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A motor carrier must keep a driver qualification (DQ) file for each driver it employs. The file must contain specific documents to show evidence that the driver is qualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle (CMV).
Scope
Driver records should contain information for each person employed as a driver of commercial vehicles. The National Standard Code applies to drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) and the motor carriers of these drivers.
Regulatory citations
- National Safety Code Standard 4, Driver Licensing Classification
- National Safety Code Standard 15, Facility Audits
Key definitions
- Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV): Trucks, tractors, or trailers, or any combination of them, that have a registered gross vehicle weight exceeding 4,500 kilograms; or buses with a seating capacity of more than 10 persons, including the driver.
- National Safety Code (NSC): A set of safety and administrative standards developed and maintained by the CCMTA.
Summary of requirements
The driver qualification file requirements vary by jurisdiction in Canada. In general, a driver file/driver qualification file must contain the following:
- The driver’s completed application form for employment
- A copy of the driver’s abstract dated within 30 days of hire
- Annual updated copies of the driver’s abstract
- The driver’s employment history for the preceding 3 years
- A record of the driver’s convictions of safety laws relating to the operation of a motor vehicle in the current year and in each of the preceding 4 years
- A record of any administrative penalty imposed on the driver
- A record of all collisions involving a motor vehicle operated by the driver that are required to be reported to a peace officer
- A record of all training taken by a driver related to the operation of a vehicle and compliance with safety laws
- A copy of any training certificate issued to the driver, in electronic or paper form, for the period starting on the date the training certificate is issued
Driver files must be retained at the carrier’s principal place of business for the year in which they are created, established, or received and the 4 calendar years immediately following.
Carriers should also keep any other relevant information about their drivers. This may include items such as alcohol and drug testing records (this is required for carriers who wish to operate in the United States). Please note, while electronic records may be accepted, any originals must be made available upon request.
General recordkeeping is 5 years for all documents except employment application, which is kept for the length of employment.
Yes = Yes, required; No = Not required by jurisdiction regulation, but recommended as best practice and for due diligence.
*Ensure driver’s license is appropriate for type of vehicle being operated and that the license is valid.
**Also include driver’s hire date, driver’s abstract/commercial driver’s abstract upon hire dated within 30 days of hire (in Alberta, abstract must be within 30 days prior to driver’s hire date). Annual abstracts required but preferable to obtain abstracts every 6 months.
***NSC Standard 15 states that carriers must keep a record of “other driving qualifications” and has listed the following: air brake endorsement, TDG certificate, extended combinations endorsement.
****TDG certificates include current certificate plus expired certificates must be kept for five years beyond the certificate’s expiration. Only need TDG cert. if hauling TDG.
a Initial road test performed by a prospective employer is required in Alberta and the province requires “an ongoing program for evaluating [the driver’s] driving skills.” See sample road test document below.
b Must be reported but no timeline given.
c Notification required within 15 days.
d The carrier must obtain five years’ worth of driving records, then annually after that.
e Abstracts required annually during the same month as the anniversary of the driver’s birth, for each year the driver is employed.
f Driver has up to 30 days to report convictions, accidents, driver or vehicle inspection, or a warning or OOS notice in relation to an inspection of the driver or of the vehicle the driver is operating.
g Annual abstracts required.
h Required within 10 days.
i If a driver’s license is modified, suspended, or cancelled, the driver must immediately notify the operator with a signed declaration of the license status; also requires a copy of the service contract between the person offering the services of a driver and the operator, if such contract applies.
j Driver must report “without delay.”
k Driver abstracts must be requested annually no earlier than 30 days before it is obtained and review it to determine if the driver is still fit to drive.
l Placeholder footnote (removed per a rule change in Manitoba).
m Before being engaged by a carrier to drive a commercial vehicle, each driver of a commercial vehicle shall disclose in writing to the carrier the name of the jurisdiction in which the driver is authorized by a licence to operate a commercial vehicle, the name under which the driver holds that licence, and whether or not that licence or the driving privilege to which it relates is suspended or revoked.
n Carriers must maintain “up-to-date” profiles that include the driver’s license declaration (see footnote m), driver abstracts, and driver accidents/violations/convictions/changes in license status.
o Carrier must create a rules and regulations document that lists the regulatory requirements drivers are required to know in order to operate a commercial vehicle and drivers must review and confirm, in writing, that they have reviewed and understood the document. Carrier must also have a system to alert the carrier that a driver abstract is due and that the license is due for renewal.
p Driver must report within 14 days.
q Drivers should provide two-year history of accidents, violations, and convictions at hiring, then notify the carrier of these events as they occur. Warnings issued to drivers are included as part of this category.
r Current year and in each of the preceding 4 years and any records of administrative penalties imposed on the driver under safety laws.
s The accident record must include date and details of the accident, driver’s name, type of damage and the amount of damage, identification of the commercial vehicle involved in the accident.