Who Did I Work For? And When?

A man woke up in a hospital after a serious accident. He shouted, Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!" The doctor replied, "I know you can't - I've cut off your arms!"

Man, sometimes you just can't win. I had one of those days last week.

I worked with a driver in the morning who wasn't real happy. Not with me, trucking or life pretty much in general. He had about 10 employment histories on his "DAC" report and was extremely unhappy that some of these reports were accessible to potential employers. "Why, they have every single employer I've worked for in the past 10 years" he said, "That's just not right, what's this world coming to." It took a lot of time and work to describe how the system works. Not long after, right before lunch, he called me back (somewhat sheepishly and much nicer to me). "I'm going to orientation on Monday. That report helped me accurately fill out the application-but I still don't like it."

Oh well, all's well that ends well and lunch wasn't bad either. The afternoon starting off well, the phone rang and here was a different driver. He wasn't real happy, not with me, trucking or life in general. "I got your dadgummed service, got my MVR, Crim record database scan, SSN check, put some of my papers in my on-line safe deposit box and had you get my DAC and I have a complaint." (Heh, heh, I thought.) "This dadgummed DAC doesn't have a single employer I've worked for on it. Not one! I don't remember who all I worked for in the past 10 years, my dates of service and this isn't right and what's this world coming to?" I could have reached through the phone and strangled him.

Sometimes you can't win, but you can stack the odds in your favor. If you're an over-the-road driver, statistics show most of you aren't going to spend your entire career with one company. If you apply for work (or contract) with a trucking company, you can be sure they are going to ask you about your employment history and they're going to verify what they can according to regulation and company policies. Hundreds of trucking companies receive thousands of applications every month. The process often resembles Charlie Chaplin trying to keep up with an assembly line or Lucy trying to keep up with decorating pies as they come down the line. In this environment, incomplete or inaccurate applications often land on the floor to be worked "later." You can take several steps to fast track the process and cut through the traffic.

• Know what information is out there on you.
• If the information is wrong-and matters-fix it. An old (inaccurate) home address probably won't be an obstacle-an incorrect report of an at-fault accident may well. If you can't fix it, explain it.
• After the above step, make sure the information you submit agrees with the information that will be obtained by the company.
• Try to make sure the potential employer sees positive things about your history-not just the negative. Point out the positives.
• Choose the companies to whom you want to apply by reviewing what they have to offer and only apply to those that offer what you are looking for. You can waste a lot of time doing otherwise.
• To separate your application from the other hundreds or thousands, include your credentials to those companies in whom you are interested. One service with which I am familiar is FiveStarDriver.com (www.FiveStarDriver.com). This service allows you to review companies, obtain and correct your information and then submit it for fast consideration.

Pull Quote: To separate your application from the other hundreds or thousands, include your credentials to those companies in whom you are interested.