For those conducting Motor Vehicle Driving Records or MVRs as background checks for employment screening or to meet Department of Transportation Compliance standards, please be aware of the following..

Effective January 1, 2012, Wyoming will increase the state fee for their Driver License Records from $3.00 to $5.00 per record.

In our ongoing  efforts to update our website, we have recently added a new page for Iowa Motor Vehicle Driving Records or MVRs.    MVRs are an important background check for employment screening.  This is not just for the trucking and transportation industry, but all business sectors.

As we conduct a substantial amount of MVR background tracks we try to keep our clients as informed as possible.  Most state Departments of Transportation are making adjustments to compliance issues, increasing fees, or otherwise attempting to update and upgrade their systems.

This was issued by Datia or more formerly The Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association.  For those in the trucking and transportation industry,it is important to remain current with DOT compliance issues. As the Drug Test is one of the major background checks concerning DOT compliance, I encourage all trucking and transportation companies to review this posting.

During a conference call with Department of Transportation (DOT) officials earlier this week, DATIA learned of numerous errors being seen in regards to DOT specimen collections. These errors were brought to our attention due to the large numbers of occurrences being seen. As such, and at the request of the DOT, DATIA would like to bring focus to these errors as well as provide you with best practices that can be used to ensure compliance with applicable DOT regulations. Should you have questions on any of these items, please do not hesitate to contact DATIA.

€              Custody and Control Forms (CCFs) received are illegible. **Collectors

should review all copies of the CCF prior to distributing them to ensure that they are legible. In regards to copies that are to be faxed, if the writing is light then collectors should make a darker copy to be sent via fax.

€              MROs and Employers are reporting that they are not receiving their

respective copies of the CCFs despite multiple requests. Per DOT regulations, collectors must send the CCFs within 24 hours or the next business day and must keep their copies of CCFs for at least 30 days. **A best practice in ensuring that this requirement is met is to maintain a copy of the fax transmittal form with the CCF. Just because you hit ³send² on the fax machine does not mean it went through. Only with a fax transmission receipt (can configure any fax to do this) can delivery be confirmed.

€              Collectors are not marking step 1D in the CCF to indicate the

transportation mode that the collection is for (FAA, FRA, FTA, FMCSA, etc.).

**This is a new step for the CCF and collection sites should be sure to post notices within the collection area reminding collectors to mark this information on the CCF. As with other steps, this automatic inclusion will become second nature with time.

€              The donor initialing of the specimen bottle labels is being done while the

labels are on the CCF contrary to DOT regulations that require the labels be signed on the specimen bottle. **Again, collection sites are encouraged to post reminders to complete this step as required within the collection area.

€              Collectors are not adequately informing donors that leaving the collection

site prior to the completion of the collection process (with the exception of pre-employment tests) is considered a refusal to test. **A best practice to ensure that this is not an issue within your collection facility is to instruct collectors to make a note in the remarks line that states, ³Donor notified that leaving prior to completion of the collection is considered a refusal to test.² This way the notification is documented.

Here is a posting from our recent public relations release, noting how we at Corra Group are now a full stop background checking service for DOT compliance in the trucking and transportation industry.  Corra Group will conduct everything from criminal background checks, to Motor Vehicle Driving Records, DOT compliant Employment Verification, and DOT Drug Tests.

Here is the link to the new PR Release.

You hear of cab drivers getting robbed.  In fact, robbing cab drivers is the kind of stuff that legends, okay, stories are made from.   If you live in New York or a major urban environment, you are reminded of the stickups cabbies face as they careen about town, struggling to make a buck.   So for most of us we see cabbies more as the victims than the predators.

But now there is growing concern about passengers and the owners of the cabs they are climbing into.   While airport drivers have undergone background checks and sexual offenders registry background searches, plain city cab drivers were not subjected to these searches in Arizona.  Until now.   Arizona Senate Bill 1375 mandates background checks for all taxi drivers.   No, not taxi dancers…taxi drivers.   The guy, usually the guy, anyway, who wheels you all over town while you prod him to speed up and advise him on the best routes he should take.

So, according to KPHO.com passengers will now feel that much safer, knowing their cabbie has been dutifully vetted for criminal background checks.  Smart move on the part of Arizona.

Corra Group provides services for trucking and transportation companies to help them maintain Department of Transportation (DOT) compliance standards.  Corra Group will provide everything from Motor Vehicle Driving Records (MVRS) to DOT mandated employment screening, and DOT Drug Tests.  Corra Group also conducts criminal records background searches for the trucking and transportation industry.

