You are hiring a delivery driver, a sales rep who logs hundreds of miles a month, or anyone who will get behind the wheel on company time. The résumé looks good and the interview went well. But how do you know this person is safe to put in one of your vehicles, or in their own car on your clock?
That is what a Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) is for. An MVR is an official record of a person’s driving history, pulled from the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) that issued their license. When you are making a hiring decision that involves driving, it is the single most relevant check you can run.
What an MVR Checks
An MVR comes straight from the state’s own driving records. Depending on the state, it typically shows:
- The status of the driver’s license (valid, suspended, revoked or expired)
- The license class and any endorsements or restrictions
- Traffic violations and moving citations
- Accidents on record
- DUI/DWI convictions
- License suspensions and the reasons behind them
- Points assessed against the license, where the state uses a point system
Think of it as the driving half of a background check. A criminal search tells you one thing; the MVR tells you how someone actually conducts themselves on the road.
What an MVR Can and Cannot Show
An MVR is the authoritative source for driving history, but only for what the state records and only for the states it covers. It is important to be honest about its limits:
- It reflects one state at a time. A license pulled in Texas shows the Texas record. If a driver held a license in another state, activity there may not appear on that report.
- It is not a criminal history. A DUI may surface on both an MVR and a criminal search, but most traffic matters are not criminal records, and most crimes never touch a driving record.
- It shows what has been reported and processed by the DMV. A very recent ticket or accident may not yet be posted.
- It covers a set look-back period. Most states report about three years of driving history, though some go back further. Contact us for details on a specific state.
When Employers Use an MVR, and Why
You should consider an MVR any time driving is part of the job, or part of the risk. Common cases include:
- Drivers of company vehicles, such as delivery, transport, service and logistics roles
- Employees who drive their own vehicle for work (mileage reimbursement, sales routes, home visits)
- Roles where you add the employee to a commercial auto insurance policy
- Positions governed by Department of Transportation rules
The reasons are practical: you reduce the risk of a preventable accident, you meet what your insurer expects before adding a driver, and you can show you took reasonable care in who you let drive.
The Compliance Points to Know
An MVR ordered for employment is a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), so the same rules apply as for any background check (the FTC and EEOC lay these out in Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know):
- Disclosure and consent. Before you order the report, you must give the applicant a clear, standalone written disclosure that a background check will be run, and get their written authorization. This is a requirement under the FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)).
- Adverse action. If something in the report leads you to not hire or to take other adverse action, the FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3)) requires a pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, time for the person to respond, and then a final notice.
- State limits. Some states and cities restrict how driving and other records can be used in hiring, and privacy rules can govern access to DMV data. Because these vary and change, confirm your specific obligations with employment counsel. This post is general information, not legal advice.
- Driver privacy. Access to DMV records is governed by the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1993 (DPPA), and NCS is fully compliant with it. Your driver screening is handled through the permissible, consent-based channels the law allows.
How NCS Helps
We make the MVR a simple, compliant step in your screening. You order it online through your NCS Dashboard, we pull the record from the issuing state’s DMV, and we return a clear report you can act on, right alongside the criminal searches, verifications, drug testing and E-Verify you may already run with us. Our platform is built around FCRA compliance, so the disclosure, authorization and adverse-action pieces are supported as part of the process.
Ready to screen your drivers the right way? Get started with an NCS account.
