What pre-employment screening must a new driver pass?

Chapter 01

What must be done before a new driver’s first load?

Five checks must be finished before a new driver hauls his first load for you. He fills in and signs your job application (the application rule). He passes your road test, or you accept his CDL in its place (the driving test rule). A full Clearinghouse query shows nothing that stops him (the Clearinghouse rule). You have a verified negative result from his drug test (the drug test rule). And his current State’s driving record shows a valid CDL and medical certificate (the hiring checks rule). The rest may follow within 30 days of his start.

Here is how that looks in real life. Say you run six trucks, tractors pulling dry vans. On Monday, October 5, 2026, a driver comes in to apply. He has a Class A CDL, the class for a tractor pulling a trailer (the CDL classes). He wants to start on Thursday, October 8. That gives you three days. We found no official figure for how long a lab or a State office takes to answer, so everything starts on Monday.

Start with the application. It is your form, but the rule says what it must ask (the application rule). He gives his name, address, date of birth and Social Security number. He lists every address from the past 3 years and each license he holds. He describes the trucks and trailers he has driven. He lists his crashes and his traffic convictions from the past 3 years, leaving out parking. He explains any license that was ever refused, suspended or taken away. He lists every employer from the past 3 years, with the dates and why he left. For each one, he says whether the job came under the federal trucking rules and drug testing. A CDL driver also lists his truck driving jobs from the 7 years before that, so 10 years in all (the CDL work history rule). Then he signs a line saying it is all true.

Before he hands it in, you owe him two notices. The first says you will contact his past employers to check his safety record. The second, in writing, tells him his rights. He can see what they send you, have mistakes fixed, and add his own statement if they will not fix them (the application rule). You can put both on the application form or on a separate sheet (the hiring checks rule).

His form shows three employers in 3 years. There is his last employer, where he drove until September. There is a carrier before that. And there is a small company that has since closed. He held an Indiana license until he moved to Ohio in 2025. So on Monday you go in this order:

1. He signs the application and a written consent for the drug and alcohol checks. You give him the two notices.
2. He approves a full query in the Clearinghouse, and you run it.
3. He goes for his drug test that afternoon.
4. You order his driving record from Ohio, his current State.
5. You send your requests to his three past employers and to Indiana.
6. You set a time on Wednesday to see him drive.

The Clearinghouse query shows whether he has a failed test, a refused test or another drug and alcohol violation on record. It must be a full query, and he must agree to it. If he refuses, he may not drive for you (the hiring checks rule). We explain how to buy a query, run it and read the result in our guide to Clearinghouse queries.

The drug test works the same way. He may not drive until you have a verified negative result. It comes from the medical review officer, the doctor who checks lab results (the drug test rule). There is a narrow exception. It covers a driver who was in another carrier’s testing program under these rules in the last 30 days and was tested recently. It needs written proof from that program, so read the rule before you rely on it. How this test fits into your whole program is in our guide to DOT drug testing.

The Ohio record does two jobs. It shows that his CDL is valid, of the right class and not suspended. You may not let him drive without that (the employer rule for CDLs). It also shows his medical status. For a CDL driver, you must use this record to check that he has a valid medical certificate before he drives (the hiring checks rule). If the card is missing, expired or does not match the record, see our guide to the DOT medical card.

Chapter 02

Does he need a road test, or does his CDL count?

He needs one or the other before he drives. You give him a road test in the type of truck he will drive, or you accept something the rules allow instead (the driving test rule). A valid CDL counts if the State issued it after a driving test in that type of truck. So does a certificate from a test another carrier gave him within the past 3 years. Whichever you accept, you keep a clear copy in his file (the rule on what may replace the test).

Start with the test itself. You give the test, or choose someone qualified to judge the driver’s skill. It must be long enough to judge him, in the truck and trailer you plan to give him. At a minimum, it covers eight things. He does the pre-trip inspection, couples and uncouples a trailer, and gets the truck ready to go. He shows he can use the controls and the emergency equipment. He drives in traffic and passes other vehicles. He turns, brakes, and slows down by means other than the brakes. And he backs up and parks (the driving test rule).

