Double Nickel has introduced Vera, an artificial intelligence (AI) agent designed to automate employment verification for trucking companies. The solution targets a time-intensive stage of driver recruitment, helping carriers streamline administrative tasks while meeting federal requirements for driver qualification and safety history checks.
The New York-based company announced the launch on Thursday, October 22, following a 30-day beta testing period involving two trucking carriers operating more than 500 trucks combined. During the trial, Vera attempted approximately 250 employment verifications and completed more than 100 independently, representing an autonomous completion rate of 40%, according to Double Nickel.
The company also reported a significant reduction in processing times. Verifications completed by Vera took an average of one day, compared with four days for manual checks conducted through Double Nickel’s applicant tracking system. The service costs $7 for each verified employment experience, with customers charged only when a verification is successfully completed.
Contacting previous employers automatically
Vera is built to work through various stages of the employment verification process. The agent contacts the driver’s past employers to verify information, sending requests and following up by phone and email. It also records and transcribes the calls, and keeps a record of its verification attempts.
Double Nickel says Vera introduces herself as a virtual assistant and tells the people on the call that their conversations are being recorded. The consent is gathered through the company’s applicant tracking system where the agent resides, as part of the application process.
Recruiting and safety teams may have to determine the appropriate person to contact at a past employer, send requests for employment verification and follow up if they take too long to respond. Missing contact details can add to the complications. In such cases, Vera can reach out to the previous employer to get the required information and keep it on record for future verification requests.
But the system is not yet able to act autonomously in all circumstances. A check may be canceled by Vera if a past employer is shutting down, if there is no reply, or if a third-party platform is used which is not supported. Double Nickel is also looking to grow the platforms that the agent will support.
When an automated verification is incomplete, Vera helps carriers document their efforts to get the required information. The carrier may still be required to manually verify or document its good faith efforts to contact the former employer, depending on the circumstances.
The agent is now available for all Double Nickel customers.
“But compliance with federal requirements is still important.
The launch comes as trucking companies continue to navigate federal regulations surrounding the investigation of prospective drivers’ employment and safety records.
49 CFR 391.23 requires motor carriers to check the employment and safety record of drivers previously employed by other employers regulated by the Department of Transportation in the previous three years. The checks include relevant crash records and some drug and alcohol violations.
Carriers generally have 30 days from the driver’s first day of service to obtain the required information or document their good faith efforts to do so. The records resulting from the testing shall be kept in the driver’s qualification file.
The federal Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, which started in January 2020, consolidated the records of drug and alcohol violations for those with commercial driver’s licenses. As of January 2023, employers must check the Clearinghouse as part of pre-employment screening, rather than rely on former employers to provide such records.
The Clearinghouse does not, however, substitute for other employment and safety investigations. Carriers must continue to obtain applicable crash records and other safety performance information as required by Federal regulations.
“Employment verification is always one of the most manual and time consuming parts of hiring drivers for fleets,” said Francisco López Roualdes, CEO and co-founder of Double Nickel.
The motor carrier is responsible for compliance, regardless of whether automated solutions are available. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires carriers to keep a record of their safety performance history for the length of a driver’s employment and for three years after employment ends.
Why Vera might be important for trucking companies
Delays in employment verification can delay recruitment when carriers must wait for previous employers to provide needed records. By automating contact attempts, follow-ups and documentation, Vera could help reduce administrative workloads and reduce the time to move applicants through the hiring process.
But its early results show the limitations of automation. During beta testing, the agent was able to complete 40% of the checks attempted on its own, but there were still many verifications that required additional intervention or documentation.
Trucking companies could benefit by cutting out redundant administrative work, but it doesn’t remove the need for human supervision or compliance with federal rules. Carriers using Vera will still need to ensure that investigations are completed and their records comply with regulatory standards.
