Transportation Blog

The FMCSA just released the website for the upcoming Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP).  This signals the next phase of the CSA 2010 roll out despite the uncertainty of various of its features.  As mentioned in our recent CSA-2010 webinar, the PSP is a new database developed by the FMCSA that can be accessed by motor carriers to obtain accident and roadside inspection data for individual drivers.  The website is available at: http://www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov. 

The database is only available to motor carriers and, based on the FAQ included on the website, can only be used for pre-employment purposes.  In other words, carriers cannot use the database to access information on currently employed or leased drivers.  Carriers wishing to access the PSP must sign an Enrollment Agreement and pay both an annual enrollment fee ($25 for small carriers of less than 100 power units and $100 for larger carriers) and a $10/record fee.  Also, before accessing the records of a particular driver, carriers must obtain a written consent (a sample is included in the Enrollment Agreement) from the driver authorizing such access.  This may be how the FMCSA plans to monitor the improper use of the site – by tracking motor carriers that are checking current driver force rather than checking for drivers applying for employment.  Individual drivers can obtain their own report for a fee of $10.   Carriers might wish to start using the site to obtain a sense of how such data will impact driver recruiting, for example, how many more drivers will be found to be unemployable.