Truck driver screening questions for CDL recruiters
On this page
- CDL classes, endorsements and restriction codes
- Knockout questions
- The Clearinghouse, MVR and history the carrier will pull
- Equipment and experience questions
- Routes, home time and pay
- Hours of service and ELD questions
- How driver experience gets overstated
- Knockout checklist and what not to ask
- Questions people ask
Truck driver screening questions start with what the law and the carrier's insurance make non-negotiable: the right CDL class and endorsements, no restriction that rules out the fleet's equipment, a current DOT medical card, a clean enough motor vehicle record, and nothing in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse that stops the driver working. Only then does it make sense to talk about equipment, routes, home time and pay, which is where most driver placements actually fall apart.
The questions below are grouped in that order, with what a strong answer sounds like and the red flags transportation recruiters learn to hear. Regulations are summarized as commonly read and linked to the source; confirm the details for your carrier's operation. The general screen structure is in phone screen questions for recruiters.
CDL classes, endorsements and restriction codes
Keep this table next to the phone. The class definitions are in 49 CFR 383.91 and the endorsement and restriction codes in 49 CFR 383.153; FMCSA summarizes both on its CDL page for drivers.
| Code | Meaning | Why it matters on the screen |
|---|---|---|
| Class A | Combination vehicles with a GCWR of 26,001 lb or more, towing a unit over 10,000 lb GVWR | Tractor-trailers. A Class B driver cannot take a Class A job. |
| Class B | A single vehicle of 26,001 lb or more GVWR, or one towing a unit of 10,000 lb or less | Straight trucks, dump trucks, many buses. |
| Class C | Smaller vehicles designed for 16 or more passengers including the driver, or placarded hazardous materials | Rare in freight; relevant for passenger and small hazmat work. |
| H | Hazardous materials | Requires a TSA security threat assessment, generally renewed every five years (TSA). |
| N | Tank vehicle | Liquid bulk. Ask about actual tanker miles, not just the endorsement. |
| X | Tank vehicle and hazardous materials combined | Fuel hauling and chemical tankers. |
| T | Double/triple trailers | LTL linehaul. Ask whether they have pulled doubles, not only whether they have the T. |
| P / S | Passenger / school bus | Only for passenger work. |
| E | Restriction: no manual transmission CMV | A knockout for fleets with manual trucks. |
| L / Z | Restriction: no air brake / no full air brake CMV | A knockout for most Class A freight equipment. |
| O | Restriction: no tractor-trailer CMV | The driver tested on a different combination; confirm what they can drive. |
| K | Restriction: intrastate only | A knockout for any interstate route. |
| V | Restriction: medical variance | Note it and pass it to the carrier's safety team. Do not ask about the medical reason. |
Knockout questions
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| What class is your CDL, which state issued it, and which endorsements are on it? | "Class A from Ohio, with tanker and doubles." Knows it without looking. | Unsure of the endorsements. Says "hazmat" but the TSA check lapsed. |
| Are there any restrictions on your license, like an E or an L? | "No restrictions," or names the code and what it means. | "I don't think so." Ask them to read the back of the license on the call. |
| When does your DOT medical card expire? | A month and year, comfortably after the start date. | Expired or expiring in the first weeks of the job with no exam booked. Do not ask why a card is short-term. |
| Do you have a Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse account set up? | "Yes." They know they will get a consent request from the carrier. | Has never heard of it after years of driving. Not a knockout on its own, but it will delay onboarding. |
| In the last two years, have you tested positive or refused to test on a DOT pre-employment drug or alcohol test for a job you did not go on to get? | A plain no. | Any yes goes straight to the carrier. Under 49 CFR 40.25(j) employers must ask this, and a driver who admits it cannot perform safety-sensitive functions until the return-to-duty process is done. |
| In the last three years, what moving violations or accidents are on your record, preventable or not? | Lists them with dates before you ask twice. "One speeding ticket, 2025, eight over." | "Clean" followed by "well, one thing from last year". Whatever they leave out, the MVR will show. |
| How many months of verifiable Class A experience do you have, and when did you last drive? | A number they can back with employers and dates, and recent driving. | Counts school or training miles, or has not driven in over a year. |
Know the carrier's own minimums before the call. Experience and MVR thresholds are usually set by the carrier and its insurer, not by regulation, and they differ between fleets.
