MVR Checks for Employers: Driving Record Screening
Updated 10 min read
Which rules reach your driving record check
| The driver | How the DMV may release it (DPPA) | FCRA steps | DOT rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDL driver at a motor carrier | Employer use for a CDL holder, (b)(9) | Yes, when a screening firm supplies it | Record at hire, yearly review, Clearinghouse |
| Non-CDL driver of a commercial motor vehicle | Driver's written consent, (b)(13) | Yes, when a screening firm supplies it | Record at hire and yearly review; no Clearinghouse |
| Employee driving a company car or van | Written consent, (b)(13), or a use state law allows, (b)(14) | Yes, when a screening firm supplies it | None |
| Sales or delivery staff driving their own car for work | Written consent, (b)(13), or a use state law allows, (b)(14) | Yes, when a screening firm supplies it | None |
A motor vehicle record (MVR) is the state's file on a license: its class and status, suspensions, moving violations and the crashes the state recorded. Three separate sets of rules decide how an employer gets one and what it must do with it. The Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) controls how the DMV may release the record. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) controls the employer's steps when a screening firm supplies the record. The Department of Transportation's driver rules decide whether you must pull it at all, and how often.
Most small employers sit in the bottom two rows: a landscaping crew lead in a company pickup, a home-care aide driving clients to appointments, a sales rep on mileage. No federal rule requires an MVR for them, so the check is your choice, and so is the standard you apply. Once you order one, though, the DPPA and the FCRA both apply.
The FCRA disclosure stays a stand-alone document. A state DMV's own consent form (Pennsylvania's driver signature block, Ohio's notarized consent form) is a separate page. Build the FCRA pair with the disclosure form builder and keep the state form apart from it.
The DPPA: why every DMV asks what the record is for
A DMV may release a driver's personal information “for use by an employer or its agent or insurer to obtain or verify information relating to a holder of a commercial driver's license” required under federal CMV safety law, and “for use by any requester, if the requester demonstrates it has obtained the written consent of the individual to whom the information pertains.”
18 U.S.C. § 2721(b)(9), (b)(13)
The DPPA is the reason a driving record never arrives just because you asked. Every state request form makes you pick a permitted use. Employers of CDL holders have their own use, written into the statute. Everyone else normally relies on the driver's written consent, or on a use the state's own law authorizes for driving or public safety. “Express consent” in the Act means consent in writing, and an electronic signature counts (18 U.S.C. § 2725(5)).
You can see the statute in the forms. PennDOT's request form (DL-503) has a box for employment, “to support the hiring or the continuation of employment”, and requires the driver's signature when that box is checked. Ohio's form (BMV 1173) lists the same choices as the DPPA: written consent on the BMV's notarized consent form 5008, or the employer use for a commercial license holder.
Your screening firm is bound too. A firm that resells or passes on the record must keep, for five years, a record of each person it gave the information to and the permitted purpose (18 U.S.C. § 2721(c)). That is why it asks you to certify your purpose when you order.
Knowingly getting or using personal information from a motor vehicle record for a purpose the Act does not permit, or lying to get it, lets the driver sue: actual damages but not less than $2,500 in liquidated damages, plus punitive damages for willful or reckless disregard, and attorney's fees.
18 U.S.C. §§ 2722, 2724(b)
What to do
- Decide which DPPA use you rely on for each driving role, and write it in your hiring file.
- For anyone without a CDL, get the driver's written consent before the record is requested.
- Use the state's own consent form when the state asks for one; it does not replace the FCRA pair.
When an MVR is a consumer report
FTC staff put it plainly in their 2011 report on the FCRA: when screening firms give employers information about “driving records, employment records, criminal histories, education, and licenses held by job applicants or current employees, they are providing ‘consumer reports’.” Order the MVR through a screening firm and the full FCRA sequence applies, exactly as it does for a criminal search.
The firm requests the record and reports it to you.
- Release rule
- DPPA permitted use
- FCRA steps
- The full sequence
- Consent paperwork
- FCRA stand-alone pair
- Before acting on it
- Pre-adverse notice
- Seven-year limit
- Applies under $75,000
You hold the state account or file the request yourself.
- Release rule
- DPPA permitted use
- FCRA steps
- DPPA and state rules instead
- Consent paperwork
- The state's own form
- Before acting on it
- Your policy and state law
- Seven-year limit
- Not from the FCRA
Buying straight from the DMV is the other path. The same staff report declined to keep an older reading that a DMV selling records for insurance underwriting can be a consumer reporting agency. If you pull records yourself, the DPPA and your state's own rules govern the request. Many employers still give the FCRA disclosure to every driver, because a policy can change from one path to the other mid-year and the paperwork costs little.
“Employment purposes” covers retention and reassignment, not only hiring. Taking a current driver off the road because of a record a screening firm supplied is adverse action, and the pre-adverse notice with a copy of the record and the Summary of Rights comes first.
