Will it Become Easier to Identify Unsafe Semi Truck Drivers?
As it stands now, it can be difficult for trucking companies that are considering an applicant to drive a commercial motor vehicle to identify which truck drivers are qualified to operate a big truck thousands of miles over the roads in the United States and which are unsafe and likely to cause an injury or fatal accident. In other cases, trucking companies do not even bother to perform a background check to see if an unsafe truck driver applying for a job has a history of accidents, failed drug and/or alcohol tests, failed inspections, traffic tickets and/or a criminal record.
For those trucking companies that do try to look into a truck driver's history to determine if he/she is qualified to safely drive a semi truck, it can be difficult to track down the documents that tell the story of a truck driver's past. These documents are often spread out among many different sources, destroyed or never maintained in the first place.
Plaintiffs' lawyers who know how to investigate unsafe truck drivers and trucking companies after a serious injury accident know where and how to look for documents and information. Sometimes, trucking companies either do not know how or are not willing to take the time to do so.
However, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which oversees the trucking industry, has proposed an idea to centralize this important information about the safety of truck drivers. The Driver Information Resource, which is in its final stages, would be a centralized database that can be accessed by trucking companies and other agencies. It would allow people to access crash reports and documents indicating when truck drivers were taken out of service due to failed inspections, for instance, as a result of unsafe equipment or improper recording of hours of service, or driving, on log sheets.
This database on semi truck drivers across the country would be an important way for trucking companies and other agencies interested in the trucking industry to efficiently screen truck drivers and try to prevent putting unqualified and unsafe truck drivers on the roads operating potentially dangerous semi trucks.
