联邦汽车运输安全管理局 (FMCSA) 和运输部 (DOT) 要求运输行业进行一些与就业相关的背景调查和保障措施，但是——除了危险品和港口准入等少数情况外——联邦法律不需要对司机进行犯罪记录搜索。考虑到满足基本背景筛选要求的成本，许多货运公司放弃了这些搜索。虽然可以理解，但这可能是一种“虚假经济”，最终导致公司在诉讼、客户流失、员工盗窃和营业额方面付出的代价远远超过通过将犯罪记录检查作为就业前不可分割的一部分而获得的原始节省包裹。

没有承运人想要犯罪记录不明的司机。一些有犯罪记录的司机可能适合招聘，但这是承运人应根据尽可能多的信息做出的决定。这对于与公众互动的司机尤其重要，例如取货和送货司机。从装货码头或交货点偷窃的司机不仅会失去客户，还会使公司因疏忽雇用或保留而面临诉讼。近年来，与雇佣相关的诉讼比以往任何时候都多，法院对雇主进行调查和监督员工的责任越来越大。

观火背调 运输销售高级总监史蒂文斯宾塞指出，在当前经济放缓的情况下，犯罪记录检查更为重要。“运营商需要更少的司机，有更多的时间来雇佣，”史蒂文解释说，“所以他们雇佣并留住了可用司机的最高百分比。整个行业的这种'顶板'意味着可用的司机更有可能在他们的记录上有瑕疵。”

观火背调 提供了多种犯罪记录检查选项，可显示大部分定罪记录，同时保护承运人免受指控不公平招聘行为的诉讼。“除了必要的就业和毒品和酒精筛查，”史蒂文说，“我们建议承运人在招聘过程的第一和第二阶段检查犯罪记录。在第一阶段，根据基本标准进行筛选，我们建议进行全国犯罪记录搜索、通缉犯安全筛选和恐怖分子观察名单搜索，以及全国性犯罪者搜索。在第二阶段，对通过第一阶段筛选的人进行扩大筛选，我们建议直接进行县犯罪记录搜索。”

观火背调 的专有犯罪记录数据库包含超过 3.4 亿条定罪记录，每月新增数万条。我们的宽屏产品将搜索范围扩大到其他数据库，包括州和国家犯罪记录库、州法院行政办公室、州惩教部门、性犯罪者登记处以及其他州机构，例如公共安全部门。然后从原始来源重新验证来自宽屏搜索的任何积极“命中”，以确保准确性和合规性。如果请求的搜索包括申请人的全名和出生日期，则包括通缉犯安全屏幕和恐怖分子监视名单搜索，无需额外费用。

“WideScreen 是进行全国刑事搜查的一种极好的、具有成本效益的方式，”史蒂文指出。“搜索所有 3,200 个美国县，仅县费就将花费约 78,000 美元——这显然是不可能的。Widescreen 从可用数据库中捕获尽可能多的数据，然后从原始来源重新验证它们。这是一项在大多数运营商可以负担得起的预算下进行的全面的全国搜索。”

史蒂文强调联邦搜查不是全国搜查。“一些筛查提供者混淆了这些术语。联邦搜索只会返回联邦犯罪记录，例如逃税、欺诈、贪污和贩毒。我们提供联邦搜索来筛选有权访问公司财务记录和其他敏感信息的高级员工，但这不适合司机。”

在申请人通过国家刑事搜查并且承运人继续有兴趣雇用他或她后，下一步是在已知申请人曾居住的一个或多个县进行直接县搜查。这些直接搜索提供了最新、最准确的犯罪记录检查，并且经常会找到不在国家数据库中的记录。观火背调 拥有庞大的研究人员网络，他们亲自前往乡村法院亲自检查记录。客户可以选择每个申请人应该检查多少个县。

为了经济高效，Trac to Crim 搜索使用申请人信用报告中的 TRAC 记录（向信用局报告的当前和以前的地址信息）来确定适当的县以检查犯罪记录。除了即时验证申请人的姓名、当前地址和以前的地址外，TRAC 报告还将个人的社会安全号码 (SSN) 与近 2 亿个人的消费者信用档案进行比较，并可能提供更多信息，例如使用的其他姓名和状态SSN 的问题。这些验证有助于保护承运人免受申请人欺诈。

