Transportation companies must complete Safety Performance History Records Requests (SPHRR) for prospective CDL drivers to comply with industry regulations and ensure the drivers they hire have safe driving records.
Failing to include SPHRRs as a part of your background screening process can expose your company to penalties, fines, and significant liability risks.
Here’s what employers in the transportation industry need to know about SPHRRs and how to conduct them.
Key Takeaways
- SPHRRs help employers ensure the drivers they hire are responsible and safe.
- These types of requests are required by FMCSA regulations and must be conducted on prospective CDL drivers and new hires no later than 30 days following their hiring dates.
- Companies should also perform several other types of background checks, including criminal records checks, employment verification, MVR checks, DOT physicals and pre-employment drug screens, so that they can make more informed and compliant hiring decisions.
What Is a Safety Performance History Records Request (SPHRR)?
A Safety Performance History Records Request (SPHRR) investigates a driver’s safety and performance record with DOT-regulated employers during the last three years.
This investigation includes a search of the FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse database and an inquiry from former employers about the applicant’s history of moving violations and accidents.
Why Are Safety Performance History Records Important?
Driver SPHRRs are important for the following reasons:
1. Maintain Regulatory Compliance
DOT-regulated trucking companies are required to investigate the safety and performance records of all drivers they hire.
Conducting SPHRRs on each prospective CDL driver and retaining the information ensures the employer can maintain regulatory compliance and avoid potential fines and other problems.
2. Protect Public Safety
Hiring drivers who have a history of moving violations, traffic accidents, and documented substance abuse places everyone traveling on the roads around them at risk.
Safety Performance History Records Requests help employers to screen out unsafe, incompetent drivers and reduce the risk of serious accidents.
3. Reduce Negligent Hiring Liability Risks
When trucking companies fail to conduct thorough DOT background checks on every applicant, they run the risk of hiring dangerous drivers who could seriously harm others.
If a company hires a driver without performing a Safety Performance History Records Request, the company could face substantial negligent hiring liability if the driver subsequently causes a serious injury or fatal accident.
4. Create a Strong Safety Culture
Performing SPHRRs on every DOT regulated driver and establishing background check policies and processes that emphasize safety can help to create a positive culture within the workplace that prioritizes safety.
This can help to reduce potential accidents and injuries and encourage employees to report unsafe practices that should be addressed.
5. Mitigate the Risk of Losses
Conducting SPHRRs can help employers ensure the drivers they hire are safe, trustworthy, and responsible.
Having a team of good, dependable drivers can help to reduce the risk of losses caused by accidents, injuries, lawsuits, penalties, and high turnover rates.
What Shows up on a Safety Performance History Records Request?
If a driver has substance abuse violations within the past three years, a check of the federal Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse will reveal the following information:
- Any alcohol tests showing a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04% or higher while on duty for CDL truck drivers or 0.02% for CDL bus drivers
- Any confirmed positive results on DOT drug tests
- Any refusals to submit to drug or alcohol tests
- Any other violations of the FMCSA’s drug and alcohol regulations under Parts 382 or 40
- Whether the driver successfully completed a return-to-duty substance abuse program following drug or alcohol violations
A request for safety performance history information sent to the driver’s former employers will show the following information:
- Information about any accidents the driver was involved in, including date, location, number of injuries, and number of fatalities, if applicable
- Verification of the applicant’s employment dates, vehicle miles driven, types of commercial vehicles operated, and job description for each employer during the past three years
- Information about other accidents involving the driver
Know Before You Hire
Which Drivers Must Regulated Companies Screen?
Trucking companies must complete safety performance history records requests for the following drivers who are regulated by the FMCSA:
- Those who will operate commercial vehicles in interstate commerce weighing 10,001 pounds or more
- Drivers who drive commercial vehicles for compensation designed to transport eight or more people (including the driver)
- Drivers who drive commercial vehicles not for compensation to transport 15 or more passengers
- Drivers who drive commercial vehicles to transport hazardous materials (HAZMAT)
In general, intrastate drivers are not subject to FMCSA regulations but must instead comply with state laws and regulations.
How to Get a Safety Performance History Records Request
Employers can complete Safety Performance History Records Requests themselves or partner with a reputable background check provider like iprospectcheck.
