Top Off Your Transportation Package

At DISA, we work to provide employment screening services that meet industry-specific requirements and compliance standards. Our goal is always to help you make well-informed staffing decisions, so we tailor each custom package to meet requirements while enhancing your employee screening process.

What DOT Requires 

When setting up an employee screening process within the transportation industry, we begin by accounting for the Department’s numerous mandatory compliance requirements. DISA takes pride in being an industry expert, so we’re better able to assist you in executing the proper procedures and specifications to keep your company compliant.

The transportation industry requires that prospective employees must provide the following when undergoing employment screening:

• Creation and Maintenance of a Driver Qualification File (DQ File) - This ensures that the employer is qualifying each CDL driver they hire in accordance with DOT regulations for current and new CDL drivers. Each DQ file must contain several documents, including the application for employment, copies of MVR’s, a copy of the driver’s license and previous employer verifications. These all serve to qualify that the driver has the required credentials to work as a CDL driver. Driver Qualification files are subject to audit at any time by the DOT.
• Motor Vehicle Record -This qualifies that a driver has a valid CDL, and must be maintained in the drivers DQ file. A new Motor Vehicle Record must be obtained, reviewed and maintained in each driver’s file on an annual basis.
• Previous Employer Verification  - Employers can use this information to prove that a prospective driver is employable as a CDL driver. The mandated scope of the verifications includes all employers within the past three years for FMCSA, and the past two years for all other DOT agencies.
• 5-Panel DOT Urine Test  - This establishes that the driver applicant is not using any of the drugs included within the five panels.
• Random Testing Requirements   - All current CDL drivers are subject to annual random testing. Employers can manage the random processes themselves, but most elect to work with a TPA like DISA to assist in managing what can be a cumbersome process. This process is also subject to DOT audit at any time.
• DOT Small Client Consortium  - For clients with small driver pools, DISA offers a small client consortium. This allows them to participate in a randomized program with other small fleets and ensures compliance with DOT requirements.
• Supervisor Reasonable Suspicion/Cause Training  - This course reviews specific drugs of abuse, including marijuana, heroin, amphetamines, cocaine, PCP, predatory drugs and alcohol. It also provides information to raise awareness to the potential problems of drug and alcohol abuse, the consequences of substance abuse, the signs and symptoms of substance abuse, and what to do if you think you have an employee that has a drug or alcohol problem. This course meets the Department of Transportation’s minimum requirements for supervisor training on substance abuse.

What DISA Recommends in Addition to the Industry Requirements

Not only does DISA meet and complete these requirements and rules, but the additional options we provide in a streamlined package will help you secure a safe hire.

Pre-Employment Background Check  

While there are background check requirements set forth within the DOT mandates, their goal is to ensure that an employee has the credentials and the ability to perform their job duties safely. However, this focus does not consider other types of dangers and liabilities that an employee can pose. Utilizing DISA’s broader scope of services provides employers with a more comprehensive picture of each potential employee’s liabilities.

Pre-employment screening package example 

• Criminal History Report  - Multiple types of criminal record reports are available to employers. They range from federal searches to state repository searches to county-level searches. DISA recommends our SafetyNet product, which focuses on county- and state-level criminal records. We also recommend that, for employees who will have fiduciary responsibilities, a Federal Criminal Search be performed.
• CDLIS Report (For All CDL Driver Hires)   - This report helps prospective employers of CDL drivers determine where applicants have held a CDL license within the past three years. This information allows employers to verify that certain information on the driver application is correct, and gives them a roadmap for ordering MVR’s.
• PSP Report  -This report helps CDL driver employers by providing five previous years of crash history information, and three previous years of roadside inspection history information. This information provides a comprehensive view of driver applicants’ commitment to safety.
• Patriot Act Search - This report screens individuals against multiple governmental databases focused on those with ties to terrorism, either through support or direct participation. With the recent use of large vehicles to commit terrorism, this report is critical in preventing someone who has been flagged by these agencies access to a large and potentially dangerous vehicle.
• Adverse Action Service  - This service must either be handled internally, or through the background check provider. It is mandated for all employers to use with all applicants by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Pre-Employment Hair Test  

This is the most stringent drug testing methodology available, and it is the best way to ensure that you don’t employ a person who is abusing drugs. While most urine testing covers a time window of five to 30 days, the hair test covers a window from five to 90 days. Covering this longer window prevents a drug user from just “cleaning up” for a few weeks to pass a pre-employment urine test. Other added benefits of hair testing include the reduced chances an adulterant can be used to mask drug use, and eliminating other issues involved with collecting a urine sample. DISA partners with Psychemedics, the leading hair testing laboratory in the U.S.

Online DOT Driver Courses  Various online training courses for drivers are offered within DISAWorks. Courses include Driver Awareness, Substance Abuse in the Workplace, Pre/Post Trip Inspection Training, HAZMAT Transportation Enhanced Security Training, Defensive Driving Techniques and more.

Our transportation packages meet all DOT compliance requirements, and they include procedures and reporting that will continue to reduce liability and maintain a safe workplace for your staff. Contact a DISA sales representative today to create a custom package that meets your needs.

DISA can help! Get answers directly from DISA’s subject matter experts with ‘Ask DISA’

Visit www.askdisa.com to ask your questions today.

Founded in 1986, DISA is the industry-leading provider of employee screening and compliance services. Headquartered in Houston, with more than 35 offices throughout the U.S. and Canada, DISA’s comprehensive scope of services includes drug and alcohol testing, background check, occupational health, and transportation compliance. DISA assists employers in making informed staffing decisions while building a culture of safety in their workplace.