The person who tests him rates each of those on a form and signs it. If he passes, that person fills in a certificate of road test. It names the driver, the type of tractor and trailer, the date and about how many miles he drove, and the tester signs it. The driver gets a copy. You keep the signed form and the certificate in his file.

The second way is his CDL. The rules let you accept a valid CDL in place of the test. The State must have issued it after a driving test in the type of truck you will assign him (the rule on what may replace the test). His Class A license came after a driving test in a vehicle pulling a trailer, like yours. So you may accept it. There is one limit. The rule does not let the license stand in for the double and triple trailer endorsements or the tank endorsement. If you ran doubles or a tanker, you would test him yourself in that rig.

The third way is a certificate from a road test another carrier gave him. A copy counts if it is valid and was issued within the past 3 years. Either way, the copy goes in his driver qualification file. That is the file the rules make you keep on each driver (the rule on what may replace the test).

You accept his CDL. But the rules also let you require your own test of his driving skill, even when you accept a license. So on Wednesday you ride with him for an hour. You watch him inspect the truck, couple a trailer and back it to a dock.

That hour is a good time to check the general rules for every driver. A driver must be at least 21 years old. He must read and speak English well enough to talk with the public and understand road signs. He must be able to answer an officer’s questions and fill in reports (the general driver rule). His age is on his application. For English, the rules give no form, so you judge it by talking with him.

Chapter 03

What do we ask past employers, and what if they never answer?

Ask each employer he drove for in the past 3 years about his safety record. At a minimum, ask who he is, when he worked there, and what crashes he had in those 3 years. Each one must answer within 30 days of getting your request, even when there is nothing to report. If one never answers, or has closed, write down every try. The replies, or that written record, must be in his file within 30 days of his start (the hiring checks rule).

On Monday you send a request to each of the three. Put your address, phone, fax and email on it, so they know where to send the answer. The rule asks for that. First, ask for employment verification: that he worked there, and the dates. Then ask about his crashes in the 3 years before he applied. The rule points to the details a carrier keeps in its crash list. Those are the date and the place, the driver, the number of people hurt or killed, and any hazardous material spilled (the crash list rule).

What about drug and alcohol tests? Older checklists tell you to mail each past trucking employer a drug and alcohol questionnaire. Since January 6, 2023, the rules say to use the Clearinghouse for past employers under FMCSA instead (the rule on past drug and alcohol records). So the full query you ran on Monday covers it. You still ask a past employer directly in two cases. One is a job under another DOT agency’s testing rules, such as for an airline, a railroad or a city transit system. The other is a driver who has not finished his follow-up tests after a violation. Then you ask that employer for his follow-up testing plan. A direct request needs his written consent, and without it he may not drive (the hiring checks rule). All three of your driver’s employers were trucking companies, so the Clearinghouse covers them.

On Wednesday, his last employer faxes back. It confirms his dates. It lists one crash, in March 2025: a truck towed from the scene, with no one hurt. He says the other driver caused it. Whether a crash like this should stop you from hiring him is your decision.

The driver also has rights here, and you told him about them on Monday. He may ask you in writing to see what his past employers sent. You must give it to him within 5 business days of his request, or of the day the reply reaches you, if later. He may ask that employer to fix a mistake. The employer then has 15 days to send you a corrected reply or to tell him it will not change it. He may also send it his own statement, and it must forward that to you within 5 business days. This exchange has its own deadlines, separate from your 30-day deadline (the hiring checks rule).

The carrier before that never answers. The rule says it must, within 30 days of getting your request (the hiring checks rule). But you cannot make it answer. What you can do is keep a written record of each try. It names the employer and its address, gives the date of each contact or attempt, and says what you learned. Your log might read like this.

Past employer check for [driver’s name]. Carrier: [name, address, USDOT number].

• October 5: request sent by fax and by email, with our reply details.
• October 13: phoned the safety office and left a message.
• October 20: second request sent by mail.
• October 26: phoned again and was told “we will get to it”.
• November 5: still no reply. Reported the failure to FMCSA; copy attached.

The rule says you should report an employer that fails to answer to FMCSA, through its complaint procedure, and keep a copy in the file. A complaint goes in writing, and you sign it. It names the carrier, the rule it broke and the facts, with dates. You file it within 90 days after the event, through FMCSA’s National Consumer Complaint Database or with an FMCSA division office (FMCSA’s complaint rule).

