Motor vehicle record (MVR)

Scope

Motor carriers are required to obtain a motor vehicle record (MVR) covering the previous three years for each new driver they employ. Also, run MVRs from every licensing authority from which the driver held a vehicle license in the prior 12 months, every 12 months thereafter during employment.

Regulatory citations

• 49 CFR 391.23 — Investigation and inquiries
• 49 CFR 391.25 — Annual inquiry and review of driving record

Key definitions

• Commercial motor vehicle (CMV): Any self-propelled or towed motor vehicle used on a highway in interstate commerce to transport passengers or property when the vehicle:
  • Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight, of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more, whichever is greater; or
  • Is designed or used to transport more than 8 passengers (including the driver) for compensation; or
  • Is designed or used to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver, and is not used to transport passengers for compensation; or
  • Is used in transporting material found by the Secretary of Transportation to be hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and transported in a quantity requiring placarding.

• Driver: Any person who operates any commercial motor vehicle.
• Employer: Any person engaged in a business affecting interstate commerce who owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle in connection with that business, or assigns employees to operate it, but such term does not include the United States, any state, any political subdivision of a state, or an agency established under a compact between states approved by the Congress of the United States.
• Motor vehicle record (MVR): The report of the driving status and history of a driver generated from the driver record, provided to users, such as, drivers or employers, and subject to the provisions of the Driver Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. 2721–2725.

Summary of requirements

For the initial three-year MVR, the particular requirements are as follows:

• The request must be sent to every issuing driver’s licensing authority in which the driver held a license or permit during the last three years.
• The request must be in the form and manner prescribed by the licensing authority (often using an authority-supplied form).
• A copy of each issuing driver’s licensing authority record, or documentation of the carrier’s good faith efforts to obtain the record, must be placed in the driver’s qualification file within 30 days of the employment date, and must be kept until three years after the driver’s employment ends.

The regulations also require a motor carrier to obtain an MVR on each driver every 12 months, covering the previous 12 months. Each annual MVR can be removed from the driver’s qualification file after three years.

For interstate commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders whose MVR includes medical certification information, the MVR must be obtained before the driver operates a commercial motor vehicle, to prove that the driver is physically qualified. A new MVR must be obtained every time the driver’s medical certification status changes. Driving records obtained for purposes of verifying physical qualification can also be used to satisfy the above requirements to obtain initial and annual MVRs.

Note that when a driver obtains a new medical card and provides a copy to the state, the state has up to 10 days to update the driver’s driving record. During that interim period (for up to 15 days from the date the medical card was issued), the driver and motor carrier can use the medical certificate as proof of qualification, until an updated MVR can be obtained.