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I was with North Star / US Foodservice, and we (the drivers) ran MN, WI, MI, ND, SD, IA, and NE, but nothing about my foodservice time appeared, and this was only a couple of weeks ago.
US Food Service no longer subscribes to DAC. They now use a system called The Work Number For Everyone, which ensures they make a little money off drivers long gone, providing a company is desperate enough to drop the cash to order a Work Number report on a potential driver. A lot of companies deep six applications from drivers working for Work Number companies because it’s not worth the headache, the time, and the money to attempt to get a report. And if you think DAC is difficult to navigate around, just wait until you have to deal with the people at Work Number…that is, if you can even get ahold of anyone there. But that’s another discussion altogether.I was with North Star / US Foodservice, and we (the drivers) ran MN, WI, MI, ND, SD, IA, and NE, but nothing about my foodservice time appeared, and this was only a couple of weeks ago.
It’s been said forty trillion times on this board and I am going to say it again because this topic comes up so many times. Bear in mind, I have no vested interest in DAC. I simply know the value of it and other companies that do the same thing they do.
So here is your DAC lesson for today, entitled "Why DAC Is A Good Thing"
DAC is nothing more than a repository of information that companies share in order to speed up and streamline the hiring process for both the company and the driver. It helps both the companies and the drivers and most of the time, it works the way it’s supposed to work. That’s not to say there are not hiccups and that’s not to say there are not a couple companies out there that use DAC for retaliatory purposes. It happens, unfortunately, and hurts both the driver and other companies. But by and large, it works the way it’s supposed to work and until someone comes up with a better method (which would be great) or it’s declared unconstitutional (which would be very bad for the driver), it will continue to be used.
I’ll go into that shortly.
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There are also organizations (google is your friend) that you can HIRE to clean up your DAC. Similarly, if a disputed report WAS NOT RESOLVED to your satisfaction, DAC must include YOUR STATEMENT in the report also.
These “organizations” are as bad as trucking schools and lease purchase programs. “For $149, we can clean up your DAC!” Do you know what they do? They take your statement and submit it to DAC as a rebuttal, something you can do yourself in 5 minutes and for free, and they spend your money on booze and cheap hookers.There are also organizations (google is your friend) that you can HIRE to clean up your DAC. Similarly, if a disputed report WAS NOT RESOLVED to your satisfaction, DAC must include YOUR STATEMENT in the report also.
DAC is actually pretty easy to work with and the guidelines are as straight-forward as can be.
First, the driver works for company and ends their employment, either by quitting (good) or by being terminated (not good).
Then, the Company submits work record consisting of dates of employment, type of work (OTR, local, etc.), reason for leaving (term, quit, lay off, retired, etc) incident /accident information, and work record. Work Record can be any of the following PRESET entries:
Outstanding Work Record
Superior Work Record
Satisfactory Work Record
No Show
Quit Under Dispatch
Unauthorized Equipment Use
Unauthorized Passenger
Unauthorized Safety Record
Unauthorized Use of Company Funds
Falsified Employment Application
Equipment / Cargo Loss
Excessive Complaints
Late Pick Up / Delivery
Company Policy Violation
That’s right, they are PRESET entries and you’ll notice that failing a drug test is not one of them. Companies do not have the ability to write up anything regarding a driver…they simply choose which of those entries best describes the driver and MOST DAC entries are coded “Satisfactory Work Record”.
Now, what can you do if there is a “bad” entry on your DAC? Follow these guidelines in THIS order:
1. In the event something bad is put on your DAC and you don’t agree with it, the process is simple. Many times, you can simply call the company and speak with the safety director regarding it. If it’s an erroneous entry (such as a ticked off dispatcher playing nasty), the company will usually put forth the change themselves and it changes in DAC’s database within 24 to 48 hours. I have seen dispatchers and other personnel with other companies given their walking papers for using DAC in this way. Sometimes, it’s a completely honest mistake – the entry person keying in the wrong code. Again, many times a call to the company gets things fixed.
