In transportation, there are four reports that most employers will request when reviewing applicants for driving positions at their company. These are:

• MVR: Motor Vehicle Records;
• CDLIS: Commercial Driver’s License Information System;
• PRE: Previous Record of Employment; and
• PSP: Pre-employment Screening Program

In this four-part series, we’ll review these primary reports you need when screening your drivers, as well as best practices when ordering them from Driver iQ, Cisive’s transportation employment screening division.

What is a PRE report? Why is it important?

PRE stands for Previous Record of Employment. Driver iQ has a proprietary previous employment database of more than 4.3 million records, with records added daily. Some of the largest carriers in the nation share their employment records exclusively with Driver iQ. Head-to-head comparisons by Driver iQ clients have found that Driver iQ more frequently holds records on drivers who are currently churning in the industry.

Under Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) guidelines, transportation companies are required to verify employment history for the previous three years on those applying to operate a commercial motor vehicle. It’s also important to know if your applicants are qualified through a driver education program. In addition to employment records, the PRE report includes driver school record verification from many schools across the nation.

What’s on a PRE report?

Driver iQ’s PRE reports include the following features:

• Work History for participating carriers’ past drivers;
• Driving school record verification from participating schools;
• Accident History and Drug and Alcohol Test History for the past 3+ years (if carrier provides);
• Additional Information (AI) Notification: Receive notifications when a change has occurred to a record you have recently purchased (no additional fee);
• A summary report to allow quick at a glance timelines (number of months of employment) for all carriers found in the PRE database;
• Full start and end date, not just month and year, to allow more accurate confirmation of the driver’s period of service with a former employer;
• PRE makes it easy to pull and aggregate reports in response to FMCSA/DOT audits;
• PRE meets or exceeds all FMCSA and FCRA requirements; and
• Continuous credits for the driver records stored.

What are some tips and best practices for ordering a PRE report?

Driver iQ provides a few reminders when ordering a PRE report:

• Always run a PRE on every applicant. There may be information available which the driver did not disclose. If there is no record in the database, there is no charge.
• If a driver is currently employed by a carrier, this will not show on a PRE report. The PRE is for previous employment only.
• The PRE summary page may show “time between record.” This is not necessarily an indication that a driver was not employed during this period. It may mean employment for that timeframe is not currently housed in the PRE database.
• PRE reports could contain Drug & Alcohol (D&A) results (prior to 01/06/2020). If the PRE report does not contain D&A results, the PRE report may include who does hold the results, if known. Employers may also need to check the FMCSA for D&A results.
• D&A results can take 24-48 hours to return once a driver’s release is received, depending on volume. All releases are reviewed manually for compliance purposes.
• Salary information is held by the previous employer, and is not contained on any PRE reports.

How can Driver iQ help?

Driver iQ can provide carriers with current and accurate previous records of employment as required by the FMCSA. Driver iQ can also handle the Verifications of Employment (VOE) process for clients. The VOE is called a SingleCheck report, and carriers utilizing SingleCheck often provide current and previous employment information to Driver iQ.

Many carriers receive credits for providing employment records to Driver iQ. Contact Amy Bricken to get started!