The Hire Road: some crimes prevent hazmat endorsements

By DEREK HINTON
The Trucker News Services

9/23/2008

A police officer stops a blonde truck driver for speeding and asks her very nicely if he could see her license. She replies in a huff, "I wish you guys would get your act together. Just yesterday you take away my license and then today you expect me to show it to you!"

Several months ago, I wrote several articles regarding the use of criminal records by employers when hiring drivers.

At the conclusion of the series, the most common question was “exactly what crimes will prevent me from obtaining a hazmat endorsement on my CDL and what crimes will cause the endorsement to be rescinded.”

The following information answers this question and is direct from the Transportation Security Agency.

Please note: Any Hazmat truck driver who has a disqualifying offense that prohibits holding a Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) must immediately surrender the HME to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The following list was specifically designed to identify disqualifying crimes that pose a potential threat to the nation's transportation network.  The list is comparable to assessment standards applied to millions of airport and airline employees.

These crimes are only disqualifying if they are considered felonies in the appropriate jurisdiction, civilian or military.  An applicant is disqualified from holding an HME if he or she was convicted* or found not guilty by reason of insanity within the past seven years, was released from prison within the past five years, or is wanted or under indictment, for any of the following crimes:

• Assault with intent to murder

• Kidnapping or hostage taking

• Rape or aggravated sexual abuse

• Extortion

• Robbery

• Arson

• Bribery

• Smuggling

• Immigration violations

• RICO violations

• Distribution of, possession with intent to distribute, or importation of a controlled substance ("simple possession" of a controlled substance without an intent to distribute is not considered disqualifying)

• Dishonesty, fraud, or misrepresentation, including identity fraud (e.g., felony-level embezzlement, tax evasion, perjury, and false statements to the Federal government)

• Unlawful possession, use, sale, manufacture, purchase, distribution, receipt, transfer, shipping, transporting, delivery, import, export of, or dealing in firearms or other weapons

• Conspiracy or attempt to commit any of these crimes

An applicant will be permanently disqualified from holding a HME if he or she was ever convicted* or found not guilty by reason of insanity of any of the following crimes:

• Murder

• Terrorism

• Espionage

• Sedition

• Treason

• Unlawful possession, use, sale, distribution, manufacture, purchase, receipt, transfer, shipping, transporting, import, export, storage of, or dealing in an explosive or explosive device

• RICO violations (if the crime underlying the RICO conviction is on the list of permanently disqualifying crimes)

• A crime involving a transportation security incident (i.e., security incident involving a significant loss of life, environmental damage, transportation system disruption, or economic disruption in a particular area)

• Improper transportation of a hazardous material (minor infractions involving transportation of hazardous materials will not disqualify a driver; for instance, no driver will be disqualified for minor roadside infractions or placarding violations)

• Conspiracy or attempt to commit any of these crimes

Convicted means any plea of guilty or nolo contendere (no contest) or any finding of guilt.

Derek Hinton is CEO of TIES LLC, better known as DOTJobHistory.com. DOTJobHistory allows drivers to obtain and verify their employment (DAC), driving and criminal records. They may then make this information available over the Web to employers who can access the information instantly.

Hinton has more than 20 years experience in the areas of employment screening, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Motor Carrier Safety regulations. He began his career at DAC Services in 1984 and is the author of “The Criminal Records Manual,” a book that details criminal records in the hiring process. For more information, contact information for Hinton can be found at dotjobhistory.com.