The Clearinghouse, MVR and history the carrier will pull
Your screen is more useful when it matches the records the carrier is about to check. If the driver tells you something different from what the file shows, the placement ends and your credibility with the carrier goes with it.
- Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. Under 49 CFR 382.701 employers run a pre-employment query and query current drivers at least once a year. For a full query, 49 CFR 382.703 says the driver gives consent electronically through the Clearinghouse, which is why drivers need an account. Since November 18, 2024, drivers in prohibited status lose their commercial driving privileges until they complete return-to-duty.
- Motor vehicle records. 49 CFR 391.23 has the carrier request the driving record from every state where the driver held a license in the preceding three years, and investigate their safety performance history with DOT-regulated employers for the same period. Ask: "Which states have you held a license in over the last three years?"
- Employment history. The application under 49 CFR 391.21 lists all employers for the last three years, plus employers where they drove a commercial vehicle for the seven years before that. Gaps and unlisted employers surface here. Ask about both periods on the call.
- PSP report. Many carriers also pull the driver's report from FMCSA's Pre-Employment Screening Program, which shows crash and roadside inspection history and requires the driver's written authorization.
Equipment and experience questions
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| What trailers have you pulled, and for how long each: dry van, reefer, flatbed, tanker, doubles? | Splits their experience by trailer: "Two years dry van, eight months reefer." | "All of them," with no split. Endorsements listed as experience. |
| Flatbed: what loads did you secure, and what did you use? | Names the freight (steel coils, lumber, machinery) and the securement: chains, straps, tarps. | Never tarped, for a flatbed job that tarps daily. |
| Tanker: were the loads baffled or smooth bore, and how did surge change your driving? | Explains surge from their own driving, not a textbook. | Has the N endorsement but has never hauled liquid. |
| Reefer: how did you handle temperature checks and a unit alarm on the road? | Describes pre-cooling, checks and who they called when a unit failed. | Unaware who is responsible for the load temperature. |
| Manual or automatic: which have you driven most recently? | Honest about both, especially if the fleet runs one type. | No E restriction, but years since they last shifted a manual, applying to a manual fleet. |
| Is this experience solo or as part of a team? | Separates solo from team time. | Team miles quietly counted as solo experience. |
| Did you finish CDL school recently? Where did you train? | Names the school. For first-time Class A or B licenses, FMCSA requires entry-level training from a provider on its Training Provider Registry. | Cannot name where they trained. |
Routes, home time and pay
Home time is where driver retention is won or lost, so describe it exactly and make the driver say yes to the actual schedule, not the recruiting ad.
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| This is regional, out Monday and home Friday night, with some Saturday resets. Does that work every week? | A yes or a clear limit: "I need every Sunday home, no exceptions." | Wants local daily home time after agreeing to regional. |
| What kind of routes have you run: over-the-road, regional, dedicated, local? | Knows the difference from experience and which suited them. | Left every OTR job within weeks, applying for OTR again. |
| Is touch freight or unloading a problem? | Clear yes or no. Many drivers will not take touch freight; better to know now. | Agrees, then quits after the first hand unload. |
| The pay is [per mile / hourly / percentage of load] with [detention / stop / layover] pay. What do you need to make weekly? | A weekly number and what they compare it against: miles, hours, home time. | Compares only the headline cents per mile with no sense of miles per week. |
| Why did you leave your last three carriers? | Reasons that fit the story: a lane closed, home time changed, pay dropped. | A pattern of short stays with blame each time, or reasons that change when you ask again. |
Ask what they need to make, not what they made. Pay history questions are restricted in some states; see salary expectation questions.
