So you’ve just been through a DOT Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) investigation. Don’t panic. Investigations shouldn’t be feared if you prepare ahead of time. Now that the investigation is completed, what happens next?

First, let’s discuss the types of investigations.

• New Entrant Audit: Comprises around 78% of all audits. These are conducted within the first 18 months of registering your DOT number and include an educational component. Grading for a new entrant audit is pass/fail. A failed new entrant audit is comparable to an unsatisfactory, but you will be given an opportunity to correct deficiencies.
• Compliance Review: This is what most people call an audit, but they only comprise about 4% of all audits done by DOT. A compliance review is broad in scope, covering:
  • Factor 1: General: Part 387 and Part 390
  • Factor 2: Driver: Part 382, Part 383, and Part 391
  • Factor 3: Operational: Part 392 and Part 395
  • Factor 4: Vehicle: Part 393 and Part 396
  • Factor 5: Hazardous Materials: Parts 171, 172, 177, 180, and 397
  • Factor 6: Recordable Accident Rate
• Focused Audit: These are narrow in scope and focus on problem areas identified from roadside inspections. Focused audits account for about 18% of all investigations.

Any investigation can be conducted on-site at your offices or off-site. You upload the requested documents to FMCSA for review in an off-site audit. Off-site audits have grown in the last few years to comprise nearly 50% of all audits conducted.

Organizations routinely develop corrective action plans (CAPs) for any number of reasons, including discovery of inadequate or outdated processes, incomplete or partial policies and procedures, or gaps related to employee safety and security. 

Organizations with regulated transportation operations may find themselves in the position of having to develop CAPs reactively rather than proactively, however, due to a failed New Entrant Safety Audit or a Compliance Review or Focused Review that resulted in a rating of less than Satisfactory.

When this occurs, the first question to ask is, “Why did the violation occur?” Was there a lack of training? A lack of knowledge about the regulatory requirements?  Unclear roles and responsibilities with the company?  Thoroughly understand the gap that led to your organization’s area of non-compliance.

Another area to look at is whether a lack of management controls resulted in the incident. Are there insufficient resources allocated for oversight of FMCSR compliance and CMV safety? Are the processes to qualify drivers gapped or lacking timeliness? Strategically outline which safety management processes within the safety management cycle are best suited to address identified non-compliance.

In today’s landscape of interstate commerce, you would be hard-pressed to find a city that does not have several law firms dedicated to placing accident blame and liability on trucking companies. Factor this with an overarching amount of widespread nuclear verdicts caused by reptile theories and lack of tort reform, and the stage is set for a disastrous outcome. Essentially, most all motor carriers on the road today are one catastrophic event away from going out of business.

Insurance coverage is an absolute must, but it only goes so far. Recently, a jury handed down a willful neglect verdict on a carrier to the tune of one billion dollars. Think about that for a moment. If a carrier is insured for 5 million dollars, guess where anything reaching above that comes from? That’s right, the company! And if their pocket is not deep enough to cover the overage, they are simply forced out of business. Keep in mind that it is not only the compensatory damages at stake, but punitive and exemplary damages as well. Drivers are not off limits and can be sued for negligence along with the company for the same accident. The bottom line is this; everyone has skin in the game, and no one is safe when it comes to repercussions from monetary dispositions related to tragic incidents.

As for the reptile theory strategy, a plaintiff attorney will try to impress on jurors that a company is overall neglectful based on several items collected during an investigation. If successful in painting a company with such a broad brushstroke, a guilty verdict can be handed down, even when the company has been determined to not be at fault! There’s nothing more unnerving as a safety professional than to receive a message telling you “Do not delete, shred, erase, redact, or alter anything related to this accident. And furthermore, surrender all notes, email, policies, logs, records, associated with said driver.”  Of course, you never want to be in that position, but you still need to plan ahead for it. Always remember, unlike an audit, everything is discoverable when it comes to lawsuit investigations! 

Anyone that operates any type of vehicle is feeling the “pain at the pump” due to rising fuel costs. While the increase is having an impact on household budgets, those that operate vehicles for a living, such as commercial motor vehicle carriers, are being hit the hardest.

The domino effect is that those higher fuel costs are being passed down to the consumer. While in recent days there has been some minimal relief, economists are predicting the elevated price of fuel to remain for weeks or even months to come.

As you travel through our nation’s roadways, I’m sure you have witnessed an increase in instances of aggressive and risky driving. One can only assume that some drivers have chosen to take out their economic frustrations from behind the wheel of a vehicle. I personally have also experienced an increase in the number of courteous drivers, which reassures me that aggressive drivers are still the exception rather than the rule. But it also makes me ask the question…is there a correlation between higher fuel prices and safer roads? There is. And the connections might surprise you.

