Who Put That Driver on the Road? Hiring Records in Utah Truck Cases

The Question Most People Never Think to Ask

After a collision with a tractor-trailer on I-15 through Weber County or on Riverdale Road, attention naturally goes to the moment of impact — who had the light, who drifted, who stopped short. That matters. But a truck case raises a second question: why was that driver behind the wheel that day at all?

Federal safety rules treat hiring a commercial driver as a safety decision, not simply a staffing one. A carrier must look into an applicant’s background before putting them on the road, and keep checking afterward. When a company skips those steps, that failure can become part of the case — separate from whatever happened in the seconds before impact.

What a Carrier Is Required to Check

Federal regulations require a motor carrier to:

• Obtain the driver’s motor vehicle record from the state licensing agency, and request it again each year
• Investigate the driver’s safety performance history with DOT-regulated employers for the previous three years, and make a written record of each employer contacted
• Ask those prior employers about the driver’s drug and alcohol testing history
• Run a pre-employment query of the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, which records positive tests and refusals, then query again at least once a year
• Confirm the driver holds a current medical examiner’s certificate
• Complete an annual review of the driver’s driving record

None of this depends on a crash. It is supposed to happen in the ordinary course of business, long before anyone is hurt.

The Driver Qualification File

All of it lands in one place: the driver qualification file a carrier must maintain for every driver it employs. That file is where an attorney looks for something the company already knew — prior violations, a gap in the employment history, a missing medical certificate, or an investigation that was never actually done.

Two practical points for Utah families:

• The file is a company record. It is not something you can request on your own; it generally comes through the legal process.
• Carriers are required to keep it while the driver is employed and for a limited period after that driver leaves, so delay works against you.

This is one of the things that separates a truck claim from an ordinary auto accident claim, where the at-fault driver’s history and employer rarely enter the picture at all.

What This Means for Your Claim

Depending on the facts, the company’s own conduct — in hiring a driver, training that driver, or keeping them on the road after problems surfaced — may be part of what your claim is about, alongside the driver’s own negligence. Establishing it depends on records the carrier controls, which is why these cases reward early attention.

If an adjuster has already called with an offer, consider what has not yet been looked into. An early number reflects the crash alone — rarely anything about the company that put that truck on the highway.

Talk to an Ogden Truck Accident Attorney

If you or a family member was hurt by a commercial truck in Ogden, Weber County, or anywhere along the Wasatch Front, Stephen Farr Law can look at who the driver was, what the trucking company knew, and which records still exist. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we win. Call (833) 465-9744.

This article provides general information about Utah law and is not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts.