Federal Department of Transportation Awards NIC Technologies with Contract for National Motor Carrier Pre-Employment Screening System
The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), has awarded NIC Technologies, LLC, the contract for a National Motor Carrier Pre-Employment Screening System. NIC Technologies is part of the NIC Inc. (NASDAQ: EGOV) family of companies. The contract has an initial one-year term, with four, single-year renewals.
The new service is designed to disseminate commercial drivers’ safety performance history as part of the pre-employment screening process. The system will assist the motor carrier industry in assessing individual operators’ crash and serious safety violation inspection history as a pre-employment condition. Drivers will also be able to obtain their individual history from the service. The new system should launch in December 2009.
The system will be developed and maintained using a self-funded, transaction-based model. It is anticipated that users of the service will pay a subscription fee of $100 per year and a $10 transaction fee for each record pulled. There will be additional fees for records requested via fax or mail. Individual drivers requesting their own record will not be subject to any subscription fee.
“Safety is our number one priority at the Department of Transportation. This new initiative will help trucking companies ensure the safest drivers are behind the wheel of commercial trucks and buses,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Making this information more transparent will make our roads and highways safer for everyone.”
“We are honored to be awarded this work by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. NIC companies have long provided secure electronic access to motor vehicle and driver related information at a state level. This new project takes that expertise and applies it to the commercial driver data held at the federal level,” said Harry Herington, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of NIC. “With 17 years of eGovernment experience and current work in both the commercial driving industry and at the federal level, this new system is a natural fit for the company.”
Federal legislation requires the Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to provide companies and employers conducting pre-employment screening services for motor carriers with electronic access to crash and inspection data in FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). Drivers will provide consent before their crash and inspection data history is shared with potential employers in the commercial motor carrier industry.
The system will adhere to all federal privacy requirements to ensure the privacy and security of a driver’s personal information.
Daimler Trucks and Frito-Lay Launches Women In Trucking Association’s Salute to the Women Behind the Wheel.
Although women comprise less than six percent of the professional driving force, many have reached commendable levels of safety and experience. The Women In Trucking Association (WIT) plans to recognize these women and their accomplishments at the first annual “Salute to the Women Behind the Wheel.’ The event will be sponsored in part by Daimler Trucks North America and Frito-Lay North America, and will be held at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY, on March 27, 2010.
“Our goal is to reach out to the 180,000 female professional drivers and invite them to a celebration in their honor,” said Ellen Voie, WIT’s President/CEO and a CDL holder herself. All women with Class A licenses are invited to attend, and will be provided with a t-shirt and lots of tokens of our appreciation. “We will take a group photo of the largest gathering of female CDL holders in the world,” Voie added.
Daimler Trucks and Frito-Lay will be the primary hosts of the celebration. “We support diversity in all areas of transportation and are especially excited to be able to honor these women and their families for their contribution to the trucking industry,” said Trudy Houghton, Daimler Truck’s Manager of Recruiting & Diversity.
"Frito-Lay is committed to strong diversity and inclusion programs as evidenced by being a Charter member and Gold Partner of WIT, among many other company-wide programs,” said Mark Rousseau, Frito-Lay’s National Logistics Manager and member of the WIT Board of Directors. “Events like this one are important to support the Women that are now in Transportation and to encourage others to become a part of the industry.”
Participants do not need to be a member of the Women In Trucking Association. Families are also welcome to accompany the woman driver. The event will be held at the Kentucky Exposition Center and pre-registration is required. Visit Salute2Women.com or the WIT booth during the Mid America Trucking Show.
Doors open at noon and the photo shoot is scheduled for 1:00 pm. Still in the planning stages are entertainment and refreshments as well as special gifts from corporate sponsors.
Women In Trucking Association was formed in March 2007 as a nonprofit corporation dedicated to encourage women to explore career opportunities in the trucking industry, to minimize any obstacles that might keep women from succeeding, and to celebrate the success of those already working in the trucking industry. Membership is not limited to women, but anyone who supports WIT’s mission. Visit WomeninTrucking.org for more information or to become a member.
