What’s a PSP Report? Here’s How Drivers and Carriers Use It To Their Advantage

An individual driver may order their own PSP report. The advantage to doing so periodically is to verify the data that a potential employer will see. Incorrect data can be challenged.

The Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP) is a program developed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration designed to, in their words, MAKE ROADS SAFER ONE HIRE AT A TIME.

PSP helps carriers make more informed hiring decisions by providing secure, electronic access to a commercial driver’s five-year crash and three-year inspection history from the FMCSA Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) which is largely the same data used in the carriers CSA performance measurements. PSP records are available for commercial drivers and companies conducting pre-employment screening for the motor carrier industry.

How do they track inspection history?

The Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA) program in use today by the FMCSA to track a carrier’s safety performance is the same framework used to track individual driver history within the PSP program. In addition to identifying every possible violation within the safety regulations for CSA purposes, each violation was also evaluated as to whether the Driver would be responsible for the violation or the violation was totally the company’s responsibility. The following table illustrates how this is done. Example table taken from the CSA methodology published by the FMCSA.

SMS Unsafe Driving BASIC violations

In the methodology tables listing the violations, note the last column with the heading DSMS. The DSMS is Driver Safety Measurement System and has an indicator of either a “Y” for yes or an “N” for no.

If the violation is noted as a Y, the violation has been determined to be a driver caused violation and will be noted in the driver’s PSP history with the drivers CDL number as the identifier. If the violation is noted as a N or no, the violation is recorded in the carriers score only and will not appear in the drivers PSP history.

PSP does not “score” drivers performance

Unlike the carrier CSA performance measurement and scoring, the PSP report is simply a history of violations without any scoring. A number of carriers use commercially available software to implement a driver scoring system similar to how the FMCSA scores a carrier under CSA but this by carrier choice only. Driver scoring is not something that is part of the FMCSA PSP program.

How is PSP intended to be used?

The program is not mandatory and access fees are involved. The PSP report is a hiring tool and can be used in the following manner:

For Drivers

An individual driver may order their own PSP report. Your eligibility to get a job as a driver can be directly influenced by the DOT PSP report. It is recommended that every driver verify the accuracy of their PSP report data at least twice per year. Inaccuracies should be challenged through the DOT DataQ process to keep your record clean.

For Carriers

Avoid hiring a problem! Find out a driver candidates roadside violation history before you make the hire by accessing the DOT’s Pre-employment Screening Program report. Carriers concerned about safety, risk, and hiring the best drivers available will evaluate the PSP report with every candidate to make the best possible hiring decision.

A carrier employer can only request a PSP report on a potential new hire driver with the candidate’s written permission. Written permission should be kept on file in case of audit.

The employer will see 3 years of candidate’s roadside violation history and 5 years of crash history. The employer may use the PSP report to:

Help interpret a driver’s safety habits
Use the data as a retraining tool to correct any potential safety performance concerns identified within the report before allowing the driver behind the wheel
Help identify the candidates past employers, employment dates and compare that information against the candidate’s employment application for accuracy
Help determine to hire or not hire, along with other data collected

How is PSP not to be used?

The PSP report is a hiring tool only. Carriers are not to seek reports on existing drivers. Reports are not to be obtained without the driver’s written permission.

Sample Report

Need Help Pulling a PSP Report?

Drivers, we can obtain your PSP report on an “as requested” basis or on a set schedule so that you can routinely view your data.

Carriers, simply send us the drivers signed consent form and within 24 hours you will receive the DOT PSP report outlining DOT violation data collected over the past 3 years for that driver.

Call Glostone about getting a PSP Report, 503-607-1088.