PSP Screening Proven to Reduce Truck & Bus Accidents on America’s Roads
As the government tries to implement legislation to make the trucking industry more safe, some changes they have enacted are proving to be effective. From now on, companies who choose to not participate in the PSP program will have a harder time proving they were not negligent in their hiring process in courts if their drivers cause accidents that result in injury or death. As the trucking broker industry continues to decry any attempt at holding them responsible for injuries or deaths caused by trucks and drivers operating under their authority, let me explain the PSP and how its implementation has impacted public safety.
In 2010, the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), under the U.S. Department of Transportation, implemented the Pre-Employment Screening Program (or PSP for short). Under this program, employers have instant and secure access to a prospective hire’s safety information as part of their pre-hire process. A study of the impact of PSP over the past two years shows that truck and bus companies who use the program show a decrease in their crash rates. It also drastically improved the number of drivers who were placed “out of service” due to safety violations.
The PSP Program is a unique program in that is costs the United States taxpayers no money. Companies who elect to use the PSP program pay a fee and the monies collected are used to maintain the database and provide fast and reliable information on prospective drivers to the companies.
Going forward, it would seem to be a willfully negligent choice of trucking or busing companies to not use this affordable and reliable service to screen their driver applicants. What company wouldn’t want to make use of a service that has been proven to prevent trucking and bus accidents; therefore, saving the lives of Americans sharing the roads with large commercial vehicles?