15 U.S.C. § 1681a(h); § 1681b(b)(3)(A)
The FCRA's seven-year limit also reaches a driving record supplied by a screening firm. Records of criminal convictions have no federal time limit, but other adverse items older than seven years may not be reported for a job paying under $75,000 a year (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(5), (b)(3)). Many traffic violations are not criminal convictions, so an old speeding ticket generally drops off while an old criminal driving conviction may not. PennDOT sells a 10-year record “for employment purposes only”; if your firm pulls one, ask how it handles items older than seven years. The lookback checker tests a single item.
One narrow FCRA exception exists for drivers. When a DOT-regulated driving applicant has dealt with you only by mail, phone or online, consent may be oral, written or electronic, and the notice after a rejection may follow within three business days instead of the usual two letters (15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)(B)–(C), (b)(3)(B)). Every other driver gets the standard steps in our FCRA rules for employers.
What to do
- Treat an MVR from a screening firm like any other background report: disclosure, consent, notices.
- Before acting on a record, send the pre-adverse notice; the adverse action timeline dates every step.
- Ask the firm how it treats violations older than seven years.
Commercial drivers: the DOT driver file
- 01
Before the first safety-sensitive shift
- Full Clearinghouse query, with the driver's consent given in the Clearinghouse49 CFR 382.701(a)
- Verified negative pre-employment drug test49 CFR 382.301(a)
- 02
Within 30 days of the start date
- Three-year record from every state that licensed the driver, copy in the qualification file49 CFR 391.23(a)(1), (b)
- Safety history from DOT-regulated employers of the past three years49 CFR 391.23(a)(2), (c)
- 03
At least once every 12 months
- Record covering at least the past 12 months from each licensing state49 CFR 391.25(a)
- Review it, and file a note with the reviewer's name and the date49 CFR 391.25(b)–(c)
- Clearinghouse query for every driver subject to testing49 CFR 382.701(b)
- 04
Keep
- Qualification file: while employed and three years after49 CFR 391.51(c)
- Annual records and review notes: may come out three years after their date49 CFR 391.51(d)
For a motor carrier the MVR is not optional. The three-year record from every state that licensed the driver must be requested within 30 days of the start date and filed in the driver qualification file; if a state sends nothing back, the carrier documents its good-faith effort. The inquiry goes in “the form and manner each authority prescribes”, so a driver licensed in three states means three state requests.
The yearly review is a judgment, not a formality. The carrier must consider the driver's accident record and any evidence of traffic-law violations, and “must give great weight to violations, such as speeding, reckless driving, and operating while under the influence of alcohol or drugs”. The note in the file names the person who did the review and the date.
Before you can see a driver's Clearinghouse record, the driver gives electronic consent through the Clearinghouse itself. A driver who has never registered cannot do that on the spot, so ask for it with the offer. A driver who refuses consent may not perform safety-sensitive functions.
49 CFR 382.703(a)–(b)
Previous DOT-regulated employers must answer a safety-history request within 30 days of receiving it, and must reply even when they have nothing to report. Your own 30 days to file the replies, or your good-faith efforts, run from the start date, so send the requests the day the driver accepts.
49 CFR 391.23(c)(1), (g)(1)
The drug test itself is covered in drug testing for employers; the screening services by industry compare shows which firms say they handle transportation programs.
What to do
- Ask every CDL applicant to register in the Clearinghouse with the offer letter.
- Diary the 30-day deadline for the state records and the safety-history replies from the start date.
- Set one annual date per driver for the record, the review note and the Clearinghouse query.
Annual pulls and continuous monitoring
| Approach | What you get | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Annual pull | A fresh record once a year, or on the cycle you set | Problems surface up to a year late |
| Monitoring alerts | A notice when a new event posts to an enrolled license | Needs ongoing consent and an enrollment list |
| Pull on an event | A record after a crash, a claim or a role change | Nothing between events |
A license can be suspended the week after the hire. Continuous monitoring means enrolling a driver's license so that a new conviction, suspension or crash that posts to the record triggers a notice, instead of waiting for the next annual pull. Some states run this themselves. New York's DMV runs the License Event Notification Service (LENS) for organizations about “drivers that you employ or regulate”, a prepaid service that reports events when they “post to your drivers' license records”, with fees per driver and per notice on the DMV's page. Screening firms sell monitoring as well; what each one covers, state by state, is a question for the firm.
FTC staff say a one-time disclosure can cover reports during employment if it states “clearly and conspicuously” that it covers both the application and any reports obtained while the person is an employee, and that “a valid disclosure and consent remain effective throughout the duration of employment.” Alerts from a screening firm are consumer reports, so acting on one still needs the pre-adverse notice.
