PSP Annual Report 2013 by Trozzolo Communications Group

Pre-Employment Screening Program ANNUAL REPORT 2013

INSIDE Driving PSP Adoption Through Education................. 2 Monitoring Motor Carrier Compliance With Audits........ 3 PSP Increases Accessibility..... 3

‘PSP 2.0’ Expansion Moves Full-Speed Ahead F

ollowing its much-anticipated launch in September 2012, PSP 2.0 kicked into high

Successful FMCSA/NIC Partnership Brings Accolades and Results

he Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) enjoyed another successful year in 2013. Midway through the year, the program reached an impressive milestone – more than 2 million

driver records have been requested through PSP since it launched in 2010! This was

gear in 2013! PSP 2.0 expanded PSP access to

just one of many exciting

Industry Service Providers (ISPs). ISPs include

highlights of the year, which

organizations that are directly involved in

included earning a notable

the commercial driver hiring process, such

national award and the release

as driver staffing companies, driver leasing

of a study demonstrating PSP’s

companies, third-party screening businesses,

important positive impact on

and intrastate carriers. ISPs provide one-stop,

industry safety.

centralized screening functions for motor

In September, the Center FMCSA received an honorable mention award for

carriers and are a critical segment of the motor

for Digital Government – a

carrier and motorcoach industry. Now, carriers

national research and advi-

can seamlessly access PSP records from ISPs

sory institute on information

alongside other important safety records, such

technology policies and best practices for government – awarded PSP an honorable

| continued on page 2 |

PSP from the DGAA in the Driving Digital Government for Business category.

mention in the annual Digital Government Achievement Awards. The awards recognize | continued on page 2 |

Driving PSP Adoption Through Education

ducation and outreach to carriers is a key component

NIC’s involvement in national organizations led to state and

of PSP’s success. PSP launched in 2010 and since then

regional motorcoach associations requesting PSP education for

NIC has attended scores of events to increase industry

their members. The California Bus Association and Midwest

knowledge of PSP through presentations, exhibitions, conferences,

Bus and Motorcoach Association requested PSP presentations

and webinars – all at no cost to the industry or FMCSA! The

at their annual conferences. The outreach is paying off. Since

outreach team, led by Laura Fredrickson, often collects accolades for

these efforts began, PSP adoption by motorcoach operators has

its efforts. Tracy from the New York State Motor Truck Association,

increased by 20 percent!

Inc. said: “Your presentation on the Pre-Employment Screening

NIC also focused on direct outreach to drivers in 2013. During

Program update was a valuable addition to the program [and] was

the summer, NIC partnered with the Commercial Vehicle Safety

well-received by all our participants. You clearly demonstrated your

Alliance to distribute more than 20,000 PSP fliers to law enforce-

commitment to enhancing compliance and safety, and for that we

ment officers participating in the annual Roadcheck program.

are grateful.”

During routine truck inspections, officers gave drivers a PSP

In 2013, outreach took on a new focus at the request of FMCSA – the

flier encouraging them to learn more about PSP.

motorcoach industry. NIC leapt into the motorcoach world by joining

As our focus switches to 2014, NIC is excited about sharing

the American Bus Association (ABA), the United Motorcoach Associa-

the findings of the PSP safety impact analysis study! We believe

tion (UMA), and the Bus Industry Safety Council (BISC). Since joining

the results speak volumes to how more informed hiring –

these organizations in March, NIC has accepted invitations to speak

through PSP – reduces a company’s occurrence of crashes and

at four motorcoach events. In addition, PSP was the subject of three

driver out-of-service violations.

articles for ABA and UMA publications. Clyde from the ABA writes,

Improvements to the PSP presentation and information collat-

“Without supporters like NIC Technologies, BISC would not be able

eral will highlight the study’s findings and statistics, and will

to continue providing its valuable safety programming to the motor-

influence motor carriers and bus operators to incorporate PSP

coach industry. Thank you.”

into their operations in 2014.

‘PSP 2.O’ Expansion Moves Full-Speed Ahead

Successful FMCSA/NIC Partnership Brings Accolades and Results | continued from page 1 |

outstanding government websites and projects based on innovation, functionality, productivity, and performance. PSP earned the award in the ‘Driving Digital Government for Business’

| continued from page 1 |

recognition category, the only federal application acknowledged in this category. The NIC

as driver background checks and state

Technologies team was pleased to present the plaque to FMCSA at a recent team meeting.

motor vehicle records. As more ISPs learned about PSP 2.0 in

On the heels of the award win, FMCSA released the findings of the PSP safety impact analysis. All PSP team members were thrilled with the results, which showed that compa-

2013, they enrolled at a steady clip. By

nies using PSP have realized, on average, an 8 percent reduction in crash rates and a 17

year’s end, 117 new ISPs enrolled in PSP,

percent decrease in driver out-of-service rates! Based on the data, FMCSA estimated that

making up 7 percent of new PSP account

PSP prevented 863 crashes and nearly 3,600 drivers from being placed out of service road-

holders. ISPs requested more than 33,000

side during a 12-month period. Congratulations to Mike Johnsen and team on completing

reports in 2013, helping carriers make

this study!

well-informed hiring decisions and increasing safety on the nation’s roads. n

We have an exciting year ahead in 2014, with many improvements and enhancements planned for the PSP site. We look forward to continuing our productive, successful, no-cost partnership with FMCSA. n

