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General Information

Background

The Employer Pull Notice (EPN) Program was established to provide employers and regulatory agencies with a means of promoting driver safety through the ongoing review of driver records. The following is a brief history of the EPN program and when legislation was enacted:

  • 1982 - law enforcement and government employers began to enroll their drivers into the program voluntarily.
  • 1989 - all Class A (formerly known as Class 1), Class B (formerly known as Class 2), transit authority, certified, and Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regulated drivers (limousine drivers, charter party carriers, etc.) were enrolled pursuant to California Vehicle Code (CVC) Section 1808.1.
  • 1990 - PUC began enrolling owner operators.
  • 1998 - DMV, Motor Carrier Branch, began enrolling owner operators who transport property. PUC continued to regulate owner operators who transport passengers and household goods.

For additional information, click on the links in the column on the right to move to that page.

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The EPN Program (CVC 1808.1)

An employer enrolled in the EPN program is assigned a requester code. The requester code is added to an employee's driver license (DL) record. When an employee's DL is updated to record an action/activity, a check is made electronically to determine if a pull notice is on file. If the action/activity is one that is specified to be reported under the EPN program, a driver record is generated and mailed to that employer.

The EPN program allows your organization to monitor DL records of employees who drive on your organization's behalf. This monitoring accomplishes the following:

  • Improves public safety.
  • Determines if each driver has a valid DL.
  • Reveals problem drivers or driving behavior.
  • Helps to minimize your liability.
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EPN Action/Activities Reports

The EPN program automatically generates a driver record when any of the following actions/activities occurs:

  1. Upon enrollment of driver in the EPN program.
  2. Annually from the date of enrollment or 12 months from the last action/activity printout.
  3. When a driver has any of the following actions/activities added to his/her driver record:
  • Convictions
  • Failures to Appear
  • Accidents
  • Driver License Suspensions or Revocations
  • Any other actions taken against the driving privilege
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Out-of-State Drivers

A driver licensed in another state will be assigned an "X" number for tracking purposes. Citations issued in California will be added to the "X" record and monitored. If another state reports an action/activity to California on out-of-state licensed drivers or California licensed drivers, it will be stored on the driver record and reported to employers.

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EPN Regulatory Responsibilities

Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)

Employer Pull Notice (EPN) Program -
MS H265
P.O. Box 944231
Sacramento, CA 94244-3210
(916) 657-6346

  • Administer the EPN program.
  • Provide employers and regulatory agencies with a means for promoting driver safety through the ongoing review of driver records.

Motor Carrier Services Branch
PO Box 932370 MS G875
Sacramento, CA 94232-370
(916) 657-8153

  • Administer the Motor Carriers of Property Permit Act
  • Issue Motor Carrier Permits (MCP)

California Highway Patrol (CHP)

Commercial Vehicle Section (CVS)
P.O. Box 94289
Sacramento, CA 94289-0001
(916) 843-3400

Enforcement of:
  • EPN program
  • MCP Permit Act
  • Household Goods Carrier Act

Public Utilities Commission (PUC)

Rail Safety and Carriers Division, License Section
505 Van Ness Avenue, 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
1- (800) 877-8867

Passenger Transportation, Passenger Stage, Charter-Party Carrier
Passenger Carrier Complaint # - 1 (800) 894-9444
Administer the licensing & enforcement of passenger carriers.
Household Goods Carriers
Household Goods Carrier Complaint # - 1 (800) 366-4782
Administer the licensing & enforcement of Household Goods Carriers.

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Required to Enroll

Employers must enroll any driver employed for the operation of any vehicle, if the driver is required to have any of the following:

  • Class A (formerly known as Class 1) or
  • Class B (formerly known as Class 2) license.
  • Class C (formerly known as Class 3) with Hazardous Materials Endorsement.
  • Class C (formerly known as Class 3) with Special Certificates, issued pursuant to CVC Section 2512, 12517, 12519, 12520, or 12523.5
  • Any driver of a passenger vehicle having a seating capacity of not more than 10 persons, including the driver, operated for compensation by a charter-party carrier of passengers.
  • Passenger stage corporation with a certificate of public convenience and necessity or permit issued by PUC.

Starting January 31, 2005, new federal regulations require a person who is applying for a California commercial driver license with an original Hazardous Materials (HazMat) endorsement to undergo a security threat assessment. The USA Patriot Act requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to complete a security threat assessment (background records check) before the Department of Motor Vehicles issues a HazMat endorsement.

Related Links

Federal Hazardous Materials Requirements

Transportation Security Administration

Transportation Security Administration - Agent Information

In addition, if any of the following individuals drive any vehicle requiring a license or certificate described above, they must be enrolled in the EPN Program as a driver:

  • Owners who own, lease or otherwise operate more than one motor unit or more than three towed vehicles
  • Owner/operators who have partners
  • Family members and volunteer drivers
  • Individuals employed for more than 30 work days in the preceding six (6) months
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Prospective Hires

The employer of a prospective driver is required to obtain a copy of the driver record showing the driver's current public record. If hired, the driver record is to be reviewed, signed, and dated by the employer and maintained at the employer's place of business until the employer enrolls the driver in the EPN program.

