates motor carrier safety and enforces Federal laws and safety regulations to ensure consistent treatment of similarly situated members of the motor carrier community.