One more question? Is a driver responsible for what his/her co-driver does under the law if you were off duty?

 

And you base that assertion on what? Are you a driver or do you work inside the office? Not trying to be combative, but pointing out that unless you work inside and have access to these reports and have viewed thousands and thousands of them, then you have no basis for your point. Over the years, the problems a few people have had with DAC have been sensationalized to the point that they are simply accepted by everyone as the baseline for all things evil in the trucking industry.

Look, I’m not saying that DAC is the end-all, beat-all of employment verification for drivers. My point is that it’s the best thing going right now and until someone comes up with a better system, that’s what we have. And quite honestly, I don’t know if there is a better system, though the current one could stand to be tweaked a little to better protect the drivers that do have legitimate complaints with a company giving them the screwjob. I just don’t know how you go about adding that additional protection and I certainly don’t agree that the problem is anywhere near widespread as some people would have you to believe.

I honestly have no idea what you mean here. Elaborate please?

 

Sorry, I missed this.

Hardly an expert. I simply work on the other side of the business, so have access to many, many dacs and have been the middle-man between drivers and former companies for over 8 years. So I do have the benefit of hearing both sides of the story.

The DAC report is a handful of pre-set work record options that a company chooses when filling out a DAC report. The most common is the Satisfactory work record. Most companies opt for the Satisfactory work record, even when that option is not warranted, because it is simply the easiest thing to do without worrying about any potential headaches. The DAC, being as cut and dry as it is, does not give a company carte blanche to write a book on a drivers work record, unlike a faxed verification.

The word abandonment can be used in 3 different scenarios, but the word “abandonment” is not even used on DAC anymore. I haven’t seen it in probably 7 years now. So, those three scenarios are:

- Job Abandonment – we see this on faxed verifications more and more these days. On DAC, it equates to the phrase “No Show”. All it means is that a driver quit without notice while at home without the equipment, which is ALSO a DAC option. Usually, you see these when a driver was on vacation time or hometime (if in a slip seat truck) and simply decided not to return. No worries…we don’t care about those, nor do most other companies.

- Abandonment of Load – On DAC, this is listed as a “Quit Under Dispatch.” It’s pretty self-explanatory. If you quit a job and are under load or a pre-plan, then you will get tagged with this both on DAC and on faxed verifications. You may even be empty or bobtailing to a pickup point, but if the company has you under load or preplanned, your best bet is to let your company know that you are quitting, but that you will finish up your load and take the truck back to wherever the company wants it. That’s really all any of them are asking.


- Abandonment of Equipment – this is the biggee and what seems to cause people the most problems. On the DAC, it lists as “Unauthorized Location without Notice.” Faxes run about 50/50 between this and “abandonment”. This means that you left the equipment in a location other than where the company wanted it. Whether it is sitting in your front yard, sitting at the truck stop, abandoned off the side of the road somewhere, or even sitting in a company yard that is not the yard they wanted it at, you will get tagged with this.

So, if you’re thinking of quitting a job and figure that the drop yard or terminal 25 miles from your house is where you will leave the truck, better rethink that. If the company wants the truck at a certain location, it’s because that certain location is either an orientation terminal or they will have a driver waiting there to pick it up. If you take the truck to a location other than that, the company has to spend resources (time, money, and personnel) to retrieve that truck. You, being the cause of that, would get tagged with the “unauthorized location without notice” and also likely be charged $1 a mile for the distance the company has to return that truck to where they wanted it. Every company will have you sign an agreement in orientation that covers that, as well, so it’s always a good thing to make sure you read and understand the paperwork.

Hope that helps some.

If you’re talking about actual legalities concerning moving violations, accidents, etc., then no…only the driver is responsible for that. If you’re talking about what will be reported on a DAC report, then yes, both drivers are usually responsible for things like quit under dispatch, unauthorized location without notice, etc., if both drivers do it. Accidents and stuff are again, back on the owning driver.

 

It also doesn't allow conflicting info. Example,years of satisfactory performance and quit without notice.(that can be portrayed in a fax)
The reason a company can usually back up what is reported is because they keep more detailed records of what happened.

 

Actually, that isn't completely accurate. DAC does indeed allow multiple 'hits' and I have seen a few drivers over the years that were given the works. Imagine a DAC report that looks like this:

Unauthorized Location Without Notice
Unsatisfactory Safety Record
Quit without Notice
Quit Under Dispatch
Excessive Complaints
Late Pick-up/Delivery
Unauthorized Equipment Use
Personal Contact Required

It happens. Certainly not a lot, but it does happen occassionally. And that usually makes our first question "Wow...who did you p!ss off at Company A?" Because that's usually what those kinds of multiple hits are from.

But you are definitely correct that companies do keep detailed records of things that happen, which is why the majority of bad DAC reports turn out to have some truth to them. You truly have to be in the position to get both sides of the story, to fully understand and appreciate that.

 

While on the DAC subject, I know that with CSA2010 they will be going back 36 months for drivers. How far back on the DAC reports are they going to go? Or are they not collecting that type of information, just MVR and Inspection history? I meen, If they arent including information from beyond 36 months then some of these driver worries are pointless. Or is DAC only used for employment purposes and not driver ratings?

 

DAC is only for employment purposes. CSA is for driver rating.

 

How about a signed Affidavit, with both parties signatures, a witness and copies to office and driver at the of the employment period, describing the end of the relationship. That way, all ammicable relationship endings would be known by both parties. Obviously, abandonded or other similar situations would not give to the signing of such a document and the driver would not posess what would amount to evidence of a proper disolutionment of the driver/employee relationship. Anyone wanting to end employment correctly would most certainly not be averse to this type of process. Or would be that be too over the top?

 

Thanks for taking the time to explain all of this to me. It really helps me to understand.

 

It will not allow you to enter satisfactory performance along with quit without notice.abandoment,ect. You can have multiple good or bad but it will not allow a combination of the two.