Driver Referances

[pjjjjj]

PJJJJ
That nick is related to one of the professions I have, as I have been a Bounty Hunter or Bail Enforcement Agent since the mid-eighties. I own a Bail Bond business and a PI business as well as other businesses.

PM me your email address and I will provide the access to you

Ah, does that mean you're located in MD?
Anyway, cool idea for sharing info, allowing updates among allowed associates, and still keeping the whole process secret, so no potential liability!
I imagine the list could also be sorted alphabetically, or by whichever piece of info is needed, so easy to quickly see if a driver applicant is on there before you even begin the screening process.
I guess if a fleet owner paid for a background check on a potential driver, and it was less than favorable, this could also be posted, which would alleviate the need for another owner-associate to also pay for the same thing?
Oh, and your contributions are always welcome!

 

[Wingnut]

You can do all the background checks on a person that you want..it won't change anything. People will do what they want & act how they want. No background check out there is going to change anything. Here's an example for you to think about:
There is a fleet owner that I know who had a driver burn him. This driver broke a contract with the owner in many ways, abandoned the truck, stuck him for fuel and a whole bunch of other expenses. Up till this owner, this driver had not done such a thing before. So, what good does a background check do? Yes, it WILL give you alot of pertinant info but the long & short of it is this: it's not infailable. The background checks (which includes work history) that expedite companies will give you the same info as you're talking about. You, the fleet owner, can contact each work place the driver worked for...just like the expedite company will do.
We're having this conversation because an owner got burned by one of their drivers. It happens all the time...regardless of how many background checks was done on that driver or who did the checks. Things like this happens quite frequently. It's the nature of the beast in this business and boils down to a person's moral & work ethics.

 

[Mdbtyhtr]

Wingnut

The post originated because a driver left a company in the lurch the same way he left a previous company...So per your statement, that would have been a known fact, but apparently it wasn't.

My point is that we are attempting to mitigate liability, costs and become more efficient. You either get that or you don't. Arguing the minutia doesn't negate the original discussion.

You are correct in that a person can behave out of his "Norm" in a single incident, with no previous history or pattern of this behavior. Proper vetting of an individual can eliminate the "Known" but will never produce the "Unknown" as we are dealing with past issues or behaviors.

The next phase would be to determine what motivated this behavior. Did the employee fail the company or did the company fail the employee. Was their contributory factors that resulted in the abrupt exit of the employee (contractor), and could this have been prevented, and how.

Drilling down to find the root cause will go far to minimize a reoccurence. To be successful in this process, we must be able to accept blame if we are the issue and make the changes to eliminate any future issues. If we are not the blame, what signs were evident that contributed to the situation, and were they addressable or preventable?

Best of luck to you,

Scott

 

[greg334]

Although I would agree with some of this stuff, there are a few things I have to point out.

First ... is why is this thread here and not in the Newbie section?

Second) regardless how you do background checks and ensure of a quality person, this is not an employee/employer relationship which would mean that state laws preside over the relationship opposed to federal laws. IF the employee does something and is from another state - it is a costly and sometimes time consuming issue to resolved or get any restitution. If you don't beleive me, ask your lawyer about it.

Third - this is a contract issue regardless how you look at it or claim otherwise. You are allowing a sub-contractor do work for you with your equipment and that is why you have a contract. The contract should include issues like abandonment and equipment damage backed up with a written procedure about how you release and recover the equipement - not a contract with just revenue sharnig figures and payout schedules. It should be airtight where you can actually go after the contractor through the courts, meaning only written by a lawyer and BACKED by that lawyer. The problem with a lack of solid contracts and other ways some owners work seems to leave the door open for owner said/contractor said issues which sometimes can never be resolved.

Forth, background checks mean squat when you come down to it and can damage your ability as an owner to find the right people to drive your truck. I would not ever consider an owner who wants me to sign a waiver to release my personal information to them or do any investigator outside the US government for work purposes (Security clearance) as a needed process in this business. Even though it may sound good at times, there is a legal burden with that personal information if the relationship goes south and you decide to 'recover' losses.