In addition to our Trucking Clients, other employers require driving records on their employees and job applicants.   To better facilitate these background checks, Corra Group provides information on its website to assist trucking groups and other employers in maintaining FCRA and DOT compliance.

We invite you to check out our new Illinois Motor Vehicle Driving Records Page, where information pertaining to Illinois driving records is listed in an easy read format.   As there are a fair number of trucking concerns in Illinois, we hope this page will be convenient for our clients.

For those who conduct motor vehicle driving records searches as part of their background checks for employment screening or to meet with Department of Transportation, DOT, compliance mandates, please take note that we are entering the season when the state Departments of Motor Vehicles may indeed be raising fees.  States need money, the economy is still not in the best shape, and DMV fees is one way to generate revenue.

For trucking and transportation firms plus anyone else who runs MVRs as part of their employment screening program, just consider it the price of doing business.  And as of May 1st,  2011, the price of doing business in Mississippi, meaning the running of driving records background checks will increase from its present $11.00 per abstract to $14.00 per abstract.

So please take note of the rate change for Mississippi Motor Vehicle Records fees.  I am sure other states will follow suit.  Things being such as they are.

Many employers conduct motor vehicle driving records of MVR’s as an added background check for their employment screening programs.   For trucking and transportation companies, the MVR’s are mandated annually In a bad economy, for every commercial truck driver.

For those conducting driving records background searches, it is no news that the price for the MVR’s has been going up.   In a bad economy, states need money, and the one way to raise funding is by increasing the prices for public services.

As of April 4th, the transaction fee for Canadian Provincial MVR’s is going up from $3.00 per transaction to $3.50.   Not a big price increase, but one that should be noted.

There is the additional cost of the actual driving record as well as service fees. Please be aware of the slight increase in this background check.

Here is the latest Corra Group Press Release.  I have included the link as well as the release itself.   http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/12/prweb4842214.htm

Los Angeles) Corra Group announces full range background screening service for the  trucking and transportation industry.  In its efforts to best accommodate DOT Compliance Standards, Corra Group will now furnish to the transportation industry, every related service for truckers, ranging from motor vehicle driving records to DOT related physicals.

“Department of Transportation compliance standards are time consuming for truckers,” said Gordon Basichis, Co-Founder of Corra Group.  The DOT requires truckers to conduct Motor Vehicle Driving Records (MVRs) on all drivers every twelve months.  All drivers must undergo DOT drug tests, and employers must conduct employment verifications going back at least three years.

“Corra Group helps employers meet all DOT mandates for each driver as well as the standards established specifically by each trucking and transportation company,” said Basichis.  Our user friendly one-stop service for these DOT related background checks should prove a boon to truckers in need of our service,” said Basichis.

“Our employment screening service includes drug and alcohol tests plus the automated  DOT random drug testing management system.  Additionally, we offer employment verification, and DOT compliant physicals, as well as criminal records background checks.”

With trucking and transportation clients spread around the country, services all fifty United States and Canada.  The comprehensive background checking service can accommodate any trucking company, large or small.  Corra Group works with national leaders in the drug screening industry to arrange for drug testing in proximity to our clients’ offices.

Corra Group first saw its trucking services expand when insurance companies found it no longer viable to run Motor Vehicle Driving Reports as an accommodation for its for truckers and commercial drivers.   Over time the Corra Group has offered truckers additional background screening services.  Most DOT background checks turnaround in two to four business days.  MVRs are instant for most states.

As the economy begins to recover and more manufacturers ramp up, trucking firms are starting to hire again.   As a one stop background checking service and  with an understanding of the transportation industry, Corra Group can provide any type of background check to truckers nationwide.

BACKGROUND: Corra operates as Corra Group and specializes in pre-employment and corporate research and investigation.  It is one of the few companies that will answer the phone.  You can review the website at www.corragroup.com.

Besides conducting background checks as part of the employment screening program, to be compliant with the Department of Transportation, or DOT,  any trucking and transportation that uses drivers with commercial drivers license must conduct a Motor Vehicle Driving Record, MVR, on each driver every  twelve months.

The trucking company to be compliant with the DOT must also conduct a special DOT Drug Test on its drivers at least every once every twelve months and conduct random testing on 25% of its drivers once every six months.   However, there are no rules regarding the DOT drug test.  This rules went into effect October 1st, 2010.

These are the changes to the five panel test–

The test will asl include testing for MDMA (ecstasy)

There is the Addition of screening for 6_AM (Heroin)

There ae lower cutoff levels for Ampehtamine and Cocaine drug classes.

All trucking clients should be aw3are of these changes in the DOT Drug Tests.  Any DOT drug tests ordered by Corra Group in behalf of its clients will be conducted according to the new DOT compliance standards.