What Employers See in Your Driving Record Background Check

During pre-employment background screening, a driving record background check is much less common than criminal history checks and employment verifications. Most employers won’t check your driving history unless they have a good reason, so you’re unlikely to face this check in a hiring process unless you apply for a role that involves driving.

If you are seeking a job as a driver or where driving is part of the job description, your prospective employer will run a background license check through the Department of Motor Vehicles. In addition to employers, auto insurance and life insurance providers will often review your driving history to assess your risk and determine your policy rate. What exactly will they see when they review your license status?

Driver’s License Background Check

At backgroundchecks.com, our background check with driver’s license screening may include the following information:

• Type of license
• Driver’s license number
• Endorsements
• Suspensions
• Traffic violations
• Driving Status
• Points
• Fines
• Violation Codes
• License Classification
• Moving violations – breach of a law while vehicle is in motion.

A few of these bullet points are self-explanatory. A current or prior suspension is one potential item a driving record background check could reveal. Moving violations, citations, and fines from the past few years will also appear on your Motor Vehicle Record (MVR).

Some of these points are less obvious. “Driving Status” refers to the standing of your license. Other options include “None” (for people who aren’t licensed), “Expired” (for a license that has passed its expiration date), and “Deceased” (if the owner of the license number submitted is no longer alive). The most desirable license status is “Valid,” which indicates no limited restrictions on the license.

Who can Drive What

“License Classification” refers to the type of driver’s license. For instance, the license classes for driving a private car differ from a commercial vehicle. Depending on the state, there may also be separate license classes for motorcycles, school buses, and watercraft. This information can also be conveyed under the “Endorsements” section of a driving record background check.

Commercial driver’s licenses are segmented based on class and endorsements. Driving a school bus, operating a tank vehicle, and transporting hazardous materials could require a special endorsement on a CDL.

Understanding License Points

“Points” refer to the points you have accrued on your driver’s license. Not all states have point systems, and some use a different procedure. Consequently, license points can be confusing. The basic idea is that you receive a specified number of points for every driving violation, which naturally takes time to disappear from your record. If you accumulate a specific number of points within a set period, the state will suspend your license.

Do you want to see a background check on your own driver’s license number? Run a self-check on your driver’s license through backgroundchecks.com before commencing the background check process.