76
RISKMANAGEMENT
ACT
APRIL 2014
Robert C. Moore
and
ChrisNelson
review
the Driver Qualification
filer standards and
how to reduce your
company’s risk.
Do you have
this definition. That includes
driver
qualification
,
hours of service
, and
inspection andmaintenance requirements
.
The qualification file for adrivermust
include several documents as required
per §391.51, andknow that Safety
Investigators (Sis)mayuse them to
assess thenature and severityof safety
problems.
1
§391.21
– The driver’s application for
employment;
2
§391.23(a)(1)
– A copy of themotor
vehicle record received from each
State;
3
391.31(e)
– The certificate of driver’s
road test issued to the driver, or
§391.33
– A copy of the license or
certificate which themotor carrier
accepted as equivalent to the driver’s
road test;
4
§391.25(a)
– Themotor vehicle record
received from each State driver
licensing agency to the annual driver
record inquiry;
5
§391.25(c)(2)
– A note relating to the
annual review of the driver›s driving
record
6
(§391.27)
– A list or certificate relating
to violations of motor vehicle laws and
ordinances, and
7
§391.43(g)
– Themedical examiner›s
certificate or a legible copy of the
certificate
EXCEPTION
- ForCDLholders, beginning
January 30, 2012, if theCDLISmotor
vehicle record containsmedical
certification status information, the
motor carrier employermustmeet this
requirement byobtaining theCDLIS
motor vehicle recorddefined at §384.105
of this chapter. That recordmust be
obtained from the current licensing State
andplaced in thedriver qualification file.
After January 30, 2014, anon-excepted,
interstateCDLholderwithoutmedical
certification status informationon the
CDLISmotor vehicle record is
designated “not-certified” tooperate
aCMV in interstate commerce. After
January 30, 2014, amotor carriermay
use a copyof thedriver’s currentmedical
examiner’s certificate thatwas submitted
to the State for up to15days from the
date itwas issued as proof ofmedical
certification.
If that driver obtained themedical
certificationbasedonhavingobtained
amedical variance fromFMCSA, the
motor carriermust also include a copyof
themedical variancedocumentation in
thedriver qualification file in accordance
with§391.51(b)(8);
8
A Skill Performance Evaluation
Certificate obtained from a Field
Administrator, Division Administrator,
or State Director issued in
accordance with §391.49; or the
Medical Exemption document, issued
by a Federal medical program in
accordance with part 381 of this
chapter; and
9
A note relating to verification of medical
examiner listing on the National
Registry of CertifiedMedical Examiners
required by §391.23(m).
SPECIAL NOTE:
■
ADQ filemaybe combinedwith a
driver’s personnel file.
■
Previous employer information
(§391.23). BeginningOctober 30,
2004, previous employer information
must bemaintained in a secure
locationwith controlled access, as
required in§391.53. This couldbe in
theDQ file, adrug/alcohol file, or a
new file, as long as the information is
secure.
■
The following specific conditions
and types of drivers are exempt from
specific recordkeeping requirements:
■
Drivers regularly employedbefore
January 1, 1971–Driverswhohave
been regular employees of amotor
carrier for a continuous period that
beganbefore January 1, 1971 are
exempt from:
✓
Application for employment
✓
RoadTest
Retention period for DQ file
Driver qualification files are tobe kept
for thedurationof thedriver’s
employment and three years thereafter.
Filesmaybe kept at amainoffice or
at a regional or terminal location. The
regulations require that files be available
at themainoffice or other designated
locationwithin48hours after anofficial
request has beenmade.
**Unless litigationor a threat (which
includes aholdbeingplacedon the
records) is pending the regulations allow
THEAUTHORS:
Robert C.
Moore
is
Transportation
ProgramManager,
NBISConstruction &
Transport Insurance
Services.
ChrisNelson
isDirector of Risk
Management,
Transportation at
NBISConstruction &
Transport Insurance
Services.
N
egligent hiring
has been
defined as the failure to
use reasonable care in the
employee selectionprocess, resulting
inharm caused toothers. Therefore,
motor carriers are required touse
reasonable and responsible care
when
qualifyingdrivers to reduce the risk to
their company and thewell-beingof the
motoringpublic.
Well-manageddriver qualification (DQ)
files can assist in limiting this exposure to
risk and is essential to avoidingnegligent
hiring claims; aswell as a tool tohelp
improve theCSADriver FitnessBASIC
score - butmaintaining aDQ file is a
complicated, labor-intensiveprocess for
almost any carrier.
When is a DQ file required?
Amotor carrier is required to create
aDQ filewhen adriver operates a
commercialmotor vehicle (CMV) as
defined in§390.5. Thedefinitionof
CMVdiffers, dependingon thepart of
the regulations being referenced. The
regulations inParts 390 through396
apply todrivers of vehiclesmeeting