Here’s a look at each of these approaches.
Do-it-Yourself SPHRRs
Employers can complete do-it-yourself SPHRRs by sending request forms to each of the employers the applicant has reported on their application within the last three years and searching the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse database for the applicant’s substance abuse records.
Pros
- If you have the time and resources to complete these complicated requests, you can perform them in house and not pay outside companies for the service.
Cons
- Might not identify former employers the applicant left off their application
- Information could be incomplete
- Wouldn’t include information from other relevant searches, including the applicant’s criminal history, education, license verification, and others
- Potential for inconsistent documentation of process
Partnering With iprospectcheck
Transportation companies understand the importance of partnering with a full-service background check provider like iprospectcheck to perform SPHRRs and other relevant searches.
Pros
- Fast turnaround times
- Identification of all employers an applicant has worked for during the relevant period
- Fully compliant with the FCRA, FMCSA regulations, state laws, and other relevant laws
- Perform comprehensive background checks
- Ability to document all attempts thoroughly
- Ability to obtain DOT drug tests and DOT physicals with our clinical and drug testing services
Cons
- Background check services cost money, but they are quite affordable compared to completing all these services in house
What Other Searches Should Be Performed?
Transportation companies should perform additional truck driver background searches to obtain a full picture of the backgrounds of the CDL drivers they consider.
Most companies request the following searches:
- Employment verification
- Criminal history search
- License verification
- Motor vehicle records (MVR)checks
- DOT drug tests
Here’s what might appear on each of these searches:
Employment Verification
Employment verification shows the following information about an applicant’s past jobs:
- Name, address, and contact information of each employer
- Dates of employment
- Positions held
Employment verification can confirm the employment history reported by applicants and can be used to identify former employers an applicant has left out of their work history information.
Motor Vehicle Records Check
An MVR check should be conducted in each state in which the applicant has been licensed.
This type of search reveals the following information:
- License number
- License holder’s full legal name
- License holder’s date of birth
- License type and expiration date
- Moving violations
- Major traffic crimes
- Accidents
- Assessed points
- License suspensions
Criminal History
A criminal history check for employment report the following information about pending criminal cases and convictions:
- Date of offense
- Type of crime
- Crime severity level (felony/misdemeanor)
- Disposition
- Disposition date
- Sentence information
DOT Drug Test
A DOT drug test is required for all CDL drivers and checks for an applicant’s recent use of the following substances:
- Marijuana
- Cocaine
- Opiates
- Amphetamines/methamphetamines
- Phencyclidine (PCP)
At iprospectcheck, we also perform other required tests, including return-to-duty drug tests, reasonable suspicion drug tests, and post-accident drug tests.
Know Before You Hire
Important Laws and Regulations
49 CFR, part 391, subpart B § 391.23
49 CFR, part 391, subpart B § 391.23 is the FMCSA regulation that mandates regulated employers to conduct investigations of the safety performance history of their prospective CDL drivers and new hires.
Under this rule, regulated transportation companies that hire CDL drivers must conduct SPHRRs within 30 days of a new hire’s hiring date and file the results within that time.
This investigation must include the driver’s safety performance history for each regulated employer for which the applicant worked in the previous three years and a search of the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse for any substance abuse violations committed by the driver.
Before Jan. 7, 2023, employers were required to inquire about a driver’s drug and alcohol violations as well as driving violations and crash records from each employer.
However, trucking carriers must now instead check the CDL Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse database for drug and alcohol violation information for the previous three years .
Employers are prohibited from hiring prospective drivers who refuse to consent to a search of the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.
Drivers have a right to receive a copy of their safety performance records from the prospective employer by submitting a written request. The prospective employer must then provide a copy within five days of the request.
The driver can then rebut any erroneous information they discover in their records, and the previous employer will have five days to investigate the disputed information.
