Dealing With DAC
Are we losing good drivers through mistaken identity?
Deborah Whistler
Editor
We got quite a few calls, letters and e-mails regarding DAC Services. It's not uncommon for a distraught truck driver to claim, with great certainty, that a vengeful dispatcher has mined his DAC file with misinformation. And sometimes, they're right.
Take Donna and James Murphy.
The Murphy's are veteran long-haul truckers who decided months ago that there might be something better than long, unpaid, out-of-town layovers. The couple tried hauling locally but couldn't afford weather-related layoffs. James finally went back on the road.
After starting a new job with a truckload carrier, he was preparing to take a load when he was suddenly told to bring the truck to a nearby terminal. There he was handed the report from a DAC criminal background investigation indicating that he had several felony convictions.
James knew it was a mistake and asked the company to give him until the next morning to prove it.
James and Donna drove to the county seat. The DAC report indicated that this was a name-only match and the court clerks were able to quickly confirm that it was a mistake.
According to a DAC spokesman, name-only matches are not uncommon in criminal background reports. Employers and service companies like DAC don't have access to federal criminal databases. Thus, criminal background checks must often be done state by state or even county by county. And many of those jurisdictions only provide names, he said.
Most pass along the information to the employer, but make it clear that it's a name-only match and should be regarded with some caution. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the employer must give the employee a chance to explain or dispute information in the report before adverse action is taken.
James Murphy kept his job, but the mix-up cost him a 1,000-mile load and a blow to his pride.
Unfortunately, the identity problems didn't end there. The Murphys decided to order James' DAC employment history file - and got another surprise. Information submitted by a previous employer said he wasn't eligible for rehire. But that employer had, in fact, called the Murphys several times and asked them to come back to work. The form had numerous other charges that weren't true, so Donna contacted the carrier. They quickly determined that information regarding another driver had somehow been submitted under James' name and Social Security number. The carrier immediately contacted DAC to set the record straight.
If a driver challenges something in their DAC report, "we are required by law to go back to the motor carrier that provided the information for verification," the DAC spokesman emphasized. "In the meantime, although we're not required to do so, we'll allow the driver to put a rebuttal in the file. The carrier has to verify the information within 30 days. If they don't, we have to delete it. If they say that's what happened, their version and the driver's rebuttal stay in the file."
James has been driving for 15 years and, according to Donna, has a "very good" record. They now wonder if he didn't get other jobs because of the incorrect DAC record. Employers who don't hire an applicant because of something in a credit or similar report (including a DAC employment history) are supposed to give the applicant the name of the reporting agency so they can obtain a copy of the report.
The fact that nobody mentioned this to James could mean that the other companies aren't DAC subscribers - or they may have simply decided to pass on that application without further contact with James.
Stories like this one - and many that are worse - have prompted privacy groups to ask the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the background check process. Among other things, they recommend that the Fair Credit Reporting Act be changed to require that employers give job applicants the results of background checks in every instance, not just when a report from a third party is the reason for a negative decision. A rule now being considered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration would give drivers the right to request information provided by previous employers. Donna Murphy said she'd add another rule prohibiting name-only matches on criminal investigation reports.
These would be good moves. We can't afford through mistaken identity to lose good, veteran truckers. They're too hard to find.
Email Deb at dwhistler@truckinginfo.com