2 | PSP ANNUAL REPORT 2013

Monitoring Motor Carrier Compliance With Audits

PSP

monthly account holder audits ensure that carriers and ISPs are properly

capturing a driver’s consent before accessing a PSP

Audited Account Holders and Penalties, 2013

record. The PSP Customer Service Team works with all new and existing account holders to ensure they are familiar with the consent requirements. Then, the team

1 1 2 16

conducts monthly audits of PSP consent forms to verify compliance. In the 13-month period from November 2012

1 1 16

through November 2013, audits were completed on 2,755 driver consent forms. The most frequent cause of noncompliance is an account holder using an outof-date, previously approved version of the consent

language. The Customer Service Team then instructs

these companies to update their processes appropriately. The audit process has been very effective: 88 percent of companies that were found noncompliant in one audit passed their follow-up audit successfully! Linda from Truckers Bookkeeping & Compliance Services said, “Thank you for letting me know the

Terminations Email Warnings

Suspensions

Probations

Letter Warnings

Accepted

outcome of our audit. I appreciate your assistance; whenever we need it, your team is there.” n

Positive Government Experiences Working Toward a Common Goal

PSP Increases Accessibility

that common goal with you – our partner – and we are deeply invested in working with

you to make each and every eGovernment interaction a positive one.

improves users’ website interaction

we are passionate about making government more accessible to everyone. A tItNIC, is our sole focus, our purpose, and the simple reason for our existence. We share

Whether it is accessing a PSP record, renewing a license, applying for a permit, filing

uring 2013, the NIC team embraced a “responsive design”

strategy for PSP. Responsive design by ensuring the site is optimized for

court documents, finding important emergency information, or any other application

viewing on a phone, tablet, or personal

taken from our robust library of 7,500 online services and 150+ mobile applications, you

computer, with minimal scrolling or

can trust us to bridge the gap between your needs and the needs of the citizens and busi-

resizing. Each computing device gets

nesses you serve.

a unique, yet ideal, experience for the PSP site. The result of responsive

One Community

design is that PSP users consistently

More than two decades ago, NIC pioneered the eGovernment industry by revolution-

have an improved interaction with

izing the way people do business with all levels of government. The paper-intensive,

PSP, however they choose to access

wait-in-line ways of the past evolved into secure, click-of-a-button, swipe-of-a-

the site! The entire PSP application

screen interactions. Today, NIC works with more than 3,500 federal, state, and local

| continued on page 4 |

PSP ANNUAL REPORT 2013 | 3

NIC Shows Commitment to Customers, Community, and Colleagues

ustomer satisfaction is a high

are frequently recognized by PSP account

priority for NIC’s PSP Customer

holders for their exceptional service. As an

Service Team. In 2013, the team,

example, Bill from Pilot Logistics Services

led by Joan Kalvaitis, handled 1,700 enroll-

says, “Hats off to your employee Madeleine.

ments, 80,000 emails, and more than 31,000

What a great employee! Friendly, helpful,

phone calls – and average call wait times

courteous, kind, and an example of what all

never exceeded 30 seconds! Team members

employees should be.” At NIC, we also strive to be an active

The NIC team volunteering with the

member of the community in which we work

Angel Tree program.

and live and recognize the value of giving

the Salvation Army Arlington Corps Angel

back, both locally and globally. In June, the

Tree by sorting and organizing donated

NIC team joined the Lions Club Eyeglass

holiday gifts for approximately 1,500 low-

Recycling Center to clean, identify, tag, bag,

income children in our community. Equally

and sort thousands of donated eyeglasses to

rewarding was NIC’s sponsorship of two

The NIC team celebrates more than 800,000

be sent to various charitable organizations

“Angels,” Alan and Kamila, for whom the

PSP record requests in 2013!

around the world. In December, we assisted

NIC team joyfully purchased gifts.

PSP Increases Accessibility | continued from page 3 |

has been updated with this new design strategy. Now, each new PSP enhancement

Positive Government Experiences | continued from page 3 |

government partners, giving you access to share ideas across the NIC family, learn best practices, and deploy new services quickly by starting with foundational code deployed elsewhere by NIC partners.

Secure and Flexible Payment Solutions

With today’s financial environment and rapidly changing technology, your job is

is shared with users only after NIC is

to provide state-of-the-art payment services, all while managing costs, adhering to

certain it works properly for whichever

industry standards, maintaining security, and providing ease of use. Not an easy task

device the driver or account holder may

regardless of your staff size or budget allocation.

choose to access PSP. Increasing acces-

Partnering with NIC means one company, one system for your payment processing

sibility options ensures that carriers can

needs. Designed specifically with government in mind, you get an affordable, hosted

view PSP data any time, from anywhere.

software service with 200 configurable options offering you flexibility. With our

2014 includes plans for further exciting developments to the PSP site. n

fully hosted Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, you not only enjoy flexibility in the system’s design, you will also enjoy peace of mind knowing that all payment-related information is processed at a centrally hosted, PCI Level 1 data center. n

Insights is published by NIC Technologies. Your questions and comments are welcome. Please contact us at:

4601 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 1160 | Arlington, VA 22203 (877) 642-9499 www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov