From full application to approved 

The full application is the first real step that a candidate takes to join the Carrier.

In order to get approved the application needs to pass all the requirements from the carrier. As a recruiter your duties (to examine the application) are listed below before sending the application to safety for approval. It can take up to 48 hours from the time we have sent the application to get approved, the goal for every recruiter is to have a response back within 24hrs from safety.

Examine the application

(This part should take no more than 10 min. But it’s crucial that it is done precisely and with care for details.)

  1. Personal Information 
  • Check the full name of the applicant to match it with the name we have as contact.
  • Check for his address/zip code –  if he is meeting a carrier hiring area.
  • Check for his contact info (phone and email) and does it have a preferred time for contact.
  • Check for age, carriers don’t accept drivers younger than 23 years or older than 60 years.
  1. Company Questions
  • Check for the position he applied for – Is it for company driver, lease purchase or owner operator? Is it for local, regional or OTR(over The Road)? 
  • When did his last employment end? – does it meet carrier requirements to have OTR experience in the last 6 months?  – usually required by every carrier.
  • How did he hear about us? – referral, facebook, indeed and etc.
  • Driving experience – example, does he meet the requirement to have at least 2 years recent OTR experience with 53feet trailers (Tractor and Semi-trailer). – Depending on the carrier numbers can vary. Some carriers can hire drivers with 16 or 18 months of experience and the mega carriers they can hire even without experience. 
  1. Licences 
  • Is the licence class A? 
  • Issue date: is it matching with carrier requirements (16 months, 18 months or 2 years) in order to prove experience. 
  • When does it expire – is it valid/current?
  • If the applicant has more than 1 license in the last 5 years 

– he will need to add them in the application (tenstreet only), 

– sent a photo from older CDL

– over the phone – if he knows his older CDL number.

  1. Employment/Unemployment 
  • Check the past employment – carriers require not to have more than 6-9 employers in the last 3 years. In the US there is terminology about people changing jobs very often, called “job hoppers”. 
  • The employment needs to have no overlapping dates and no gaps in time (if the application is on tenstreet unemployment needs to be mentioned as well). 
  • Does it have contact info for each carrier like address, phone number and fax ( it is used for employment verification purposes). 
  • The position held and the reason for resignation/termination (check if there is something relevant that can say something about the prospect – consistent issues with different employers etc.)
  • The areas and miles driven weekly, trailer type and length( example: if the prospect is applying for OTR position – it is required to have 53 feet trailer experience and 2000 – 3000 OTR driven miles. 
  1. FMCSR (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration)
  • If the applicant has been convicted for any alcohol or controlled substance (DUI, DWI) in the last 5 years (depends on carrier requirements) by default 99% of the carriers don’t accept drivers with any of the above convictions.
  • If the applicant had tested positive on a drug or alcohol test he needs to send over the SAP form in order his application to be reviewed.
  1. Vehicle Accident Record 

When it comes to the accidents you should look at three things: date, preventability and recordability.

  • Date – Depends on the carrier insurance requirements but almost every carrier is looking in the frame from one to three years. You first need to determine the date the accident  happened and then look for the following things:
  • Preventable vs Non-preventable accident:

In the trucking industry when some carrier is asking the driver if the accident  in which he was involved is preventable, that means that they are asking if he is at fault.

A non-preventable accident  means that he was involved in an accident but he is not at fault. 

  • DOT recordable VS DOT Non-recordable

Once a crash happens, first determine if it qualifies as a DOT Recordable accident. 

DOT Recordables include an occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle that results in (390.5 accident definition (1)):

  • Fatality;
  • An injury requiring immediate medical attention away from the scene;
  • 1 or more vehicles incurring disabling damage* as a result of the accident, requiring tow-away from the scene.

A DOT Recordable accident does not include (390.5 accident definition (2)):

  • An occurrence involving only boarding and alighting from a stationary motor vehicle.
  • An occurrence involving only loading and unloading of cargo.
  • Now when you can recognize the type of an accident you should know that if there is a DOT recordable accident in the past 12 months most of the carriers won’t  hire that driver. 
  • When it comes to a preventable accident every carrier is deciding per own policy and sometimes case by case.
  • For any kind of accident that occurred in the last year, most of the time safety is requesting a police report.
  1. Traffic Convictions/Violations:

Driving-related offenses range in seriousness and are typically categorized as:

  • Infractions
  • Misdemeanors
  • Felonies

The majority of driving-related offenses are classified as infractions (also called “violations” or “civil infractions”). A traffic infraction is the least serious traffic offense and is typically defined as an act or omission that’s prohibited by law but isn’t a crime. Common examples of infractions include:

  • speeding
  • failing to stop or yield
  • failing to signal
  • operating a vehicle without proper lighting, and
  • seat belt violations.

A traffic offense is generally considered a crime if it’s punishable by imprisonment. Criminal traffic offenses are classified as either misdemeanors or felonies. Examples of driving-related offenses that are classified as crimes include:

Moving and Non-moving violations In many jurisdictions, traffic infractions are further categorized as moving and nonmoving violations. Moving violations are typically more serious than non-moving violations. Speeding and running a red light are examples of moving violations. Nonmoving violations include offenses related to illegal parking and defective equipment on the vehicle.

Depends on the carrier requirements but most of the companies are looking up to three years for any moving or non-moving violations. Moving violations are the ones that everybody cares about, for example if the applicant has more than 3 moving violations in the last 3 years he won’t be qualified (depends of the carrier)

  1. Criminal records 
  • If the applicant has been convicted of a crime or pled guilty to a felony in the last 5 years, it depends on the carrier requirements but most of the companies won’t hire that applicant.
  1. PSP and MVR documents (Tenstreet Only)

After you’ve reviewed the application and it passed the 1st stage for approval you can proceed forward by requesting the PSP and MVR records in order to check the driving records.

We do this by going to the “Process” field that is on the top menu: (depends on carrier if they have tenstreet, this is for tenstreet users only)

  • go to “Add Process”
  • Choose Request PSP only // Request MVR only 
  • Select the Class A licence 
  • Click OK 

The requested documents can be found after a few moments in the “Documents” field on the top menu, from where we open them and check for the detailed messages inside. 

In the PSP document we check for:

  • Crash Activity – Did he had any crashes and if so when(date)? 
  • Inspection Activity – How many inspections he had?
  • Inspection Details – What kind of violations he had on each inspection and when(date)?
  • Violation Summary – What kind of violations he had and how many?

In the MVR document we check for: 

  • Driver’s report summary – we check for the A licence and the Medical card are they valid – if they are expired or expiring soon 
  • Offences and State messages – We check if he has any offences and when(date) they happened, if they are any we need to let the safety know 

When we finish reviewing the PSP and MVR documents and he is approved to move forward, we send the application to safety and we wait for further notice that will tell us what is the next step – where we can have 3 possible next steps.

  1. If there are some issues with the application and we need more info from the candidate, we contact the candidate and request that he provide us with that info. (example: he does not have all the licences stated so we ask for him to give the info so we can continue the application review process) 
  2. If he is Not Qualified – We contact the candidate to inform him that his application is denied 
  3. If he is Approved – We contact the candidate to inform him that his application is approved, we congratulate him and move to the next step, orientation. 

If the applicant meets all criteria and is approved by the safety team he is ready for the next step, orientation.