The American Trucking Associations has petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to amend its safety regulations to promote greater motor carrier use of “employer notification systems.” This initiative is part of ATA's ongoing campaign to improve truck safety.
Employer notification systems is a term for programs that allow trucking companies to register their drivers with state licensing agencies. These, in turn, notify the trucking company when a truck driver receives a traffic violation, conviction, or change in commercial driver license status. This notification process allows trucking companies to take timely action to address any unsafe driving behaviors.
Currently, motor carriers obtain and review the motor vehicle record of each of the drivers they employ through semi-annual or annual motor vehicle record (MVR) checks. In the months between these MVR checks, commercial drivers are required to self-report traffic violations, convictions, or license status changes to their employer. Unfortunately, these self-reports are not always made by some drivers.
ATA is aware of 10 states that have some type of employer notification system.