Fifth: if you are thinking about keeping personal info on a server you don't control or that is not internal to your company, DON'T DO IT. There are legal issues with this and if the server is hacked and the info is released or used in any way that effects the person that the info is about, you just open the door for a big lawsuit. They don't have to prove you intended that info to be released but the lack of control, plus the public access (meaning Internet connection) means that you could not control the information that you compiled.

We all want to mitigate risks and do Due Diligence on issues like Loss Prevention but because of the fluidity of this business, tied with the need to fill seats while making this out as a pleasure cruise, many owners don't and never will treat this as a business. Some owners are incapable of finding people while at the same time many have built their business on instinct and experience of knowing how to read people but we also have the naive and ignorant owners who say "we don't need no stink'n contract" and they are the ones who seem to cry the most when something goes wrong.

 

[davekc]

Lot of good points in this thread. I will agree that nothing is 100 percent guaranteed. If so, everyone would be doing it. There is always some risks. Just a issue of trying to minimize them and carry through after they are contracted.
All too often owners throw them the keys to the driver and then forget about them. Or, they overpopulate their fleet for their capabilities and or financial abilities and little by little, problems start to develop. Many of fleet owners have crashed and burned over the last year because of this very problem.
Manage your trucks if you are a fleet owner rather than them managing you.

 

[blizzard2014]

I actually washed and intricately detailed my owners van before I took it back to Cleveland. I even used air freshener to remove a lot of the cigarette smoke from the van. I did this because I have respect for other peoples equipment. Being a good driver is something that can't be instilled in a person nor taken back out of a person.

Why don't you take a close look at the drivers appearance "grooming and wardrobe" to try and get a general assessment of whether or not they have respect for others. If you see a driver throw down his lit cigarette butt to the ground, stomp it out with his feet, and then pick it up and carefully throw it into a trash can "then you know he has respect for other people!

Watch them in orientation, are they cleaning up after themselves, are they well manneres "well as well mannered as a bunch of us crazy drivers can be in one place" and look to see if they are on time to orientation and breaks? This should give you a good consensus of what kind of people they are.

 

[arkjarhead]

That is a line of garbage...A bad driver to an owner is just as likely a liability to the carrier as well....late deliveries/shabby appearance/dirty truck.
The carriers are just too cheap to have someone get involved that might cost them money.

How is that a line of garbage? I was talking about agreements between owners and drivers. If carriers are gonna start playing referee then they would legitimately have to hold both groups accountable. I think the carriers know what they are doing.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

How is that a line of garbage? I was talking about agreements between owners and drivers. If carriers are gonna start playing referee then they would legitimately have to hold both groups accountable. I think the carriers know what they are doing.

Because a bad driver like a bad owner reflects on the carrier....BUT carriers are not going to spend any dollars paying someone to play mediator between the parties....so to the carriers a hands off approach is the lessor of the evils...cost effective and least liabilities.

Funny the post office will ban any driver from all facilities for bad attitude, appearance and work habits even though they are O/O's or contracted drivers...IMAGE!!
If they even get wind of a potential problem that might interfere with the mail they'll promptly cancel a contract.

 

[greg334]

OVM,
I understand what you are getting at but this is trucking, nothing more than that.

The system is setup by the companies who have been well established and it works for them.

If say FedEx or Panther needs to be more proactive in appearances and attitudes, then it is another step toward employment for many contractors.

Both of those companies are little fish in a great big pond and most likely won't be more active any time soon to move into a better system to weed out bad people.

The real problem is this entire niche market of trucking is too easy to get into and we should take a look at ourselves when we tell people "the water is fine, come on in".

 

[OntarioVanMan]

OVM,
I understand what you are getting at but this is trucking, nothing more than that.

The system is setup by the companies who have been well established and it works for them.

If say FedEx or Panther needs to be more proactive in appearances and attitudes, then it is another step toward employment for many contractors.

Both of those companies are little fish in a great big pond and most likely won't be more active any time soon to move into a better system to weed out bad people.

The real problem is this entire niche market of trucking is too easy to get into and we should take a look at ourselves when we tell people "the water is fine, come on in".

Agreed...in the big picture this industry, is we are little fish...