When you call, one more fact may help. Some employers stay quiet for fear of being sued. The rule protects an employer who answers the way the rule sets out from claims such as defamation or invasion of privacy. That protection is lost if it knowingly gives false information (the hiring checks rule).

The small company that closed is simpler. Your letter comes back unopened, and its phone number is disconnected. You write that down the same way: the name, the address, the dates and what happened. Its drug and alcohol part is already covered, because the Clearinghouse query stands in for it. Some drivers had no job under DOT rules at all in those 3 years. For them, you write a note that no check was possible, and you file it within 30 days (the hiring checks rule).

You may also hear of PSP, short for FMCSA’s Pre-Employment Screening Program. It is an optional report, not one of the required checks. FMCSA describes it as a report from its own records. It shows a driver’s crashes from the past 5 years and his roadside inspections from the past 3 years (FMCSA’s notice on PSP, a 2022 FMCSA rule). The law behind it says you need the driver’s written consent. You may use it only while deciding whether to hire him (the federal law behind PSP). We could not check its current price, because FMCSA’s website blocks automated checks. It adds to the past employers’ replies. It does not replace them.

Chapter 04

What if something is missing when he is due to start?

Then he does not start. If any of the five checks is not done, he may not drive, not even one load. Move the start date, or give the load to someone else. The records with a 30 day deadline are different. He may drive while you wait for them. But if one shows a problem, such as a suspended license, you take him off the road that day (the employer rule for CDLs). And by day 30, every reply, or your record of trying, must be in his files (the hiring checks rule).

Back to your Thursday morning. You go through the five checks one last time. The application is signed, with both notices. His CDL copy is in the file in place of the test. The Clearinghouse query came back clear on Monday. The medical review officer reported a negative result on Wednesday. The Ohio record shows a valid Class A CDL and a current medical certificate. He takes his first load at noon.

Now say the drug test result had not come in by Thursday. He would wait in the yard, and the load would go to another driver. A promise that the result is on its way does not let you send him out (the drug test rule).

Then comes the part with a 30 day deadline. His job began on Thursday, October 8, so the 30 days run out on Saturday, November 7. Aim to finish by Friday, November 6. You need his driving record from every licensing authority that licensed him in the past 3 years, covering those 3 years (the hiring checks rule). For him, that means Ohio and Indiana. Ask each one in the way it requires. The Indiana record arrives on October 20, and it is clean. If a State never sent one, you would write down your tries, just as with the employer.

The wording of this part was fixed on July 21, 2026. It says again that you ask each “driver’s licensing authority”, not each “State”. FMCSA explains why. The wording ensures that you also check traffic convictions for drivers licensed outside the United States. The rule used those words from 2022, lost them by mistake in a 2023 cleanup, and has them back now (the July 2026 correction). It is a correction, not a new duty. But a checklist that says “every State” can make you miss a license from another country. If your driver held one in those 3 years, ask that authority too.

By Friday, November 6, his files hold everything. There is his last employer’s reply, with the crash and his statement. There is your log for the carrier that never answered, with a copy of your complaint, and your note on the closed company. And the two driving records are there.

These papers go into two files, kept apart. The driver qualification file holds the documents collected during the hiring checks: the application and the driving records from each licensing authority. It holds the CDL copy you accepted in place of the road test. It also holds the Ohio record that proves his medical status. The file grows over the years. You keep it while he works for you and for 3 years after he leaves (the driver file rule).

The past employers’ replies go into a separate file, which the rules call the driver investigation history file. It also holds his written consent for the drug and alcohol checks and your record of every try. Keep it locked, and let only the people who decide on hiring see it. Your insurer may see it too, but not the drug and alcohol part. Use it only to decide whether to hire him. Keep it while he works for you and for 3 years after (the rule on the past employer file).

These two files are how you prove the checks came first, and a safety auditor will ask to see them (what the auditor asks for). One driver who runs without a valid CDL is enough to fail a new carrier’s audit. So is one who is disqualified or not medically qualified (the automatic audit failures).

We can run these checks and keep both files for you, driver by driver: here is what it costs.