Job-site hazards get most of the safety talk, but the federal count of deaths at work keeps pointing at the road. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ count of fatal work injuries for 2024 says: “Transportation incidents continue to be the most frequent type of fatal event, accounting for 38.2 percent of all occupational fatalities in 2024.” That was 1,937 of the 5,070 people killed at work that year.
The Insurance Information Institute puts the employer’s side in one sentence: “Your organization is responsible for verifying a driver’s qualifications before entrusting him or her with a vehicle.” So yes, check the driving record. Here is how to do it lawfully, what to do with it, and when the federal truck rules start to apply to you.
Two lawful routes to a driving record
Through a screening company: the FCRA applies
If you order the record through a background-screening company, it is a consumer report. FTC staff said so in a 1998 advisory opinion: “Driving record checks and criminal record checks are covered by the FCRA when they are provided to an employer by a ‘consumer reporting agency’.” That means the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s steps: a stand-alone written disclosure, the applicant’s written permission, and, before you turn anyone down because of what the record says, a copy of the report and a summary of their rights, then a notice after the decision. The FTC’s employer guide sets out each step, and Background Checks on New Hires: The FCRA Steps walks through them in order.
From the state: the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act applies
State motor vehicle records are guarded by a federal law, 18 U.S.C. §2721. Its starting rule is that a state motor vehicle department “shall not knowingly disclose or otherwise make available to any person or entity personal information” from a motor vehicle record. Then it lists the uses that are allowed. Two matter to an employer:
For a pickup driver without a commercial license, the second one is your route: written consent first. The Insurance Information Institute gives the same advice for employees who drive their own cars on company business: ask them “to sign Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) authorization forms – to avoid privacy law issues – allowing your company to pull their Motor Vehicle records annually.” Ask your state’s motor vehicle agency how it handles employer requests.
Decide your standard before you read a record
The Institute’s advice is plain: “Hire employees with good driving records,” and “limit or ban driving by employees with a history of accidents or moving violations.” What counts as too much is your call, so make it in writing before the first record comes back, and apply it to every driver the same way. Say a plumbing shop writes: no license suspension in the last three years, no DUI in the last seven, and no more than two moving violations in the last three. Those numbers are the shop’s choice, not a rule from any agency; the point is that the standard exists before anyone is judged by it.
A record you bought through a screening company that leads you to say no brings the FCRA’s two notices with it. A no does not have to mean no job: a driver who misses your standard may still work as a helper who rides along.
What your insurer cares about
The same federal law lets insurers use motor vehicle records “in connection with claims investigation activities, antifraud activities, rating or underwriting.” In other words, your drivers’ records can bear on whether you are covered and what you pay. A few questions to settle with your agent, drawn from the Institute’s guide:
What each policy covers, and the gap a personal auto policy leaves, is in Contractor Insurance: Liability, Commercial Auto, Tools and Umbrella.
A one-page vehicle policy
The Institute’s list of practices makes a ready-made outline. Put it on one page and have every driver sign it:
When the federal DOT driver rules start to apply
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations turn on one definition, in 49 CFR §390.5. A commercial motor vehicle is one “used on a highway in interstate commerce to transport passengers or property” that has “a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight, of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more, whichever is greater,” or carries more than 8 passengers including the driver for pay, more than 15 not for pay, or placarded hazardous materials. Interstate commerce includes trips “between a place in a State and a place outside of such State.”
Two words do the work: combination and interstate. Say an HVAC company’s pickup is rated well under 10,001 pounds, but it tows an equipment trailer, and the truck-and-trailer combination is rated over that line. On a job across the state line, that rig meets the definition, even though neither piece does alone. Look up the ratings for your own trucks and trailers before you assume.
Once a driver is driving a commercial motor vehicle, Part 391 of the regulations asks the business for more than a good habit. Among other things:
A commercial driver’s license is a separate, higher line. Under 49 CFR §383.5 it starts at a rating of 26,001 pounds or more (for a combination, with a towed unit over 10,000 pounds), at 16 or more passengers, or with hazardous materials that need placards. The two lines are far apart: a truck can sit well under the license line and still be over the 10,001-pound line, which on an interstate trip brings every rule in the list above.
The 10,001-pound definition in §390.5 is about interstate commerce. The license rules are wider: Part 383 applies to every person who drives a commercial motor vehicle “in interstate, foreign, or intrastate commerce” (§383.3). If your trucks never leave the state, ask your state’s transportation or motor carrier agency which of the other rules it applies to trucks inside the state.
The short version
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and vary by state; check with the agency named above or a professional for your situation.