Do recruiters call former employers?

Actually, there is a regulation that says former motor carrier employers must respond to previous employer requests. When hiring a DOT regulated driver the prospective employer must contact the immediate previous employers for the past three years, and those employers must reply or face penalties from FMCSA. Below is the most relevant parts of 391.23. For the full text see this link Federal Register :: Request Access

§ 391.23 Investigation and inquiries.
(a) Except as provided in subpart G of this part, each motor carrier shall make the following investigations and inquiries with respect to each driver it employs, other than a person who has been a regularly employed driver of the motor carrier for a continuous period which began before January 1, 1971:

(1) An inquiry, within 30 days of the date the driver's employment begins, to each State where the driver held or holds a motor vehicle operator's license or permit during the preceding 3 years, to obtain that driver's motor vehicle record covering that driver's prior 3-year driving history.

(2) An investigation of the driver's safety performance history with Department of Transportation regulated employers during the preceding three years.

(3) Prospective employers should report failures of previous employers to respond to an investigation to the FMCSA and use the complaint procedures specified at § 386.12 of this subchapter. Keep a copy of the reports in the driver investigation history file as part of documenting a good faith effort to obtain the required information.

(g) After October 29, 2004, previous employers must:

(1) Respond to each request for the DOT defined information in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section within 30 days after the request is received. If there is no safety performance history information to report for that driver, previous motor carrier employers are nonetheless required to send a response confirming the non-existence of any such data, including the driver identification information and dates of employment.

(2) Take all precautions reasonably necessary to ensure the accuracy of the records.

(3) Provide specific contact information in case a driver chooses to contact the previous employer regarding correction or rebuttal of the data.

(4) Keep a record of each request and the response for one year, including the date, the party to whom it was released, and a summary identifying what was provided.

(5) Until May 1, 2006, carriers need only provide information for accidents that occurred after April 29, 2003.

 

There are also laws that say you can't accept bribes, or sell narcotics, or rig elections, or shoot people.....

 

The place I'm working at now used a 3rd party background check service(First Advantage I believe). My previous employer had no idea what was going on until the day I left.

 

All I can say is if the company likes your experience and needs a driver, it isn't going to matter to them what another employer that fired you says about whether or not you are eligible for re-hire or even what they say about you in general. I have been fired a few times. Only once can I recall an employer not wanting to hire me because of it.

 

i don't care the regulations..i have had employers NOT respond. the NEW employer has to make the attempt, that's for certain, but I know for a fact, many former employers DID NOT respond.

when i went in person to a former employer (NEMF) and had a talk with the manager, that's when i was told,
they do not respond", and most new employers already know the refusal, so many times they just do not call, but "made the attempt, to do so", and file that

 

Yes, it is true that many do not respond but don't say that there is no law that says they have to, that is false. That is the only reason I replied, to counter the false information saying there is no law requiring them to.

If the hiring company is doing things by the book they will make a good faith effort to verify previous employment and safety performance history and document such attempt. Then they will report to the FMCSA, as they are supposed to, the failure of the previous employer to conply with the requirement to respond.

Now, does FMCSA ever do anything about it, most of the time no, but if the employing motor carrier doesn't do their job properly with the required background checks it often bites them in the arse when their driver has a crash and they get sued.