New Driver Screening: Why The Minimum Isn't Good Enough
Big Truck TV
Kent Ferguson, Dir. Of Product Management, USIS, explores how doing the minimum driver screening required by law can leave carriers open to negligent hiring litigation and what they can and should do to prevent it.
All it takes is one accident and, depending on your insurance coverage, your company could be wiped out. And it doesn't require a huge investment to potentially protect your company from a catastrophic litigation outcome. There are products out there that don't cost very much and are easily accessed, which is important when you're trying to fill a seat quickly.
It's not like the plaintiff's attorney doesn't know that these products are available. If you only do the minimum, from a negligence standpoint, and you didn't go after relevant information about that driver that you easily could have, you're setting yourselves up for failure. Accidents are going to happen and even though your driver may not be at fault, they will come after your company, so doing just the bare minimum is not the place you want to find yourself.
I might receive push back from my boss if I suggest investing extra time and money doing additional background screening of new drivers, especially with the churn we're experiencing right now. Are there bottom line benefits to the company that I can point to in order to sell the idea?
There absolutely are bottom line benefits to trucking companies that go the extra mile in terms of driver screening. And those benefits relate back to protection from litigation. The extra screening will give your company the ability to defend your hiring practices as sufficient from a due diligence perspective.
So, heaven forbid, one of your drivers is involved in an accident, you'll be better equipped to deal with plaintiff's attorneys who are very practiced at looking into a number of areas as far as background screening. Let's put it this way, it's not wise to put your company in a position where you need to go into a court of law and say you just did the minimum.
USIS/DAC provides a wide range of background screening products specific to the transportation industry. When selecting a background screening provider a company should consider a providers expertise within their own industry as well as their accessibility to both public and proprietary information. The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) is a good source for providers of background investigations.
You really should include a search for multiple licenses through the Commercial Drivers License Information System. Criminal records search is fast becoming industry best practice and should be incorporated into your background screening program. Workplace violence is a huge issue today and you should really protect yourself from that.
There's a fair amount of evidence that just performing the minimum is not sufficient to show due diligence in case you are challenged in a lawsuit.
In reviewing negligent hiring lawsuits, there are a lot of areas that plaintiff's attorneys focus on that are outside the minimum, so it should be standard practice for any carrier to perform more than just the minimum screening required by law.
My company only does the minimum screening and it's worked out okay for us so far.
All it takes is one accident and, depending on your insurance coverage, your company could be wiped out. And it doesn't require a huge investment to potentially protect your company from a catastrophic litigation outcome. There are products out there that don't cost very much and are easily accessed, which is important when you're trying to fill a seat quickly.
It's not like the plaintiff's attorney doesn't know that these products are available. If you only do the minimum, from a negligence standpoint, and you didn't go after relevant information about that driver that you easily could have, you're setting yourselves up for failure. Accidents are going to happen and even though your driver may not be at fault, they will come after your company, so doing just the bare minimum is not the place you want to find yourself.
I might receive push back from my boss if I suggest investing extra time and money doing additional background screening of new drivers, especially with the churn we're experiencing right now. Are there bottom line benefits to the company that I can point to in order to sell the idea?
There absolutely are bottom line benefits to trucking companies that go the extra mile in terms of driver screening. And those benefits relate back to protection from litigation. The extra screening will give your company the ability to defend your hiring practices as sufficient from a due diligence perspective.
So, heaven forbid, one of your drivers is involved in an accident, you'll be better equipped to deal with plaintiff's attorneys who are very practiced at looking into a number of areas as far as background screening. Let's put it this way, it's not wise to put your company in a position where you need to go into a court of law and say you just did the minimum.
Where can I find this information?
USIS/DAC provides a wide range of background screening products specific to the transportation industry. When selecting a background screening provider a company should consider a providers expertise within their own industry as well as their accessibility to both public and proprietary information. The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) is a good source for providers of background investigations.
In order to mitigate potential damage from negligent hiring litigation, what additional screening should my HR department be performing?
You really should include a search for multiple licenses through the Commercial Drivers License Information System. Criminal records search is fast becoming industry best practice and should be incorporated into your background screening program. Workplace violence is a huge issue today and you should really protect yourself from that.
Why should I do more than the government requires me to in driver screening?
There's a fair amount of evidence that just performing the minimum is not sufficient to show due diligence in case you are challenged in a lawsuit.
In reviewing negligent hiring lawsuits, there are a lot of areas that plaintiff's attorneys focus on that are outside the minimum, so it should be standard practice for any carrier to perform more than just the minimum screening required by law.
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