Truck Drivers DAC Report Unconstitutional
DAC report unconstitutional
Is the DAC Report unconstitutional? The first ten amendments of the Constitution, which make up the Bill of Rights, include the amendment which requires that all citizens be provided with due process when either being accused of a crime or being penalized by another party for a civil matter. The Bill of Rights were seen as such importance, that George Mason refused to sign until these rights were included.
Explaining his refusal to sign, Mason wrote: “There is no Declaration of Rights, and the laws of the general government being paramount to the laws and constitution of the several States, the Declarations of Rights in the separate States are no security. Nor are the people secured even in the enjoyment of the benefit of the common law.” To paraphrase it in simple terms: every American citizen has the right to due process of law when accused or penalized by a separate party.
Yet, countless numbers of professional truck drivers are penalized by trucking companies through the false claims reported on their DAC Report. The large majority of these truckers are caught in a situation where proving their case is impossible. False DAC Reporting has been going on for years with trucking organizations and associations recognizing the problem, but doing nothing to stop it:
Recent comments from the Stop DAC petition:
- “It’s not right that companies can destroy a driver’s driving record and stop them from ever getting a driving job again.”
- “I quit Swift Transportation back in 07. Took my truck back to the Richmond terminal because I was basically paying them to drive. I was lucky I had some savings to fall back on while driving for this company. Anyhow, I cleared my truck and resigned at the terminal and I got a “NO SHOW” on my DAC.”
- “I have seen it happen many times and I fully support this petition to stop the abuse that companies and DAC Services have been allowed to exercise for far too long.”
- “I am an ex-FED DOT Agent and I witnessed first hand how many drivers would come into our office requesting we help them. They were not able to aquire employment because there was bad information in their reports. I do believe this method is unfair and unjust to many a good driver.”
- “My DAC now has False Information from US Xpress. I went to orientation and on the 5 th day they let me go over the phone without giving me a reason why they were not hiring me. I lived in Denver, Co. and they paid for me to go to Ca. for this. My DAC shows I worked for them and I Quit and was dismissed. This is False information that US Xpress has reported on my DAC.’
- “Simply being accused on a DAC is enough to make getting hired virtually impossible.”
Our Stop False DAC Reporting petition is at 1,462 signatures and growing. If the petition does nothing more than the continuance of showing how trucking companies retaliate against truckers, then I will continue to post the experiences drivers are facing with this abuse by the industry:
- “As someone who has been in Human Resources for a few decades, I find it hard to believe that DAC is allowed to exist. See, if Sally Sue applies at a local office and is hired, then she is protected under federal and state laws that govern what work related issues or job performance issues can be disclosed to others. Many employee rights and privacy issues are in play. If Sally Sue fails to show up for work or leaves early, if she steals office supplies, if she shoots her boss even, it can not be disclosed by the company to others she may choose to apply with or work for. DAC violates all employee rights to privacy. If I were a driver and worked for one of these dirt bags that put ANYTHING derogatory on my DAC I would sue for slander and then retire rich. It is not a legal system under employment laws in most states, nor is it completely legal under many federal rights to privacy.”
- “JB Hunt is the worst for reports for DAC. False information, at fault accidents that are not in a vehicle, logbook errors. All BS.”
- “CRST shows terminated when I quit with notice and not under a load. Truck went to new driver ( no abandonment).”
You can read all the comments from the signers of the petition and see what these trucking companies are doing to our men and women of trucking. Until DAC is shut down, you can contact the Truckers Justice Center which has been fighting for truckers rights for twenty years. Truckers Justice Center specializes in helping drivers with the removal of false information on their DAC reports. Their website states:
“(HireRight) maintains employment files (called DAC reports) on all commercial drivers that include accident records, drug testing reports and eligibility for rehire information from all previous employers. There are MANY incorrect reports in DAC files. Companies will put outright lies into DAC reports as retaliation against drivers. (HireRight) is a consumer reporting agency, which means you have a right to see the information kept in these reports and you have the right to correct the information under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Truckers Justice Center can help you correct your DAC reports.”
So the question remains: is the DAC Report unconstitutional? For the answer, I turned to Attorney Paul Taylor and this is what he said:
“The Bill of Rights applies to Government action, not private actions of motor carriers and consumer-reporting agencies. As far as the DAC Report is concerned, they are definitely constitutional.”
Five years ago I started Truth About Trucking, the first to publicly expose the abuses and injustices that many truck drivers face within the long haul trucking industry. Going public, we exposed the:
- DAC Report
- Trucking companies owner operator lease purchase plans
- CDL training scams
- Truth about the so-called truck driver shortage
- Process of starving out drivers
- Turning over student drivers as a means of cheap labor
- Abuses by the “starter” trucking companies . . . and much more.
These were all the little insider secrets of the trucking industry that nobody was publicly sharing. It was time to change that. It was time that CDL students and new drivers understood what they could be facing when looking at OTR trucking as a career.
There are many good and decent trucking companies, but there are more that are not so good. Understanding the trials you will face when first starting out in trucking and knowing what to do after you “pay your dues” in this industry, is the foundation that Truth About Trucking stands on . . . to “Raise the standards of the trucking industry.”
Trucking companies continue to retaliate against drivers through the use of the abusive DAC system? Then I’ll keep posting . . .
Allen Smith
© 2010, AskTheTrucker. All rights reserved.
: constitutional right, dac, dac report, HireRight, truck drivers, truckers justice center
