Seriously... Credit checking, prior to employment?

Sure, it can be done. It is just that in this ME FIRST AND RIGHT NOW society that we have, few people are willing to do it. And I think it IS harder to do now, than it was in the '40's and '50's. Back then about the only thing that most people went into debt for was their home.

Marketing has worked it's "black magic" on our society. And I'm as guilty of it as anyone else is.

There are some things though, that you just are not going to do without a credit card. Ever try to rent a car without a credit card? Ain't gonna happen, at least at any of the major companies. And you go in and pay cash for a car, there is a form they have to fill out for the federal government. I've known car salesmen who would just walk away from a customer who wanted to pay cash for a vehicle.

 

I should add for the sake of full disclosure: I too have two ex-wives, along with a current one. And I've been bankrupt (1997). Wives had zippo to do with it. I was plenty good at it on my own....trying to live like the rich and famous while earning an income like the poor and downtrodden. My fault. Period.

And even now, at almost 52, some habits are hard to break....new ones tough to maintain sometimes. But the rewards are tremendous.

 

My company started doing credit checks many years ago and I too did not agree with it. It's tough for a young married couple to not have bad credit at times. Especially if one of them is in the military. I thought it was a cheap shot and I expressed those same comments at a safety meeting. The bigger boses did explain to me and the room that they started it for one reason. They did not want a driver that may be tempted into stealing. I hauled gasoline and stealing has been problems at times. I could never understand why a driver would want to steal a few gallons of gasoline and risk a job that was one of the best but it does happen. I also know of a driver years ago that made off with 2 complete loads of gasoline and the company could not prove it. They followed him and caught him taking 5 gallons and fired him on the spot. Of course that was may years ago and security is much better now. There's a few ways and I guess it still goes on when a driver makes a deal with a station dealer. But temptation was what the company screened for.

 

It is unfortunate that theft from drivers is as prevalent as it seems to be. Anyone who have owned trucks has had to deal with theft at some point. It creates a certain level of distrust between drivers and carriers. Doing as thorough a background check as possible does help, but some will still slip through the cracks.

 

And it seems, no matter what steps are taken to prevent employee theft, SOMEBODY is going to find a way to circumvent those steps, so they can steal. Some folks find it a "challenge" and think of it as a "game." (Shrinks have words for folks like that. . .)

 

If a driver is selling fuel, chains, binders or a tire off his truck, you can bet that he has stolen it from his employer. If more would stop buying fuel and other things drivers are selling and call the cops or the sellers employer, it would stop some of the theft and reduce the need for doing so much background checking.

 

Credit credit credit ... Does PAM check your credit ?