NEW DAC TRUCK DRIVER REGULATIONS
New FCMSA regulations effective April 29, 2004 make it easier for a truck driver to obtain and dispute the information in his DAC report. Trucking companies have until October 29, 2004 to fully comply with the new regulations.
Prospective employers must make an inquiry with each applicant’s employer for whom a commercial motor vehicle was driven within the previous 3 years from the date of application. This information must now be provided to the truck driver within five days of receipt of a written request. If you think that you have been denied employment because of a report from a previous employer, you can now obtain the information by simply sending a request to the trucking company.
Previously the only way to obtain the information in a timely fashion was to pay for your DAC report. If you include the request with your application, the information will automatically be forwarded to you. It is possible that some HR departments may not look favorably upon your request so you may want to wait until you are actually denied employment.
Prospective employers will be required to notify truck driver applicants of their right to review the information obtained from previous employers, to correct errors in that information and to file a rebuttal of any incorrect information.
If there is incorrect information on your DAC report then you need to contact your previous trucking company and request a revision of your employment history. The request needs to be specific and you need to provide any supporting documentation. It is always a good idea to keep a copy of your logs for your own records, especially if the trucking company should close and you need to verify your experience. Send the request by Certified Mail, Return Receipt.
Your previous employer has 15 days to respond to a driver's request for a correction of erroneous safety or work history information. If the truck driver chooses to submit a rebuttal, the previous employer has 5 days to forward the information to the prospective employer and to append a copy of the rebuttal to the driver’s permanent safety performance history.

These new regulations will make it much easier for a truck driver to correct his DAC report and make it much more difficult for a trucking company to "blackball" a driver. This will also help the trucking industry since companies and insurers will now be better able to assess prospective employees.