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Casual Drivers

A "Casual Driver" is employed less than 30 days in the preceding six months. Employers are not required to enroll a "Casual Driver," however, they must obtain a copy of the driver record showing the driver's current public record, sign the record, date it and maintain the record on file at the employer's place of business for a period of six months.

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Enrollment of Non-Mandated Drivers

There is no provision contained in CVC 1808.1 that permits the enrollment of drivers not specified in CVC 1808.1 (k), however, in the interest of public safety, the DMV will allow an employer to enroll non-mandated drivers in the EPN Program when all of the following conditions have been met:

  • Must be an employer/employee relationship.
  • Employee must drive frequently during course of employment.
  • Employer must have employee sign a waiver (form INF 1101 or internal document with similar language) which must be maintained at the employees worksite.
  • Information received by the employer shall be for the business use of the employer and shall not be passed or shared with any third party.
  • Upon termination of employment, employer must remove employee from EPN program immediately.
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Employer Responsibility

In order for the EPN program to maintain accurate record information, it is imperative that the employer notify the department in a timely manner whenever changes occur to their EPN account. Such changes include:

  • Termination of enrolled drivers pursuant to CVC 1808.1(d)
  • Address Changes (mailing & physical)
  • Change of Ownership (corporate officers, partners)
  • Employment Changes (new driver, termination of drivers)
  • Change of Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)
  • Change of Telephone Number
  • Close of Business
  • Mergers
  • Sale of Business
  • Company Name Change
  • Account Contact Person Change
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Generated Record

A driver record is generated as the result of an action/activity and may contain future actions that will not show on any other driver record obtained from any other source (i.e., DMV field office or Vendor).

Generated records will be provided in hardcopy, paper format unless special arrangements have been made for electronic response methods.

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Driver Record

A driver record, also referred to as DL printout, MVR, or ISD 414R, contains information obtained from an individual's driver license application, abstracts of convictions and accidents. (CVC) Section 1808 describes this information as open to public inspection.

A driver record will be generated and mailed automatically to the employer for newly enrolled drivers, upon action/activity or Annually for currently enrolled drivers. An employer may also request a copy of a driver record for a prospective hire or casual driver. (See "Requesting Records" - Government / Commercial).

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Requester Codes

Requester codes assigned to an employer will be shown on the duplicate copy of the Pull Notice Contract (INF 1105), which will be given to the employer once the contract is approved. This number must be shown on all future enrollment or deletion requests and correspondence submitted to the department to avoid processing delays. This requester code is a confidential number and will not be faxed or released over the telephone and must not be provided or disclosed to unauthorized persons.

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Security Requirements

The following guidelines will assist EPN account holders in complying with security requirements for the department's record information:

  1. DMV information may only be used for the purpose for which it was approved by the department. It may not be combined with any other information.
  2. DMV information must be destroyed when it is no longer needed for the reason for which it was originally requested. The method of destruction must be in a manner that it cannot be reproduced or identified in any physical or electronic form.
  3. Security measures must be in place to prevent unauthorized access to any DMV data.
  4. Requester codes are confidential and must be protected from unauthorized use or disclosure.
  5. An EPN contact person should be appointed and placed in charge of maintaining the security of department record information.
  6. Any changes in information contained in your application/contract (INF 1105) must be made to the department within 10 days of the occurrence.
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Electronic Methods

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Requesting Forms

Many EPN forms mentioned on this web site are currently available electronically and may be accessed by clicking on the highlighted form number. Other forms are not available electronically and must be obtained by:

  • Contacting the EPN Unit for small quantities (25 or less).
  • Faxing your request on your company letterhead to the Forms and Accountable Items at (916) 657-7243 for large quantities (more than 25).

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EPN Agent

An Employer Pull Notice (EPN) Agent is defined as a person or business entity that has been authorized by the California Department of Motor Vehicles to act on the behalf of an EPN account holder.  All EPN Agents utilize the departments Virtual Private Network for submitting and receiving driver records.  By utilizing the Virtual Private Network, EPN Agents electronically receive driving records and can electronically add and electronically delete drivers from the account holders file

EPN Agents receive record information directly from the department to perform a specific business function as defined in California Vehicle Code (CVC) 1808.1 and is approved by the department, on behalf of the requester.  Use of an EPN Agent does not absolve the employer of responsibility for compliance with the requirements of Section CVC 1808.1

Permitting employers to utilize agents should not affect the current procedures for processing EPN requests (i.e., adds, deletes, or one time only printout requests (for prospective hires) (INF 1119 form (driver information request)), etc).  It is important that all parties involved understand the general EPN program requirements and have a relatively high level of understanding of technology to ensure that specified security requirements are met.

To utilize the service of an approved EPN Agent, the EPN account holder must complete and sign the EPN Agent Authorization form INF 2110.  Please contact the following if you need assistance:

VPN Process Requirements -- Automation Development Unit 916-657-5582

If you wish to utilize the services of an EPN Agent, the following agents are approved by the department to provide this service: