How does a consumer report affect the hiring status of a candidate for employment?

My company has a candidate sign a "permission to check credit history" form, but it is not used unless the person is being investigated "later" if there is a loss prevention issue during employment. Generally, as this form is handed out with the job application, people in a horrible financial state with a bad bad history will just not come back. I know of companies that DO perform credit checks, and a decision on employment is determined by either a criteria (score) established by the individual company, or by a human being actually reading it to see if the person is hirable based on general requirements. Companies are however doing background screenings for criminal history, which I believe might include the person's driving record.