An employer can typically check somewhere between three and ten years of your driving record, and the exact reach depends on two things working together: how long your state’s DMV keeps a given violation on file, and how many years of history the employer’s screening company actually orders. Minor infractions like routine speeding tickets tend to age off faster; serious offenses like DUI convictions can remain visible for a decade or longer. A separate federal ceiling applies when a third-party screening company is involved, and commercial driver’s license holders face a wider window than everyone else.
What Your State DMV Keeps on File
There is no national standard for how long a violation stays on your driving record. Each state’s DMV sets its own retention rules, and those rules vary widely by offense. Some states hold minor moving violations for three years while keeping serious convictions visible for seven to ten. A handful of states sell tiered record products so employers can pick the depth of the search. Florida, for example, offers three-year, seven-year, and complete driving records through its DMV portal.1Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Questions About Driving Records
What actually appears on the report an employer sees depends on which product the employer buys. A state might keep a reckless driving conviction on file for ten years, but if the employer orders a three-year motor vehicle record, that older conviction won’t appear. Some employers request the deepest available search, especially for positions that involve regular driving. Others pay for the cheapest option and see only recent history.
The Federal Seven-Year Cap and Its DUI Exception
When an employer uses a third-party screening company to pull your driving record, that report becomes a “consumer report” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FCRA generally bars consumer reporting agencies from including adverse information more than seven years old. Criminal convictions are the major exception: they carry no federal time limit.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
That distinction reshapes what an employer sees on a driving record. A DUI is a criminal conviction in every state, so it can appear on a consumer report at any age, as long as the state DMV still has it. A non-criminal traffic infraction like a speeding ticket falls under the seven-year cap. In practice, the shorter of the two limits wins. If your state purges a speeding ticket after three years, the federal seven-year window is beside the point because the underlying record no longer exists. But if your state keeps DUI convictions for ten years, the FCRA won’t block reporting because convictions are exempt.
Some states impose consumer-report restrictions that are tighter than the federal seven-year rule. When state and federal limits conflict, the stricter law controls.
Before an employer can pull your record through a screening company, the FCRA requires a standalone written disclosure and your written consent.3Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know If something on the report might cost you the job, the employer must first send you a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the record and a summary of your FCRA rights, giving you time to challenge anything inaccurate before the final decision.
Commercial Drivers Face a Longer Window
Holding or applying for a commercial driver’s license changes the calculus. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations require every motor carrier to pull each driver’s MVR at least once every twelve months and review it for disqualifying violations like speeding, reckless driving, or operating under the influence.4eCFR. 49 CFR 391.25 – Annual Inquiry and Review of Driving Record
Beyond the annual MVR, employers hiring CDL drivers can access the FMCSA’s Pre-Employment Screening Program, which contains the most recent five years of crash data and three years of roadside inspection data.5U.S. Department of Transportation – FMCSA. Frequently Asked Questions – Pre-Employment Screening Program Motor carriers must also keep each driver’s qualification file for the entire period of employment plus three years after the driver leaves, with individual annual MVR snapshots inside that file removable three years after they were obtained.6eCFR. 49 CFR 391.51 – General Requirements for Qualification Files A commercial employer therefore accumulates layered snapshots over years, painting a longer history than any single MVR shows.
The other big difference: CDL holders cannot mask violations. Federal regulations prohibit states from masking, deferring judgment, or allowing diversion programs that would keep a CDL holder’s traffic conviction off the national CDL information system.7eCFR. 49 CFR 384.226 – Prohibition on Masking Convictions If you hold a CDL and receive a traffic conviction in any type of vehicle, that conviction has to appear on your CDL record regardless of any plea deal, deferred adjudication, or expungement a court might grant. The only exceptions are parking, vehicle weight, and vehicle defect violations.
Out-of-State Violations Come Home
A ticket in another state doesn’t stay there. The Driver License Compact is an agreement among 45 states and the District of Columbia to share information about traffic violations. When you’re convicted in a member state, that state reports the offense to your home state, which then treats it as if it happened locally. The compact originally covered only serious offenses like DUI, but it now extends to most moving violations, including speeding.
Five states currently do not participate: Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. A violation from a non-compact state may still reach your home state through other data-sharing channels, but the reporting is less automatic. Don’t assume a ticket from one of those states is invisible.
What Expungement, Sealing, and Clean Slate Laws Actually Remove
Expungement or sealing can pull certain offenses off the version of your driving record that employers see. Eligibility rules vary significantly by state, but the general pattern holds: minor infractions are easier to clear than serious convictions. A first-time minor traffic offense is more likely to qualify than a DUI, which most states resist expunging.
Getting a record sealed typically requires filing a petition, meeting a waiting period, and showing you’ve satisfied all conditions of the original sentence. Once granted, the offense should not appear in a standard background check or employer-requested MVR. Sealed does not always mean gone, though. Law enforcement and certain regulatory bodies can still see sealed records, and private databases sometimes retain the data even after the court order takes effect.
A growing number of states have Clean Slate laws that automatically seal eligible records once a person meets certain conditions, with no petition required. As of 2026, thirteen states and Washington, D.C. have enacted Clean Slate legislation, with Illinois the most recent in early 2025. These laws don’t delete records; they restrict public access so that standard employment background checks return nothing for sealed offenses. Most Clean Slate laws carve out serious offenses like violent felonies and sex crimes from automatic sealing, and treatment of DUI convictions varies by state.
One important limit: CDL holders are largely unaffected by Clean Slate laws for driving-related convictions. The federal anti-masking rule overrides state sealing for any traffic conviction that must appear on the national CDL information system.
Check Your Own Record First
You can request your own driving record from your state’s DMV, and doing so before you start applying is worth the small fee. Most states offer online access through their DMV portal. Some allow in-person or mail requests, though mailed requests can take weeks.
Reviewing your record in advance lets you catch errors before they cost you an offer. Mistakes happen: a violation attributed to the wrong person, a dismissed ticket still showing as active, a conviction that should have aged off but didn’t. Disputes go through your state DMV. CDL holders can review their own crash and inspection history through the FMCSA’s Pre-Employment Screening Program at any time.8U.S. Department of Transportation – FMCSA. Are You a Driver? – Pre-Employment Screening Program
If an employer does pull your record and you believe something on it is wrong, the FCRA requires them to give you a copy before making a final decision. Use that window. Dispute the error with both the screening company and your state DMV, and document everything. A corrected record won’t help if it arrives after the employer has moved on.