Playing DOT Defense (1)

Published by ycomply on February 24, 2026February 24, 2026

Part 1 

 You’ve probably heard another driver say something like” I have a target on my back! I get pulled over all the time!” It may be their fault, or it may be due to other drivers in their company. Regardless of why we get pulled over, it always costs time and possibly heartburn.

What to do? How to lessen the chances of being pulled over?

The first step is to establish a solid hiring policy and stick to it. You may lose some opportunities in the beginning, but the cost of needless repairs and high insurance rates are the price to pay for not having such a plan in place.

 As part of the hiring policy, we recommend using the Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP) reports.  Briefly, this is a program which tracks the Roadside Inspections, crashes, and violations of all Commercial Motor Vehicle drivers, with and without CDL’s. While the typical DOT-driver application only asks for moving violations and crashes, the PSP reports may contain much more information such as the results from Roadside Inspections, crashes, and violations, even listing DOT#’s the person was operating under, which they may not have included in their employment history. Having this information may give greater insight into the persons behavior and history, before they are hired.

Take note: these reports can only be used to make a hiring decision.

  Another item to stay on top of is the Previous Employer Inquiries. With the advent of the FMCSA Clearinghouse, there has been some confusion over the need for these. The Clearinghouse queries are required, but only address the required Drug and Alcohol Testing questions. The additional Safety Performance History questions are also required, and these must be obtained by contacting each of the applicant’s previous employers who were regulated by the DOT during the prior 3 years. The confusion exists largely due to a lack of knowledge at the office level. Typically, the office personnel may think “I ran the Pre-employment Query and the driver is not prohibited, so that’s done”. Nope. Those past employers still need to be contacted and the replies and/or “Good Faith Efforts” must be documented.

The previous employers can provide additional insight into the applicant regarding minor crashes, miles driven, vehicle types operated, and if the applicant is eligible for re-hire.

In the next article (Part 2) we will address more actions to help lessen the impacts of the Roadside Inspections.

Crown Compliance Advisors LLC