Employee Driving Records in California

When you're thinking about hiring new employees, it's helpful to have some sort of background information on them. In some cases, it is required that you have some prior knowledge of your applicants' driving histories.

When requesting driving record reports, you can either go directly through the state of California OR use a third-party company. Should you choose to go through state services, you will first have to enroll in the Employer Pull Notice (EPN) program before conducting record searches.

Driving Records for Prospective Hires

In addition to federal guidelines that require driver history checks for your commercial driver applicants, the state of California requires you to obtain and review a prospective driver's record.

You can obtain an applicants driving record through one of the following avenues:

  • Requesting driving records from the state by completing an INF 15 form (single drivers) or an INF 1119 form (multiple drivers up to 15 records).
    • NOTE: These forms are only available by request to the Employee Pull Notice Unit (EPN). Contact the EPN directly to make your request, or fax the EPN unit on your company letterhead if your are requesting more than 25 forms at (916) 657-7243.
  • Requiring your applicant to obtain his or her own driving record and submitting it to you.
  • Purchasing a driving record from a pre-approved third-party vendor.

Once you have obtained your applicant's driving record, you must:

  • Review the driving record.
  • Sign and date the record.
  • Keep the driving record at your place of business until you enroll the driver in the EPN program.
    • NOTE: If you are hiring a driver for less than 30 days within a period of 6 months, you are not required to enroll the driver in the EPN program (they are called a “casual driver"); however, you must keep the driver's record for a period of 6 months.

California's Employer Pull Notice (EPN) Program

As a way to way help ensure driver and public safety, California's Employer Pull Notice (EPN) program was developed to help businesses who employ commercial drivers keep track of their drivers' records.

Participants in the program include:

  • Employers who hire drivers for business purposes.
  • Commercial drivers.

Employers

To enroll in the EPN, you will need to:

Send both of the above forms to:

DMV Information Services – EPN
P.O. Box 944231 – MS H – 265
Sacramento, CA 94244

Drivers

You are required to enroll certain drivers into the EPN after hiring. These drivers include::

  • Drivers who are required to have one of the following types of licenses or certificates:
    • Class A.
    • Class B.
    • Class C with Hazardous Materials Endorsement.
    • Class C with Special Certificates.
    • A certificate issued by the Public Utilities Commission.
  • Any driver of a passenger car that seats no more than 10 people and is driven for compensation to transport passengers.

In addition to employees, if any of the following drive while requiring the above, they must also be enrolled:

  • Owners.
  • Owner/operators with partners.
  • Family members.
  • Volunteers.
  • Anyone hired for more than 30 work days within 6 months.

To enroll a driver complete one of the following forms:

Send your completed form to:

Department of Motor Vehicles
Information Services Branch
Employer Pull Notice – H265
P.O. Box 944231
Sacramento, CA 94244

Information on an Employee Driving Record

The driving record report(s) that you receive will include information on:

  • When your applicant enrolled in the EPN program.
  • Convictions resulting from traffic incidents.
  • Failures to appear in court.
  • Traffic accidents.
  • Driver's license suspensions or revocations.
  • Any other driving privileges that were revoked.

Driving records will be mailed in paper format for you to keep on company file.

EPN and Driving Record Fees

Fees associated with the Employer Pull Notice and driving record requests include the following fees charged to your EPN billing account:

  • Enrollment in EPN program: $5.
  • Driving record searches: $5.

Federal Compliance for CA CDL Employers

If you employ people who are required to have a commercial driver's license (CDL), you are required by federal law to conduct driving record checks on all prospective driver applicants. You are also required to obtain 1 driving record every 12 months.

Companies whose employees need to have CDLs, and therefore must conduct driving record checks, include those that use:

  • Trucks with double/triple trailers.
  • Trucks with tanks (e.g. gas trucks).
  • Trucks that carry hazardous materials.
  • Vehicles used to transport groups of people (e.g. buses).

When reviewing your applicant/employee's driving record, there is certain information that you should weigh more heavily in deciding who can work for you.

If your applicant has worked as a CDL driver, the items that you are required to obtain include:

  • Every state that your applicant has held a CDL license within the last 3 years.
  • Safe driving evaluations done by their previous employers within the last 3 years.
  • A copy of their driving record for each state they've held a CDL license in.
  • Illegal drug and alcohol use in the last 3 years.
  • Reports of failure to complete drug/alcohol treatment programs (if applicable).
  • Proof that you made every effort to obtain the information required.

If your applicant has never worked as a CDL driver, the information you're required to obtain includes:

  • General identification information.
  • Verification of CDL privileges.
  • Any traffic accidents occurring in the past 3 years.
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