Required Pre-Employment Screening for Commercial Truck Drivers
Because of the substantial risk posed to other motorists by commercial trucks, trucking companies engaged in interstate trucking are required by federal and state regulations to conduct a pre-employment screening to ensure that unsafe drivers are not entrusted with these massive motor vehicles. While most truck drivers are professional and conscientious, trucking companies are required to take actions to make sure that unsafe drivers are not permitted to get behind the wheel.
Georgia also imposes pre-employment qualification requirements on trucking companies engaged in intrastate trucking. An employer under the federal regulations must complete an extensive application and provide information on key issues including all moving violations within three years of application, and all trucking companies that the applicant has worked for in the preceding ten years.
Once a truck driver has been hired, this does not relieve the trucking company of an obligation to conduct further due diligence. When the trucking company contacts prior employers, the trucking company is required to request the following information:
- Verification of employment
- Details regarding any trucking collisions
- Information regarding violations of drug and alcohol policies or positive tests
The trucking company is also required to obtain a DMV report regarding any moving violations from any state that the truck driver held a commercial driver’s license during the prior three year period. The driver must also establish that he or she is physically qualified to operate a tractor-trailer by obtaining certification in the form of a medical examiner’s certificate.
Many Atlanta trucking accidents and Georgia trucking accidents might have been prevented had an employer complied with its obligation to conduct a proper background investigation when hiring a commercial driver. These prescreening procedures are designed to identify the most significant red flags that should put trucking companies on notice that a potential driver is not safe to hire. When our Atlanta trucking accident lawyers at Montlick and Associates represent an injury victim in a trucking accident lawsuit, our team carefully reviews a truck driver’s personnel file and contacts prior trucking companies where the driver worked to ensure that they were contacted. We also carefully examine any gaps in employment to determine if critical accident, drug or alcohol, or traffic citation history has been omitted from a truck driver’s application. Trucking companies that fail to investigate such gaps in an application may also be negligent in conducting a proper pre-employment screening process.
Trucking companies may simply allow the process of contacting all future employers during a ten-year period to fall through the cracks. This is critical information that often will expose unsafe truck drivers. The failure of a trucking company to thoroughly vet a potential applicant may result in tragic and preventable Atlanta or Georgia trucking accidents. If you or someone you love has suffered serious injury or a family member has died in a commercial trucking accident in Atlanta or anywhere throughout the state of Georgia or the Southeast, our experienced trucking accident lawyers at Montlick and Associates have been providing effective legal representation to trucking accident victims for nearly three decades.
Our Georgia trucking accident lawyers are available to assist clients throughout all of Georgia and the Southeast, including but not limited to Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Gainesville, Macon, Marietta, Rome, Roswell, Savannah, Smyrna, Valdosta, Warner Robins and all smaller cities and rural areas in the state. No matter where you are located our attorneys are just a phone call away, and we will even come to you. Call us 24 hours a day/7 days a week for your Free Consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333). You can also visit us online at www.montlick.com and use our Free Case Evaluation Form or 24-hour Live Online Chat.