The New Entrant Safety Audit

What the new entrant program is

When you get a USDOT number to run interstate, the FMCSA puts you in its New Entrant Safety Assurance Program (49 CFR Part 385, Subpart D). You're in a monitoring period of 18 months. For carriers hauling property, the regulation says the safety audit happens within the first 12 months of operation. Passenger carriers get theirs sooner. Pass, and after the 18 months you move to regular status. Fail, or ignore it, and your registration can be revoked.

This is a federal program for interstate carriers. Some states run their own reviews of carriers that only operate in-state, so check with your state DOT if you're intrastate only.

How the audit happens

You'll get a notice from FMCSA or your state's enforcement partner. Many audits are now done offsite: you upload or send documents, then go over them with an auditor by phone. Some are still done in person at your place of business. Either way, they're looking at records, not driving skill. If you can produce the right documents on time, you're most of the way there.

Read every letter from FMCSA the day it arrives. Missing the deadline to send records can be treated as refusing the audit, and that alone can cost you your registration.

What they check

The audit covers the basic safety-management records any carrier should already be keeping:

• Driver qualification files: application, motor vehicle record, road test or CDL copy, medical examiner's certificate, and the annual review for each driver.
• Drug and alcohol testing: if anyone drives a vehicle that requires a CDL, you need a testing program, a pre-employment test result, and enrollment in random testing (owner-operators usually do this through a consortium).
• Hours of service: records of duty status (usually ELD data) and supporting documents.
• Vehicle maintenance: inspection, repair and maintenance records for each truck and trailer, plus driver vehicle inspection reports and periodic (annual) inspections.
• Insurance: proof of the required financial responsibility.
• Accident register: a record of any reportable crashes, even if the list is empty.

The automatic-fail items

Most findings just need fixing. But Appendix A to Part 385 lists a short set of violations that fail the audit on their own. Examples include:

• No drug and alcohol testing program when your drivers need CDLs.
• Letting someone drive after a positive test or a refused test.
• Letting a driver operate a CMV without a valid CDL when one is required, or while disqualified.
• Using a driver who isn't medically qualified (no valid medical certificate).
• Operating without the required insurance.
• Putting a truck back on the road after it was placed out of service, before the repairs were made.

The full list is in the regulation, and FMCSA can update it, so read the current version on the FMCSA site rather than relying on any summary, including this one.

If you fail

Failing isn't the end on day one. FMCSA sends a notice, and you get a set window to submit a corrective action plan showing how you fixed the problems. For most property carriers that window is about 45 days, and shorter for passenger and hazmat carriers. Check the exact date in your letter. If the plan isn't submitted or accepted in time, your new entrant registration is revoked and you have to stop interstate operations. Bad roadside inspection results during the monitoring period can also trigger an earlier review.

Where the truck markings fit in

Door markings aren't on the automatic-fail list, but roadside inspectors check them on every stop. Missing or unreadable markings get written up, and every inspection during your first 18 months goes into the record FMCSA looks at. Federal rule 49 CFR 390.21 requires your legal business name (or a registered trade name) and USDOT number on both sides of the power unit. They have to contrast with the paint and be readable from 50 feet in daylight. The common ways to get it wrong are in 5 marking mistakes that fail inspections. Sizing is covered in USDOT number size & display rules.

It's the cheapest item on the list to get right. A USDOT number decal set takes about five minutes to put on and ends the question for the life of the truck.

A prep checklist

1. Make a file for each driver now, not the week of the audit.
2. If you run CDL trucks, join a drug and alcohol consortium and get a negative pre-employment result before anyone drives.
3. Keep your ELD data and the receipts, fuel and toll records that support it.
4. Start a maintenance folder for each unit, with the annual inspection on top.
5. Keep proof of insurance with the records, and make sure the name on the policy matches your USDOT registration.
6. Mark both doors correctly, and check that your legal name matches your SAFER record.

Just got your number? Start with the new authority first-week checklist, then come back to this one.