Know More Before the First Mile: Using PSP to Help Make More Informed Hiring Decisions

FMCSA Pre-Employment Screening Program. Making roads safer — one hire at a time.

When motor carriers evaluate a driver candidate, the Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) is usually the first document reviewed. It’s a valuable tool, but it doesn’t always tell the complete story.

MVRs typically reflect convictions and reportable crashes. What they often don’t capture are the roadside inspections and violations recorded during enforcement stops. For that information, carriers have another resource: the Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP).

What PSP Provides

FMCSA’s Pre-Employment Screening Program gives motor carriers access to a driver’s federal safety data during the hiring process (with the driver’s written consent). A PSP report includes:

• Five years of crash history
• Three years of roadside inspection history

These records are drawn from FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) and are available electronically, making them straightforward to request and review.

What the Data Shows

Carriers that use PSP see measurable differences in safety outcomes. An FMCSA study found that PSP users experienced:

• 8% fewer crashes
• 17% fewer out-of-service incidents

The study estimated that PSP users collectively prevented approximately 863 crashes and 3,600 out-of-service events compared to carriers that did not use the program.

PSP as Part of a Complete Hiring Process

PSP is not a replacement for interviews, road tests, or reference checks. It works best as one layer in a broader evaluation process — providing federal safety data that other hiring tools may not surface.

A few things worth noting when reviewing PSP reports:

• Records now include “not preventable” determinations when a crash has been reviewed through FMCSA’s Crash Preventability Determination Program.
• A crash preventability determination does not assign legal fault or liability.
• The absence of a “not preventable” determination does not mean a crash was preventable.

Carriers should interpret PSP data in context, alongside other candidate information.

Getting Started with PSP

Motor carriers not currently using PSP can learn more and enroll at psp.fmcsa.dot.gov.

Drivers can also request a copy of their own record using PSP or submit a data challenge through the FMCSA DataQs system.

For questions about the program, contact the PSP support team at psphelp@tylertech.com.