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Structured Personal Interviews. Loose, unstructured impulsive," and "inattentive" were the three factors of the
interviews are no longer acceptable as selection procedures; 16 rated that had the strongest associations with risk by both
courts have held that interviews are subject to the same validity carrier safety managers and other experts. Further evidence of
standards as tests. Instead, a structured interview following a an industry consensus on the importance of driver personality
prescribed set of questions should be employed. Appendix F-3 and character was provided by Corsi and Barnard (2003), who
is a sample of a structured personal interview. In-person inter- found that all surveyed segments of the CMV industry highly
views are preferred to phone interviews because they convey valued such driver personal traits as patience, reliability, self-
more information and lead to more accurate decisions. They discipline, and self-motivation.
also provide a better opportunity to establish rapport with the Selection tests are intended to provide objective and pre-
applicant. dictive measures of personality traits and performance capa-
bilities. To be employed legally by organizations, selection
DOT Physical Examination. This exam is required of tests must meet certain criteria established by federal regula-
every commercial driver every 2 years. If possible, establish tions to prevent discrimination against ethnic or other groups.
a working relation with a trusted local physician to ensure Since 1964, pre-employment screening has been subject to
that federal standards, as well as any additional company stan- restrictions imposed under Title VII of the Civil Right Act.
dards, are met. As such, employers are prohibited from using measures that
have an adverse exclusionary impact on minority groups based
Road Test. The road test is also required by federal reg- on sex, race, or a particular ethnic group. A pre-employment
ulations, but it should be conducted near the end of the hiring selection measure will be labeled as "adverse" if the selec-
process. The well-administered road test should assess driver tion rate for any race, color, or ethnic group is less than 4/5
skills and attitudes. It should include the pre-trip vehicle
(i.e., 80%) of the rate for the group with the highest rate (Equal
inspection. Maneuvering skills to be tested include steering,
Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC] 2003). If a
stopping, shifting, and backing exercises. The company road
pre-employment measure is found to violate Title VII, affir-
test is ordinarily similar to the state CDL road test, but should
mative action steps must be implemented to remedy the situ-
include assessment of courteous and sound defensive driving
ation with the underrepresented minority. These steps may
as well as minimum required maneuvers. A written certificate
include (a) a recruitment program designed to attract the
of the road test is required; one copy is provided to the driver
underrepresented minority, (b) revamping selection instru-
and one is kept in the driver's company file.
ments to eliminate exclusionary effects, (c) initiation of mea-
Because of the driver shortage and the many other tasks and
responsibilities that carrier safety managers have, it may be sures designed to ensure members of the affected group (who
tempting to cut corners to expedite the hiring process. Safety are qualified) are included within the group of potential can-
experts believe, however, that systematic processes and rigor- didates, and (d) systematic efforts to redesign or revamp jobs
ous standards pay off by reducing risk, driver turnover, and in a way that provides opportunities for the underrepresented
the lost time and money associated with driver turnover. group (Department of Labor [DOL] 2003).
Checking the MVR, contacting past employers, testing for The DOL (2003) indicates that pre-employment measures
alcohol and drugs, and on-road driving tests are federally must conform to the American Psychological Association's
required protocols that were rated high in effectiveness by the (APA) Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
survey respondents. Less frequent practices included check- (APA 1985). The APA recognizes three basic methods for test
ing criminal record, checking credit history and rating, and validation: content-, construct-, and criterion-based validation.
using selection tests. Content validation involves analyzing the content of tests
and demonstrating that it corresponds to the job tasks as set
5.2.2 Selection Tests
out in a complete job analysis. For example, any simulated
driving task would likely qualify as having content validity in
Chapter 4 described various individual traits associated relation to commercial driving. Construct validation involves
with or thought to be associated with crash risk. These included showing that the test measures specific personnel characteris-
personality factors such as impulsivity, aggressive/angry tics that are shown to be necessary for performance of the
personalities, introversion-extroversion, and sensory-motor job. For example, performance tests of sustained vigilance
performance factors such as visual acuity, field independence/ would likely be considered valid for hiring commercial drivers
dependence, selective attention, and tracking. As described because driving is a sustained vigilance task. Criterion vali-
in Sections 4.7 and 4.8, measures of these and other personal dation involves showing a statistical correlation between per-
factors can potentially be employed as selection tests for formance on the test and actual performance measures by
commercial drivers. specific criteria (APA 1985, DOL 2003). Ideally, this would
The research project survey results support the idea that cer- be demonstrated by research studies showing a strong cor-
tain personality and performance factors are strongly related to relation between performance on the test and performance
risk. In the survey, the factors "aggressive/angry," "impatient/ on the job.