Documentation Requirements
Trucking companies must document all attempts they make to obtain driver performance history information in their driver files for inspection upon request by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The Driver Safety Performance History Records Request form includes the following sections:
- Part 1 (to be completed by the prospective employee) – The prospective driver’s waiver and consent for the employer to obtain the information from former employers
- Part 2 (to be completed by each former employer in the last three years) – Accident history for the applicant that includes the dates of employment and a list of any accidents the driver was involved in that were reported on the company’s accident register as well as other accidents involving the driver reported to insurance companies or governmental bodies
- Part 3 – Drug and alcohol history – section should be crossed out by prospective employers, and prospective employers must instead look at the information on the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse database for the potential driver, who should provide consent on the clearinghouse website after logging in
- Part 4a (to be completed by prospective employer) – Section to indicate how the request was sent to the former employer (fax, email, mail, or other) and signed and dated
- Part 4b (to be completed by prospective employer) – Section for the prospective employer to log the date, time, and person who received the requested information, and signed and dated
- Driver Section part 1 (to be completed by a prospective driver) – To request a copy of their safety performance history records from the prospective employer within 30 days of employment or denial of employment
- Driver Section part 2 (to be completed by the prospective employer) – Section to be signed, and dated noting the date the requested information was supplied to the driver and attesting that it was provided within five days of the driver’s request
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a major federal consumer privacy law that applies to third-party providers that conduct background checks and employers that receive background check reports.
Under the FCRA, background check providers can’t report the following types of information for jobs paying salaries of less than $75,000 per year when the information predates the report by seven or more years:
- Paid tax liens
- Arrests that didn’t lead to convictions
- Bankruptcies
- Civil lawsuits
- Civil judgments
Other information, including a CDL driver’s safety history, employment history, education history, license information, criminal conviction information, and others are not restricted by the FCRA.
When employers receive background check reports that contain negative information about an applicant, they must complete the adverse action steps before making a final decision not to hire the candidate.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination and applies to background checks when an applicant’s criminal record is reported.
If an employer learns an applicant has a criminal record, they should individually assess the conviction information as it relates to the job before making an adverse employment decision.
Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act
The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act is a relatively recent law that covers federal agencies and federal contractors.
Federal contractors and agencies can’t ask for criminal history information or perform criminal background checks for employment until after the applicants have received conditional employment offers.
Federal agencies are prohibited from contracting with companies that violate the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act.
Turn to iprospectcheck for Reliable Safety Performance History Records Checks
Regulated transportation companies must complete safety performance history records checks for all CDL drivers and comply with the FMCSA’s documentation requirements.
These checks should be included as one component of a comprehensive DOT background check.
To learn about the background check services provided by iprospectcheck for the transportation industry or to receive a free quote, give us a call: (888) 509-1979
DISCLAIMER: The resources provided here are for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Consult your counsel if you have legal questions related to your specific practices and compliance with applicable laws.
FAQs
When should employers request a safety performance history record?
Employers must request a prospective driver’s safety performance history record from all regulated employers for which the applicant worked during the past three years.
This request must be sent to the employers within 30 days of the hiring date, and the results must be filed within 30 days. If an employer fails to respond to the request, the company should file a complaint with the FMCSA and document all attempts that were made in the driver’s file.
What if an applicant wasn't employed by a DOT-regulated employer in the past three years?
If a DOT-regulated employer did not employ a prospective driver within the past three years, the employer should verify this and document in their file that a safety performance history record request could not be completed because of the applicant’s lack of verifiable safety and employment history.
The employer must still ensure the applicant has a valid CDL and submits to and passes the required DOT physical and DOT drug screen tests.
When is an employer required to request drug and alcohol information from an applicant’s former employers?
- The prospective driver worked for an employer regulated by a different DOT agency other than the FMCSA, including rail, maritime, transit, air, or pipeline companies. For these former companies, the prospective employer must ask the driver to provide written consent before the former employer will be allowed to respond, and the prospective employer will also need to use a different agency-specific form for the agency that regulates the former employer.
- The driver had an alcohol or drug violation that is unresolved in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. If a driver had an alcohol or drug violation, but there is no information that the driver completed the return-to-duty process, the prospective employer should follow up with the previous employer to learn where in the process the driver was at the time they left employment.
What are the requirements when hiring non-CDL drivers?
Companies hiring non-CDL drivers will still need to check their motor vehicle records and verify employment history.
Any substance abuse violations for non-CDL drivers will not be included in the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse database, so companies should request this type of information from the applicant’s former employers with the applicant’s consent.
