Who this is for: carrier, driver, owner-operator
What Is the FMCSA PSP Report?
The Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) is an FMCSA service that allows motor carriers and authorized parties to request a driver's safety record — specifically 5 years of crash data and 3 years of roadside inspection data — before making a hiring decision.
What Is PSP?
The Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) is a voluntary FMCSA program that gives motor carriers, owner-operators, and certain other authorized requestors access to a commercial driver's safety performance history. PSP records are pulled from FMCSA's Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) — the same federal database used by enforcement agencies.
What PSP Contains
A PSP report includes two types of data: **Crash data (5-year look-back):** Reportable crashes in which the driver was involved, including date, location, severity, and whether the driver was cited. **Inspection data (3-year look-back):** Roadside inspection results including any violations found, the severity of those violations, and whether the driver was placed out of service. PSP does not contain a driver's MVR (Motor Vehicle Record), conviction history, or employer history.
Who Can Request a PSP Report?
PSP is available to: - Motor carriers conducting pre-employment screening (most common use) - Owner-operators requesting their own record - Drivers requesting their own record - Certain third-party screeners authorized by the carrier PSP may only be used for legitimate employment screening purposes. The driver must provide written consent before a carrier can request their PSP report. Using PSP data for non-employment purposes violates program terms.
Cost and Turnaround
PSP reports are available through the FMCSA PSP Online portal at psp.fmcsa.dot.gov. The program charges a per-inquiry fee set by FMCSA — check the portal for the current amount, as it can change. Results for a standard inquiry return electronically within minutes of the request being submitted; occasional system delays occur during high-traffic periods but are uncommon. Carriers must register for a PSP Online account and sign the PSP User Agreement, which specifies that PSP data may only be used for employment screening purposes. Registration requires the carrier's USDOT number and is typically a same-day process. Once the account is active, there is no waiting period before submitting the first inquiry. Because PSP costs money per report, many carriers run it after an initial MVR and Clearinghouse review rather than on every application, reserving it for candidates who pass that first filter.
PSP Is Voluntary — But Widely Used
Federal regulations do not require carriers to run PSP on every driver they hire — it is a voluntary program, not a mandated step in the Part 391 pre-employment sequence. However, PSP is widely used among safety-focused carriers because it surfaces crash and inspection history that no other pre-employment tool covers. Carriers that experience serious crashes and subsequently face litigation encounter a predictable line of inquiry from plaintiff's counsel: did you review the available federal safety data before putting this driver on the road? A carrier with a documented PSP review in the DQ file is in a different evidentiary position than one without. The program's voluntary status reduces neither its value as a screening layer nor the scrutiny carriers face if they skipped it when relevant history was available.
How PSP data flows from the road to the report
PSP data originates at roadside inspections. When a state commercial vehicle enforcement officer conducts an inspection, the results are entered into the FMCSA Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) — the same database that feeds CSA scores. Crash reports from law enforcement are also entered into MCMIS. PSP pulls from this federal database, which means PSP can surface crashes and inspection violations that never resulted in a state court conviction and would not appear on any state MVR.
What PSP does not show — and why that matters
PSP has meaningful gaps. It does not show employment history — you cannot tell from PSP which carriers a driver worked for or when. It does not show drug test results (Clearinghouse covers this). It does not show state-level traffic convictions or license actions (MVR covers this). And it only goes back 5 years for crashes and 3 years for inspections — a driver who had serious incidents 6 years ago won't show them on PSP. These gaps are why PSP is most useful as one layer in a multi-tool pre-employment screening process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does PSP show DUI or criminal convictions?
No. PSP shows FMCSA crash and inspection data only — it does not include criminal records, drug test results, or state MVR conviction data.
Can a driver be denied employment based on PSP data alone?
Carriers have discretion in their hiring standards but must comply with applicable anti-discrimination law. FMCSA does not set specific PSP-based disqualification thresholds — that is left to each carrier's written hiring policy.
How far back does PSP go?
PSP covers the most recent 5 years of crash data and the most recent 3 years of inspection data. Events outside those windows are not included.
Can a crash appear on PSP even if the driver wasn't at fault?
Yes. PSP records crashes based on enforcement-level documentation, not fault determination. A crash where the driver was rear-ended and had no citation still appears in PSP's crash data. The report notes whether the driver received a citation, which helps with context, but the crash record itself is present regardless of fault.
Does PSP show clean roadside inspections, or only violations?
PSP shows all roadside inspection records within the 3-year window, including inspections with no violations. A driver with 40 inspections and 2 violations looks meaningfully different on PSP than a driver with 2 inspections and 2 violations, even if both have the same raw violation count.