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The first step in designing a pre-employment screening mea- personal characteristics of the driver to determine how
sure is to perform a job analysis, that is, delineation of specific he/she approaches the world and deals with different sit-
work behavior or performance that is relevant to the job in uations. According to company materials, it was vali-
question (EEOC 2003). The results may include the following: dated in accordance with APA Division 14 principles for
job function or duties, work tasks, skills or competencies, validation of personnel selection procedures as a way to
work-related knowledge, work environment factors, decision- differentiate good drivers from bad ones.
making authority, educational requirements, communication, · The Dula Dangerous Driving Index (Dula and Ballard
training, and physical abilities. However, skills or knowledge 2003) was created to measure drivers' self-reported
that can be learned through regular training or on-the-job tendencies to driver dangerously. Subscales include
experience may not be used to exclude potential applicants. aggressive driving, negative emotional driving, and
Although physical abilities may be assessed, the ADA requires risky driving. Validation studies have shown positive
that qualified individuals with a disability be provided with rea- correlations between these scale scores and traffic
sonable accommodations. The job analysis should be helpful citations and at-fault crashes.
in determining what "reasonable accommodations" could be · The Scheig Hiring and Performance System (www.
made for an individual to perform the job (DOL 2003). scheig.com) is a selection instrument that includes scales
Ideally, the potential measure is then given to a representa- on driver interest and willingness to perform tasks related
tive sample of participants. The sample should be representa- to commercial driving, responses to situations truck
tive of the candidates for the job in question and should include drivers face, and a self-rating checklist of personal char-
the races, ethnic groups, and sexes normally available in the acteristics. The candidate's answers are benchmarked
relevant job market. The relationship between the selection against those of experienced, safe commercial drivers.
procedure and the criterion measure (e.g., crash or violation · The All Scan Driver Battery, developed by TestMaster,
rate) should be shown to be statistically significant (DOL Inc. (http://testmaster.rio.com), is a questionnaire consist-
2003). The EEOC requires full documentation of the validity ing of approximately 300 true-false and multiple-choice
of any pre-employment screening measure. questions. It measures three broad factors related to the
In the research project surveys, a small percentage of psychological profile of a truck driver: intelligence, factual
carriers--26%--indicated that they use selection tests in hir- knowledge, and "trucker" personality.
ing. Moreover, their effectiveness rating was near the bottom · The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI, www.
(7th) of the eight methods presented. Respondents answering hoganassessments.com) is a questionnaire designed to
yes on this question were also asked to name the tests they predict job performance on a variety of jobs, including
used. Most respondents answering this question gave a commercial driving. It includes scales on driver attitudes
general answer rather than naming a specific test. Moreover, and personality traits, including service orientation,
many of the tests mentioned were not personality or perfor- stress tolerance, reliability, social adjustment, ambition,
mance tests but were tests of specific job-related knowledge sociability, likeability, prudence, intellect, and school
or skill. The various responses included the following: success.
· ProScan and JobScan, by PDP Management Systems, are
· Entrance test multi-scale questionnaires that can be benchmarked to a
· Screening process variety of professions. PhD, Inc. (phdassessments.com),
· Performance test reports development of truck driver selection profiles
· Predictive index using ProScan and a computer program called SURE.
· Random evaluations The developed model enabled greater than 90% identifi-
· Talent and behavioral interviews cation of both high-risk and low-risk commercial drivers
· Math aptitude where risk was measured based on 5-year crash and
· In-house developed violation records.
· Personality · The MindData Attitude Index by Minddata (www.
· Smith System minddata.com) uses questionnaires that are validated
· Hours-of-service against a company's successful employees, based on the
· Load securement view that a company's successful employees are the best
benchmark to judge prospective employees. Scale scores
Various selection tests are marketed for use by motor carri- are generated for work-relevant personal traits such as
ers. Additionally, several of the personality and performance adaptability, aggressiveness, compliance, concentration,
measures described in Chapter 4 have potential use as selection drive, organization, stamina, and trust.
tests. The following are selection tests known to the authors: · The RoadRISK Assessment (www.vfrm.net) is an on-
line assessment of driver attitude, hazard perception,
· The Daecher Driver Profile is a questionnaire that mea- safety-relevant knowledge, behavior, personality, and
sures the beliefs, attitudes, personality, opinions and other other risk measures such as driving mileage and times
