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A client called me today to ask about FMCSR 391.23: Investigation and inquiries and what to do when a past employer fails to respond.
My answer was to document between three and five good faith efforts in the applicant’s file to get the past employment information and then report the previous employer to DOT.
Here is what the FMCSA has to say about 391.23: Investigation and inquiries.
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/391.23
(c)(1) Replies to the investigations of the driver’s safety performance history required by paragraph (a)(2) of this section, or documentation of good faith efforts to obtain the investigation data, must be placed in the driver investigation history file, after October 29, 2004, within 30 days of the date the driver’s employment begins. Any period of time required to exercise the driver’s due process rights to review the information received, request a previous employer to correct or include a rebuttal, is separate and apart from this 30-day requirement to document investigation of the driver safety performance history data.
(2) The investigation may consist of personal interviews, telephone interviews, letters, or any other method for investigating that the carrier deems appropriate. Each motor carrier must make a written record with respect to each previous employer contacted, or good faith efforts to do so. The record must include the previous employer’s name and address, the date the previous employer was contacted, or the attempts made, and the information received about the driver from the previous employer. Failures to contact a previous employer, or of them to provide the required safety performance history information, must be documented. The record must be maintained pursuant to § 391.53.
(3) Prospective employers should report failures of previous employers to respond to an investigation to the FMCSA following procedures specified at § 386.12 of this chapter and keep a copy of such reports in the Driver Investigation file as part of documenting a good faith effort to obtain the required information.
Here is the website for regulation 386.12 as referenced from the third paragraph.
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/386.12
What would you do? Please leave me a comment!