The Old Mail Bag
In the last edition of the e-Report we asked if anyone would care to comment on the letters published in The Old Mail Bag (We thought about changing the heading to The Old e-Mail Bag, but it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it) concerning the driver shortage and if it is real, and why carriers advertise for drivers if they are not hiring.
Here are some samples of the comments we received:
From: AF
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 10:52 AM
To: jobs@truckdriver.com
Subject: No job out there!
This is to add on the comments of RS and KB last 01 Oct. I too am having a hard time landing a job as a truck driver all because of the 6 months or 1 year or 2 years experience that the trucking companies require from an applicant.
Where will a new graduate get that experience unless given a chance? Their (trucking companies) reason for this is that is what the insurance companies want or require. Why have these trucking companies gotten so afraid of the insurance companies to the extent that they are being dictated on how to run their business when actually they are the ones giving business to the insurance companies?
Another question; does this mean now that I have to go back to school and train for 1 or 2 years, driving around the block, can that be considered as 1 or 2 years experience? Why do they keep saying that there's a shortage of drivers when a lot of new drivers are not getting hired?
I'm confused, puzzled.
Thanks for the time.
_____
From: RJ
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 2:25 PM
To: jobs@truckdriver.com
Subject: help to find a job
I was one of those who spent $5000 to go to school. I graduated 2nd in my class. Because of driving a taxi cab for 16 years I had past speeding tickets, but was hired a month later.
Unfortunately, I had 3 parking lot incidents over 6 months. Nothing major and that was 2 years ago. Now, no one will give me a chance. I am willing to start out from the beginning again but they say I need more experience, but how, when no one will hire me.
I need back out on the road. I am a 52 year old female with a clear driving record for the last three years. There has to be some help out there. Even though they still advertise for drivers no one is hiring new drivers.
I would have thought OTR should be easy to get.
_____
From: GG
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 11:00 PM
To: jobs@truckdriver.com
Subject: The possible reasons for the perception of truck drivers
I am a new driver with less than 2 years experience OTR. I am driven to be the best but having trouble finding someone who agrees with me by giving me a chance for a real success story.
I am from a Southwest company that receives money from the government for recruiting drivers when there is no job for them after graduating. I would love to sue them for the harm they have caused me. We are the drivers who these companies are stealing money from. The government subsidizes their operations by claiming to be offering a good living for the people who are desperate. This hurts the general outlook of drivers. That feeling of being taken for a ride creates the “I don’t care any more "attitude in them.
Granted, if you are a low life, you are a low life, plain and simple. If you are one of those types, you are going to create a persona about your self and your fellows that is not good.
If you are some one like me who is trying to make sense of this lifestyle and looking for a way out of poverty, and the companies demand you drive past your HOS or they tell you find another job, the big picture of your dreams for self sufficiency starts to look pretty bleak.
Right now what I am observing is the same mentality of the pre-WW2 boys from the coal mines who wanted to live better than their dads did. And trucking is, or was the way out of the salt mines, the dead end kitchen jobs or lack of a formal college education. It is kind of scary.
I quit my last trucking job. I was starting to feel like a thief for driving past HOS because of the tactics of a forced load. Now, I can’t find a decent job. God will reward me for standing up and being a man of integrity once I arrive in heaven. I'm a born again Christian.
I feel compassion for the rest of you out there who are being driven under the brush by less than trustworthy leasing companies. And they know who they are. You can print this in the letters for public display.
If there is an honest truck company that wants an honest driver I'm ready to go.
Editor: As always, anyone care to comment?
The results of the TruckDriver.com Shortest/Quickest Route Survey are in. It looks like around two-thirds of you are GPS users. The rest of you must be old school.
Do you carry a GPS device in your truck?
Yes – 64%
No – 36%
Now, for something a little scary – The TruckDriver.com Trick or Treat Survey
Until next time, keep on truckin' and please drive safely.
Your Comments Are Always Welcome
We do like to hear from you and invite you to let us know how we can improve the e-Report. Please send your ideas and suggestions to: jobs@truckdriver.com
