What are the options to qualify drivers on short notice?
Scenario:
You are a safety manager at a construction company. There is a major project in a week. Your fleet must haul building supplies to a job site with two flatbed tractor-trailers that required a CDL to operate. The fleet is short two commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers who quit last week.
What would you do?
A. Tell your boss you are short two drivers and can’t make it happen.
B. Call the temp agency and tell them to send over two drivers and the temp agency’s driver qualification (DQ) files.
C. Borrow two drivers from your sister company and let them operate your vehicles with no further action needed.
D. Hire two drivers. Just run their motor vehicle records and check their medical certification.
Click below to see answer.
What are the options to qualify drivers on short notice? Answer
If drivers work for two or more Department of Transportation (DOT) carriers in a 7-day period, they may qualify for one of the exceptions to creating a full driver qualification (DQ) file, depending on the source:
- Staffing service - 391.63, or
- Another DOT-regulated carrier) - 391.65
These exceptions do not apply to drug and alcohol testing requirements.
Watchouts:
- The DQ files created by an agency when they originally hired the driver cannot be used to meet carrier compliance requirements under Part 391. However, the agency can create a DQ file for your company as your agent with your company name on the DOT application and other documents, but that takes time. Under 391.63, only four items are required to make a "mini-DQ file"
- When borrowing a fully qualified driver from another carrier, i.e., a sister company under the same parent company, only a certification letter is needed from the carrier stating that the driver is fully qualified per 391.65.
Two of the answers below are most appropriate (bold) for this scenario:
A. You don’t want to fall short of your boss’ expectations, so this is not a good option.
B. If the drivers qualify as multiple-employer drivers, obtain the required information per 391.63, you can utilize the drivers for this job. Drug testing requirements must also be met unless the driver is expected to be working for your company for less than 30-consecutive days.
C. If the drivers qualify as multiple-employer drivers, obtain the required certificate from the carrier, which may be sister company under the same parent or legally unrelated. Drug testing requirements must also be met.
D. This option would result in violations for not meeting all DQ file requirements in 391.51. Also, if you do not comply with drug and alcohol testing and query requirements, these will be serious audit violations.