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PennDOT Uses License Database to Recruit Drivers

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation recently used its commercial driver's license records for the first time to solicit applications for seasonal job vacancies, The Associated Press reported.

A lawmaker wants officials to end the practice, saying it gives the state an unfair recruitment advantage over private employers, AP said.

The department mailed recruitment fliers in July to 100,000 drivers who were randomly selected from a database of more than 421,000 commercial driver's license holders, spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick said last Thursday. The fliers were mailed in five metropolitan regions of the state.

PennDOT is trying to fill roughly 500 openings in the areas where the fliers were mailed - primarily for snowplow operators - and state law allows the government to use information in its driver database, Kirkpatrick said. Although the openings are for part-time and on-call positions, they can lead to permanent jobs, AP said.

"We've just had an ongoing challenge filling these very critical winter service positions," he said. "Our pay scales tend to be below what private industry can pay."

Kirkpatrick did not know how many people applied or were hired, but said the department was pleased with the response rate.