Hours of service and ELD questions
You are not testing whether the driver can recite Part 395. You are checking that they plan their day around it, because the drivers who do not are the ones with violations. As commonly summarized from 49 CFR 395.3 for property-carrying drivers: up to 11 hours of driving within a 14-hour window after 10 hours off duty, a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, and the 60-hour/7-day or 70-hour/8-day limit, which a 34-hour restart resets. FMCSA keeps a summary of the rules.
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| You get to a shipper and they hold you for four hours. How does that change your day? | Knows the 14-hour window keeps running, and talks about calling dispatch and replanning. | Thinks waiting time does not count. |
| Which ELD systems have you used? | Names the system and describes editing or annotating a log correctly. | Talks about "fixing" logs after the fact. |
| Have you had any hours-of-service violations at a roadside inspection? | An honest answer with what happened. | Denial that the PSP report will contradict. |
| For sleeper jobs: have you used the sleeper berth split? | Explains how they used it on real trips. | A year in a sleeper truck with no idea how the split works. |
How driver experience gets overstated
- School miles as experience. Training and permit time counted toward "one year Class A".
- Endorsement as experience. An H or N endorsement from school, never used on a load.
- Team as solo. A year on a team truck, where the driver was on the wheel half the time.
- "Clean record" with an asterisk. No tickets this year, but an accident two years ago.
- Missing employers. A carrier where they lasted three weeks, left off the application. The safety performance history check usually finds it.
- Lease-purchase history blurred. Time as a lease operator described as company driving, or the reverse. Both are fine; the carrier needs to know which.
Knockout checklist and what not to ask
Before you submit a driver
- CDL class matches the equipment, with the required endorsements.
- No restriction code that rules out the fleet's trucks (E, L, Z, O, K).
- DOT medical card current past the start date.
- Clearinghouse account in place and the driver expects a consent request.
- The 40.25(j) pre-employment test question asked and the answer recorded for the carrier.
- MVR violations and accidents disclosed and within the carrier's standard.
- Verifiable experience meets the carrier's minimum; all employers for the required periods listed.
- Yes to the actual route, home time and freight type.
On lawful wording: do not ask for date of birth, about health conditions, medications or sleep apnea, about family plans, or where the driver is from. The DOT medical exam and the carrier's qualification file handle medical and age eligibility. The EEOC's guidance on pre-employment disability-related questions allows asking whether a candidate can perform the job's functions, for example "The job includes climbing in and out of the cab and securing loads with chains and straps. Can you perform those duties, with or without accommodation?"
Driver screens are phone calls squeezed between other calls, and the details are easy to mix up across ten drivers. Interview Signal captures phone screens through your computer's audio, with no bot involved, so the endorsements, dates and violations each driver lists end up in the notes exactly as they said them.
Questions people ask
Can a driver with an E restriction drive a manual truck?
No. Under the federal restriction codes in 49 CFR 383.153, an E restriction means no manual transmission equipped commercial motor vehicle. If the fleet runs manuals, it is a knockout unless the driver removes the restriction with a new skills test.
What happens to a driver in prohibited status in the Clearinghouse?
Since November 18, 2024, state driver licensing agencies remove commercial driving privileges from drivers in prohibited status, so they do not continue to hold a CDL until they complete the return-to-duty process, per FMCSA.
Does the recruiter run the Clearinghouse query?
The motor carrier that employs the driver is responsible for the pre-employment query. What the recruiter can do on the screen is confirm the driver has a Clearinghouse account and knows they will need to give electronic consent for a full query.
How long is a DOT medical card valid?
Up to 24 months. Under 49 CFR 391.45 some drivers are certified for shorter periods, commonly 12 months. Ask for the expiration date, not the reason for a shorter certificate.
Can I ask a driver how old they are?
Do not ask for age or date of birth on the screen. Interstate CDL drivers must meet a federal minimum age, which is confirmed through the license and the carrier's qualification file, not by a recruiter's question.