在美国运送重要商品的商用卡车司机必须通过彻底的背景调查并符合严格的安全法规。然而，哥伦比亚广播公司最近的一项调查显示，许多校车司机——负责在往返学校和夏令营的路上保护儿童安全的人——并未遵守同样严格的标准。而这种宽大处理的结果偶尔会产生严重的后果。
根据这篇文章，每年大约有 22,000 起公共汽车事故，造成数千名学生受伤。平均而言，每周至少有一次校车司机因酒后驾驶、儿童色情内容甚至性侵犯而被捕。
仅在一天之内，美国就有大约2500 万儿童乘坐校车。部署校车运送孩子们的古老做法减少了道路上的车辆数量，并为忙碌的父母腾出时间。
但是，贵重的货物是否由最安全、最合格的司机照管？
卡车司机与校车司机：不同的标准
校车司机必须持有商业驾驶执照。但是，与大多数商业卡车司机的路线跨越州线并因此受到监管以遵守许多联邦安全规则不同，很少有校车在州际旅行并且不参与促进州际贸易，因此相同的联邦安全规则不适用. 因此，一些没有资格在大型商业运输公司工作的司机可能仍然有资格驾驶校车。
越野半卡车受到严格监管，经常受到监控，不仅针对犯罪或与驾驶相关的违法行为，还针对可能影响其安全操作商用车辆能力的其他医疗状况。因此，虽然货物安全地穿越州际线，但孩子们可能会被背景不太干净的人驾驶。
正如哥伦比亚广播公司的文章中所引用的那样，“'没有通用的标准。因此，没有什么会自动取消校车司机的资格，比如说，他有广泛的犯罪背景或酒驾，或者造成了太多车祸，”[交通律师 Steve] Gursten 说。”
雇主并不总是考虑在背景调查中发现的信息。这篇文章强调了一个人在田纳西州受雇驾驶校车的案例，尽管背景调查显示该人有犯罪历史，包括在学区拥有武器和毒品。
问题的核心是公交车司机短缺。90% 的学区报告公交车司机短缺。大型校车公司正在通过各种途径招聘司机。尽管一些申请人被发现背景不利，但由于对司机的需求旺盛，他们可能还是会被录用。
一些大型校车公司正在转向分类广告网站寻找司机。一家公司甚至向一名前雇员提供了他的工作，尽管他因多项儿童色情指控而受到调查。
与教师和其他与儿童一起工作的人一样，彻底的背景筛查政策是一种安全而谨慎的做法。正如 CBS 报告所强调的那样，避免全面的背景调查和/或不执行调查结果可能是灾难性的。
全球背景调查服务提供商观火背调的运输部门董事总经理史蒂文·斯宾塞 (Steven Spencer) 表示，“尽管满足管理要求似乎是一项艰巨的任务，但将流程分解为易于执行的步骤将有助于公司聘请最优秀的公交车司机，留住员工。他们的才能并应用旨在保护脆弱客运货物的安全驾驶员培训实践。”
帮助确保有效筛查计划的三个简单步骤
实施或加强有效、负担得起且合规的驾驶员筛查计划的最佳实践包括三个阶段。
第一阶段的结果通常可以在不到一分钟的时间内获得（注意：通过这些搜索的申请人通常会收到录取通知书）：
机动车报告
社会安全号码追踪
商业司机工作历史数据库
商业驾驶执照信息系统 (CDLIS)
联邦汽车运输安全管理局 (FMCSA) 就业前筛查计划 (PSP)
组织可能还希望对通过第一阶段的候选人进行额外研究，包括：
在商业司机工作历史数据库搜索中未返回的过去雇主的手动雇佣和药物/酒精历史验证
犯罪记录搜索（符合州、县或地方 Ban the Box 规定）
最后阶段将包括以下额外检查：
就业前药物测试
体检
CBS News investigation revealed that many school bus drivers – the people charged with protecting the safety of children on the road to and from schools and summer camps – are not held to the same exacting standards. And the results of such leniency have occasionally produced serious consequences.
According to the article, there are approximately 22,000 bus crashes a year, leaving thousands of students injured. And on average, at least once a week a school bus driver is arrested for driving under the influence, for child pornography, or even sexual assault.
In one day alone, around 25 million children ride a school bus in the United States. The age-old practice of deploying school buses to transport groups of kids reduces the number of vehicles on the road and frees up time for busy parents.
But is the precious cargo in the care of the safest and most qualified drivers?
Truck Drivers vs. School Bus Drivers: Different Standards
School bus drivers must possess a commercial driver’s license. But, unlike most commercial truck drivers whose routes take them across state lines and are therefore regulated to follow many federal safety rules, few school buses travel interstate and aren’t engaged in promoting interstate commerce, so the same federal safety rules don’t apply. As a result, some drivers who would not qualify for a job working for a large commercial transportation company may still be eligible to drive a school bus.
Cross country semi-truckers are highly regulated and are often monitored, not only for criminal or driving-related offenses, but for other medical conditions that may inhibit their ability to safely operate a commercial vehicle. So while freight travels safely across state lines, children may be driven by people with less-than squeaky clean backgrounds.
As quoted in the CBS article, “‘There are no universal standards. So there is nothing that automatically will disqualify a school bus driver who, let’s say, has an extensive criminal background or DUIs or has caused too many crashes,’ [transportation attorney Steve] Gursten said.”
Information discovered during background checks is not always being considered by employers. The article highlights the case of a person hired to drive a school bus in Tennessee even though a background check revealed that the individual had a criminal history that included possessing both a weapon and drugs in a school zone.
The heart of the problem is the shortage of bus drivers. 90% of school districts report a shortage of bus drivers. Large school bus companies are turning to every avenue to recruit drivers. Although some applicants were found with unfavorable backgrounds, they may be hired anyway because of the steep demand for drivers.
Some large school bus companies are turning to classified advertisement websites to find drivers. One company even offered a former employee his job back, despite his having been under investigation for multiple charges of child pornography.
As with teachers and others who work with children, a thorough background screening policy is a safe and prudent practice. As the CBS report spotlights, avoiding a comprehensive background check and/or not enforcing findings may prove disastrous.
According to Steven Spencer, managing director of transportation at HireRight, a global provider of background screening services, “Though meeting administrative requirements may seem like a daunting task, breaking down the process into easily performed steps will help companies hire the best bus drivers, retain their talent and apply safe driver training practices designed to protect fragile passenger cargo.”
Three Simple Steps to Help Ensure an Effective Screening Program
Best practices for implementing or strengthening an effective, affordable and compliant driver screening program include three phases.
Results from the first phase may typically be obtained in less than one minute (NOTE: It is common for an offer to be made for applicants who pass these searches):
Motor Vehicle Reports
Social Security Number Trace
A commercial driver work history database
Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS)
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’ s (FMCSA) Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP)
Organizations may also want to conduct additional research on candidates who pass the first phase, including:
Manual employment and drug/alcohol history verifications on those past employers not returned in the commercial driver work history database search
Criminal record search (in compliance with state, county or local Ban the Box regulations)
The final phase would include the following additional checks:
Pre-employment drug test
Physical exam
