Why is a USDOT number better than a background check

Having a dot number is not the same thing as a back ground check.company drivers don't have dot numbers

 

In that anybody can log into the FMCSA site and get a DOT number in less than 10 minutes, I don't see how that would replace a background check. There are no real requirements other than that you fill out the online form. DOT number is immediate, and by itself, not very useful.

 

None of the 3 items you listed are requirements for having a DOT number. They are requirements for having an active MC number.

Criminal background checks are not done as any type of gauge of someone's safety anyways. They are a check of someone's integrity to attempt to see if there is any indication that the individual can not be trusted with $100,000 of equipment and cargo.

You are fooling only yourself if you think you will convince any potential employer to use your criteria for hiring you instead of theirs. If I was hiring and someone tried that on me I would just eliminate them from consideration without any further checks and save myself the expense of a criminal background check.

 

1. You have to pass a medical demonstrating your ability to safely perform the demanding job.
Requirement for a driver to have a CDL

2. You have random drugs tests
Requirement for DOT number

3. You have to have appropriate insurance
Requirement for MC Number

What other arguments could one make regarding DOT licensed drivers being 'safe'.

None of these will validate an argument that a driver is safe. You can be healthy and drug free and still be an idiot driver.

 

I never had to have a random drug test to get a dot number.

 

There is no reason that someone should have more faith in someone who has a DOT number.

Anyone who has the need or desire can get one at anytime by filling out form MCS-150. Having a DOT number does not demonstrate anything about a driver. It is for registering the vehicles of a business, not a type of driver rating.

 

Doesn't really matter if you have a D.O.T. number, which would indicate that you are in business for yourself, most carriers will still do a background check on you looking for such things as felony convictions, etc. U.S. D.O.T. numbers are issued to Carriers. Originally, it was to replace the need for I.C.C. numbers because they were going to shut down the I.C.C. branch of Government.(Don't know if they ever did because you still have to have an MC number- or if they did, they probably transferred I.C.C. duties into the FMCSA?). Background checks are run for "Discovery" purposes (i.e.- to catch drivers lying on their apps mostly). Background checks and D.O.T. numbers have very little in common. If you own your own truck and have a D.O.T. number, they will still run background checks on you.