“我们的客户可以完全相信我们的犯罪记录产品符合所有适用的隐私法，”Steven 强调说。“我们庞大且经验丰富的合规团队监控当前和未来的变化，并在不断变化的趋势和监管要求之前调整我们的产品。在犯罪记录检查方面——就像我们所有的就业筛查产品一样——观火背调 始终处于领先地位。”

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background checks and safeguards from the transportation industry, but—with the exception of a few situations such as HazMat and port access—federal laws do not require criminal records searches on drivers. Given the cost of fulfilling basic background screening requirements, many trucking companies forego these searches. While understandable, this may be a “false economy” that ends up costing the company far more in lawsuits, lost customers, employee theft, and turnover than the original savings gained by omitting the criminal records check as an integral part of the pre-employment package.

No carrier wants a driver with an unknown criminal record. Some drivers with a criminal record may be suitable for hiring, but that is a decision that the carrier should make based on as much information as possible. This is especially critical for drivers who interact with the public, such as pickup and delivery drivers. A driver who steals from a loading dock or from a point of delivery can not only lose customers but also expose the company to lawsuits for negligent hiring or retention. In recent years, there has been more employment-related litigation than ever, and the courts have placed more and more responsibility on employers to investigate and monitor their employees.

Steven Spencer, HireRight’s Senior Director of Transportation Sales, points out that Criminal Records checks are even more critical in the current slow economy. “Carriers need fewer drivers and have more time to hire,” Steven explains, “so they hire and retain the top percentile of available drivers. This ‘top siding’ across the industry means that the available drivers are more likely to have blemishes on their records.”

HireRight offers several options for criminal records checks, which reveal a large percentage of conviction records while protecting the carrier from exposure to lawsuits alleging unfair hiring practices. “Along with required employment and drug and alcohol screening,” Steven says, “we recommend that carriers check criminal records during the first and second stages of the hiring process. In Stage One, screening for basic criteria, we recommend a National Criminal Records Search, a Wanted Persons Security Screen and Terrorist Watch List Search, and a National Sex Offender Search. In Stage Two, expanded screening for those who pass Stage One screening, we recommend a Direct County Criminal Records Search.”

HireRight’s proprietary criminal records database contains more than 340 million conviction records with tens of thousands added each month. Our Widescreen product broadens the search to other databases including state and country criminal record repositories, state administrative offices of courts, state departments of corrections, sex offender registries, and other state agencies such as departments of public safety. Any positive “hits” from the Widescreen search are then re-verified from the original source to insure accuracy and compliance. When the requested search includes the applicant’s full name and date of birth, a Wanted Persons Security Screen and Terrorist Watch List Search is included at no extra cost.

“WideScreen is an excellent, cost-effective way to conduct a National Criminal Search,” Steven points out. “To search all 3,200 U.S. counties would cost about $78,000 in county fees alone—obviously out of the question. Widescreen captures as much data as possible from available databases and then re-verifies them from the original source. This is a comprehensive national search at a budget most carriers can afford.”

Steven emphasizes that a federal search is not a national search. “Some screening providers confuse these terms. A federal search will only return records for federal crimes such as tax evasion, fraud, embezzlement, and drug trafficking. We offer a federal search to screen high-level employees who have access to company financial records and other sensitive information, but it’s not appropriate for drivers.”

After an applicant passes the national criminal search and the carrier continues to have interest in hiring him or her, the next step is to conduct a direct county search in one or more counties where the applicant is known to have lived. These direct searches provide the most up-to-date and accurate criminal records check available and often turn up records that are not in the national databases. HireRight employs a large network of researchers who physically go to country courthouses to check records in person. The customer can choose how many counties should be checked for each applicant.

For cost-effective efficiency, a Trac to Crim search uses the TRAC record (current and previous address information as reported to the credit bureaus) from the applicant’s credit report to identify the appropriate counties to check for criminal records. Along with instant verification of an applicant’s name, current address, and previous addresses, the TRAC report also compares the individual’s social security number (SSN) with consumer credit files of nearly 200 million individuals and may provide further information such as other names used and state of issue for the SSN. These verifications help protect the carrier against applicant fraud.

“Our customers can have complete confidence that our criminal records products conform to all applicable privacy laws,” Steven emphasizes. “Our large and experienced compliance group monitors present and future changes, and we adjust our products ahead of changing trends and regulatory requirements. When it comes to criminal records checks–as with all our employment screening products–HireRight stays on the cutting edge.”