Overview
The Pre-Employment Screening Program, known as PSP, is a service operated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. It provides a commercial driver’s crash and roadside inspection history drawn from federal safety data.
It is a driver record, not a carrier record. The same federal data supports carrier safety ratings, and PSP is the view of it that follows an individual driver.
Why It Shows What an MVR Cannot
A motor vehicle report records what happened to a license. A conviction reaches it, and a suspension reaches it.
Roadside inspections do not work that way. A commercial vehicle stopped for inspection can be found with defective equipment, hours of service problems, or paperwork violations, and the result is recorded federally without any effect on the driver’s license. A crash can be reported to federal safety data whether or not anyone was cited.
The consequence is that a driver can have a long inspection history and a clean state driving record at the same time, and neither record is wrong. They document different things.
What a PSP Report Contains
| Crash records | Reportable crashes involving the driver, with the date, the state, and details such as whether the vehicle was towed or an injury or fatality occurred. |
| Inspection records | Roadside inspections, with the date, the state, the inspection level, and the outcome. |
| Violations | Violations recorded during an inspection, with the regulation cited. |
| Out of service orders | Whether the driver or the vehicle was placed out of service. |
How Far Back It Goes
A PSP report covers 5 years of crash data and 3 years of inspection data. Those windows are set by the program and are the same for every driver, which makes PSP unusual among screening components. Most other records vary by state or by source.
Reading Crashes and Violations
Two features of the data need care.
A crash record does not establish fault. Crashes are recorded because they meet reporting criteria, which turn on outcomes such as a tow, an injury, or a fatality. A driver struck by another vehicle appears the same way as one who caused the collision.
Violations are attributed to whoever was inspected. An inspection can cite equipment defects, load securement, or documentation problems that follow from how a vehicle was maintained or loaded rather than how it was driven, and those appear on the record of the driver who was stopped.
Because of both, a PSP report is generally read as a pattern over time rather than as a set of individual findings.
Consent and Access
PSP requires the driver’s written consent before an employer or a screening company may obtain a report. Consent is specific to the record, and it is separate from a general background check authorization, so a PSP request typically involves its own signed form.
Drivers can obtain their own PSP report at any time, which is the route to reviewing the record before applying.
Federal regulation does not require an employer to run PSP as a condition of hiring a commercial driver. Many do so voluntarily, and some insurers expect it.
What PSP Does Not Cover
- License status, points, and traffic convictions, which come from a state MVR.
- Crashes and inspections outside the federal safety data, including incidents in a personal vehicle.
- Licensing history across states, covered on our CDLIS page.
- Drug and alcohol program violations, covered on our FMCSA Clearinghouse page.
- Criminal records, established through a county criminal search.
Where It Fits Under the FCRA
A PSP report obtained for employment purposes is part of a consumer report, with the disclosure, authorization, accuracy, and dispute requirements that attach to one. Our FCRA Overview covers those requirements in full.
Because the underlying data comes from federal safety records, a driver who believes a crash or inspection record is inaccurate can seek review through the federal process for challenging that data, in addition to disputing the report itself.
Where a PSP report contributes to a decision not to hire, the required notice steps apply. See The Adverse Action Process.