Employee File Vs Driver Qualification File
What goes in a driver qualification file and how is that different from an employee file?
Recently the owner of a small trucking company reached out to ask some questions about an upcoming DOT audit they are going to experience. One set stuck out to me:
“What goes in a driver qualification file? What goes into an employee file? Why keep them separate from each other?”
These are very good questions, ones that can get a little confusing. So today we are going to go over what you need to keep in each and why they should remain separate.
The driver qualification file:
The driver qualification file, or DQF, needs to have very specific things in it. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) spells it out here. Something to keep in mind is that this is not a “get it and forget it” kind of file. You will need to make regular updates.
The items you will need to update are:
○ Inquiry to state agencies for driving record
○ Review of the driving record
○ Driver’s certification of violations
○ Medical examination
○ Employer note verifying that medical examiner is listed on the national registry of certified medical examiners.
The employee file:
The employee file should have the following:
○ Interview notes and other recruiting records
○ Orientation checklist
○ Job Description if you have one
○ Offer of Employment let if you have one
○ Personal data like address etc..
○ W-4 forms and I-9 properly completed
○ Handbook receipt if you have a handbook and you really should.
○ Performance reviews
○ Pay rate change documents
○ Disciplinary documents
○ Any certificates of completed training
It is possible that you may not have all of these, especially if you are a small company, but you should have most of them.
Your trucking company should also have a medical file for each employee with HIPAA protected documents and insurance enrollments etc.
So you know what to put into the document folders, why keep them separate? Wouldn’t it be easier to keep one mega file on every employee?
Well, I concede it would be easier, but anything in your DQF becomes part of your DOT audit. So by keeping them separate from each other you have less things for the auditor to review, which means less questions and possible issues for you.
Something from the employee file could start the auditor down a path of questions that leads to a violation of some sort. Why take that chance? DOT audits are stressful enough!
Written by Mike Ritzema
With over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, management, business planning, financial analysis, software engineering, operations, and decision analysis, Mike has the breadth and depth of experience needed to quickly understand entrepreneurs’ businesses and craft the most suitable solutions.
[form id="8639" /]