2. If you get nowhere with that, you can contact DAC directly and challenge the entry. DAC then contacts the company with the challenge and the company has 30 days to reply. Most of the time, the company will simply change the DAC and be done with it, whether the driver is right or not. Sometimes, they will stand firm.
3. If the company stands firm and will not change it, usually there is a reason for it. But you can then put your rebuttal into DAC. You have a limited number of words, so be brief. Your rebuttal gives your side of the story and will usually be enough for a potential company to get in touch with you and get the specifics.
You know, over the years I’ve been in this industry, DAC gets a pretty bad rap and I can certainly understand the reasoning for it, but the reasoning is based on emotion and a complete lack of logic. By and large, DAC is used right and speeds things up for the driver and company. However, many of the times when someone is whining about a bad DAC report, it’s because the DAC entry is right on the mark. I would need a Cray computer to calculate all the times I talked to a driver that said there was a ‘lie’ on their DAC report, only to get their explanation and find out that not only was the DAC right, but probably should have had a few more entries as well. Again, I don’t discount the times when a good driver gets shafted, because it does happen. I have seen it. But it doesn’t happen anywhere near as often as people think. It’s actually a rarity.
Now, all that said, I’ll give you something else to consider. DOT regulations as of a couple years ago, requires companies to release all that same above information to a driver’s potential new employer, with the exception of the work record piece, although most companies still do that. This information is to be furnished via fax or online and in the case of drug and alcohol information, must be accompanied by a signed release from the driver. Obviously, most of that – with the exception of the D&A piece – can be done through DAC, which is where DAC comes in handy. What you might not know is that the DOT also gives companies 30 days to complete any faxed verification and without DAC or other employment reporting companies, most companies will take that 30 days or more, since DOT does not enforce penalties on companies not adhering to it.
And for you drivers that swear up and down you will never work for a DAC company, you risk putting yourself into a far more dire predicament as those companies still have to be verified by a potential employer, which then has to be done by fax (remember that 30 days) and gives your former company the ability to say anything they want and many times, they can and will say a lot.
So, in the end, despite the few instances of abuse, DAC is your friend. If DAC is outlawed, so to will be the Work Number, DriverFacts.com, and other pay employment history sites. Without these services, you will be waiting 30 days or more between jobs and none of us can afford to do that. Why? Because technically a company cannot hire you until your last 3 years of history is verified, including D&A tests. DAC allows a company to bring a driver with good work records right on board, contingent on the required fax coming back, which comes back just fine 99.9999% of the time.
I could go into more detail, but I won’t. What I have above is sufficient for why DAC works for the most part. However, I’ll take a quick moment to touch on the accident/incident part of the DAC, because this causes confusion, too.
Most companies will indicate accidents and incidents on the DAC. These hits cover BOTH preventables and non-preventables. Some companies will simply list the number that occurred and others will provide more information such as date, location, preventable/non, DOT recordable/non, and a short PRESET entry for what it was (backing, lane change, head on, turning, hit while parked, struck stationary object). IN the latter case, all a potential company then has to do is get the specifics from the driver.
Incidents, no matter how minor, will be reported to DAC, the same as accidents. Incidents, unless you have a bunch of them, are generally not going to be an issue. Incidents are incidents because they do not have accident reports associated with them. Accidents are accidents because they have an accident report filled out by an LEO associated with them. There is a difference. The incident will only require your verbage on what happened. An accident will require the actual accident report, so always get a copy of an accident report when filled out, so you are prepared when your potentially new employer asks about it.
Now, remember this, because this is the important part. If you are applying for a job, make sure you list any incident or accident. Don’t assume that because it was minor, it won’t show up. Minor incidents do show up and most companies, DAC or not, will supply that information.
Whew! OK, I’m done. Who do I send my consulting services bill to? :thumbsup: