Frequently Asked Questions

The Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) allows carriers, individual drivers, and industry service providers access to commercial drivers' safety records from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). Records are available 24 hours a day via the PSP website.

A PSP record contains a driver’s most recent 5 years of crash data and the most recent 3 years of roadside inspection data from the FMCSA MCMIS database. The record displays a snapshot in time, based on the most recent MCMIS data load to the PSP system.  A new snapshot is uploaded approximately once per month.  The current snapshot date is posted on the PSP home page.

Developing a system to make safety performance information electronically available for pre-employment screening purposes was mandated by Congress in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, Title 49 U.S. Code, section 31150 Public Law 109-59 Section 4117. FMCSA believes that making this driver data available to potential employers, industry service providers, and drivers will improve the quality of safety data and help employers make more informed decisions when hiring commercial drivers. PSP provides more rapid access to commercial driver safety performance information than is available via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or Privacy Act requests.

Please visit the PSP website to download an enrollment agreement. Once the appropriate agreement is complete, follow the instructions to return the entire agreement to NIC Federal. The account holder agreement includes FMCSA-required disclosure and authorization language that all account holders must use to capture a driver's authorization before requesting a PSP record. 

Account holders may request PSP records solely for the purpose of conducting pre-employment screening and only with the driver's authorization. Please remember that all account holders must use the specific disclosure and authorization form provided in the account holder agreement.

Drivers may request their own PSP records at any time.

No. PSP is a voluntary program both for carriers and for drivers.

FMCSA is working with a contractor, NIC Federal, LLC (NIC Federal or ‘NICF’), to manage PSP. First, a motor carrier or industry service provider must enroll for a PSP account. Upon enrollment, account holders are granted credentials to access the PSP online service, which they will then use to access PSP via any major web browser.

Motor carriers may also obtain PSP records through an industry service provider, such as a driver screening company. Motor carriers should contact an industry service provider for more information.

Alternatively, a motor carrier may obtain driver safety performance information free of charge by submitting a Freedom of Information Act request to FMCSA.

Yes. A driver can obtain a copy of their PSP record through the PSP online service at any time using this link. Drivers may also obtain their own information free of charge from FMCSA by submitting a Privacy Act request.

Data from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) is uploaded to the PSP system approximately once a month. This is a 'MCMIS data snapshot'. In the bottom left corner of your PSP record, you can find the data snapshot date effective at the time of the record request.  If this date is earlier than a recent inspection, then you will not see the inspection on the report.  Also, keep in mind that reporting times vary by state. If you do not see a crash or inspection that you expected to see, then you may consider accessing your PSP record again approximately a month after the snapshot date printed on your PSP record, or after the next data snapshot update. If you want to know the current MCMIS data snapshot date prior to requesting a PSP record, it is posted on the PSP home page.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) conducted a study to evaluate PSP's safety impact. The study results showed that companies regularly using PSP have, on average, reduced their crash rates by 8% and their driver out-of-service rates by 17%. A summary of the PSP safety impact study can be found here.