FTC staff, 40 Years of Experience with the FCRA (July 2011)
Questions to put to any monitoring offer: which states it covers, how fast an event reaches you after the state posts it, whether the driver is told about enrollment, and how you remove a driver who leaves. PBSA's accreditation standard covers DPPA compliance as well as the FCRA, one reason to start from the accredited screeners roster.
What state driving records cost
| State | Record | Fee | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 3- or 10-year driver record (10-year for employment only) | $15 per record | PennDOT form DL-503 (9-25) |
| Pennsylvania | Certified driver record | $47 | PennDOT form DL-503 (9-25) |
| Ohio | Certified driving record abstract, 3 years | $5 per record | Ohio BMV form 1173 (1/23) |
| New York | The driver's own abstract | $7 online, $10 in person | NY DMV abstract page |
Pennsylvania shows why you ask your screening firm what it actually pays. PennDOT's mail-in form (the September 2025 edition) charges $15 per record, while its online business-service page says the driver record fee has been $14 since July 1, 2023. Both are PennDOT's own pages. Employers and insurers can also apply for PennDOT's online business service themselves (a one-time application fee applies). Either way, your invoice should carry the fee actually paid, not a rounded-up one.
New York's page prices the driver's own abstract; employers get commercial driver abstracts for enrolled drivers through LENS. A driver licensed in three states in the past three years means three state fees at hire. The full fee picture, criminal searches included, is in what a background check costs.
Writing a driving standard for jobs outside the DOT rules
For a company-car or own-car role, no federal rule says what a disqualifying record looks like. Your insurer may have a view, and you should ask it before you write one. Whatever you settle on, write it down before the first record arrives, apply it the same way to everyone in the role, and tie each line to the driving the job involves.
| Decide | Write down |
|---|---|
| Which roles | Only jobs where driving for work is part of the duties |
| How far back | The years you will look at, inside the seven-year limit |
| What counts | Suspensions, impaired driving, at-fault crashes, the number of moving violations |
| When to re-check | At hire, yearly, on monitoring alerts, after a crash |
| What happens next | Pre-adverse notice, the driver's answer, then the decision |
When a driving offense is also a criminal conviction, the criminal-record rules join in: California employers with five or more employees wait until after a conditional offer to consider conviction history, and New York City has its own process. See the California Fair Chance Act guide before you write a blanket rule.
What to do
- Write the standard per role before you order the first record.
- Pick annual pulls, monitoring or both, and cover ongoing checks in the disclosure.
- Check that your firm's state fees match the DMV's own figures.
Quick reference
- DMV release for a CDL holder's employer
- Permitted use18 U.S.C. 2721(b)(9)
- DMV release for anyone else
- Written consent18 U.S.C. 2721(b)(13)
- Misuse of a record, if the driver sues
- $2,500 minimum damages18 U.S.C. 2724(b)(1)
- MVR from a screening firm
- Consumer reportFTC staff report, 2011
- Non-criminal items, job under $75,000
- 7 years15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)(5), (b)(3)
- CMV driver record at hire
- Within 30 days, 3 years49 CFR 391.23(a)(1)
- CMV driver record review
- Every 12 months49 CFR 391.25
- Prior DOT employer's reply
- Within 30 days49 CFR 391.23(g)(1)
- Clearinghouse query
- Before hire, then yearly49 CFR 382.701
- Driver qualification file
- Employment + 3 years49 CFR 391.51(c)
Questions employers ask
Can an employer check my driving record without permission?
Only in narrow cases. The employer of a commercial driver's license holder has its own permitted use under the DPPA. For other jobs the DMV normally needs the driver's written consent, and if a screening firm pulls the record, the FCRA disclosure and written authorization come first.
How far back does an MVR check go?
It depends on the record the state sells and who supplies it. DOT rules ask for three years at hire and at least the past 12 months each year after. PennDOT sells 3-year and 10-year records, the 10-year one for employment only. Through a screening firm, non-criminal items older than seven years generally drop off for jobs paying under $75,000.
Do I need an MVR for employees who drive their own car for work?
No federal rule requires one outside the DOT driver rules. Many employers check anyway because the driving is part of the job; ask your insurer what it expects, then apply the same written standard to everyone in the role.
Is an annual MVR review required?
For drivers covered by FMCSA's driver qualification rules, yes: a record at least every 12 months, a review, and a note in the file with the reviewer's name and the date. For other drivers it is your policy's choice.
Can I take a driver off the road after a monitoring alert?
If the alert came from a screening firm, it is a consumer report: send the pre-adverse notice with a copy and the Summary of Rights first, then the final notice. The adverse action notice guide has both letters. A DOT disqualification follows its own rules.
How long does an MVR check take?
Some DMVs sell records online to business accounts: PennDOT's form says employers can get them “in real time” through its online business service. Mail requests and drivers licensed in several states take longer. Our guide to how long a background check takes covers every search.