Drivers have always been highly sought after, and the supply struggles to meet the demand. In the last couple of years, this concern has only increased.

Companies are currently seeing a high rate of employee turnover, which unfortunately includes drivers (over 51% driver turnover rate according to a study done by Fleet News Daily). Even though this trend is better than in previous years, it’s still a concern when you consider that one out of every two drivers will leave.

Why should this matter to your company? Greater turnover means less retained knowledge of seasoned drivers, more cost to recruit and refill positions, difficulty fulfilling logistics services for existing and new customers and lowering morale and confidence as a whole. This can also create suspicion before the driver ever begins the first day or even considers your company as an option. Drivers will talk — good, bad or ugly!

While everyone is aware of this issue, how do you make practical, proactive efforts to get and keep the good ones?

From my experience, a great first impression is the start of a beautiful relationship. This begins with “rolling out the red carpet” from the beginning of the hiring process. Meet the driver where they are. Communication should be frequent, clear and in a platform that works for the driver (that might mean a phone call instead of using email).

Two of the biggest mistakes a company can make is hiring a driver that is inexperienced and not giving them the tools they need to be successful on the road, or hiring an experienced driver and assuming they have all the knowledge they need to perform well. If they’re changing companies, there must be a reason they left the previous one.

Once you’ve decided on a new hire, make them feel like they are a valued part of your team. A welcome note in the mail with a small gift (a new company shirt, travel coffee mug, snacks for the road, etc.) can go a long way and confirms to them that they made the right choice.

Along the same lines, having company issued supplies, such as logoed shirts, correct PPE, supplies they may need on the road like pens, notepads, working electronic logging devices, plus proper training materials and the correct internal contacts at training continues this confidence. These items also market your company to other drivers and shows customers that you value your drivers.

Think outside the proverbial new hire box as well. I have seen companies send new drivers for training that didn’t have $5.00 in their pocket. One simple fix is to make sure these new hires have their basic needs met, such as meals during training. A hungry driver is not a good student.

Even though financial compensation is an easy way to motivate some people, rewarding them by completing training for company gear could be just as motivational. Consider credits for completing milestones-training (e.g., first seven days, first 30, 60, 90 days, etc.) This will reassure their choice and set them on a course of loyalty to their company.

It’s that time of year again. Performance reviews, goal and objective setting, implementing annual budgets, and yearly teammate kickoff meetings. But there is one, often overlooked, integral piece of the puzzle that is vital to a company’s success: policy reviews.

Merriam-Webster defines a policy as “a set of guidelines or rules that determine a course of action.” Sounds important, and it is. Without policies, there can be no structure. Without structure, no accountability. And with no accountability, no profitability. Let’s face it, profitability is the main objective in business. Everything works hand in hand to ensure the profitability of a company. This includes policies, because they help set the standard of the company.

You may ask yourself why reviewing your company’s policy each year is so important? Glad you asked! Below are the top 3 reasons.

1. First, it ensures that you’re keeping current with required regulation changes. This may include the addition of a new regulation or the change of an existing one. If our policies do not follow the required regulations, it’s impossible to have the proper/correct standards in place. These standards are vital to achieving compliance because they make sure you’re consistent with the requirements.

In news reports it was recently stated that 2021 closed with a record-high driver shortage of 80,000. And with the average age of current CDL drivers approaching 50, the trucking industry will need more than 1.1 million new drivers in the next 10 years.

What’s more, the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruptive impact on the labor market has led truck drivers to think about just how much they should be paid and how well they should be treated to stay in trucking.

Technologies may be developed to have self-driving trucks, but as of right now, drivers move the trailers. Meaning the carriers who can retain their drivers are ahead.

Think of the time it takes to recruit a driver, evaluate their risk, train and orientate them, especially if your trucking job requires other skills, such as delivering, unloading and setting up your products. And then there is presenting the driver with the expectations and the culture of your company and proving through your operations that you walk the talk.

There’s no one way to improve driver retention. It can require a combination of competitive home time and pay, safety and company culture, and team building with individual and shared company goals and rewards.

As of February 7, 2022, compliance with all aspects of the entry-level driver training (ELDT) rule is required. The entry-level driver training rule establishes minimum training standards for drivers, and it also sets new standards for training providers.

Enforcement of the 2022 Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) program begins January 1, 2022. Carriers subject to UCR should complete registration by December 31, 2021. 

The UCR filing requirement applies to for-hire passenger, property, and exempt commodity carriers; private property carriers; freight forwarders; leasing companies; and brokers engaged in interstate commerce. If you’re an entity based in and/or operating in non-participating states, you are still required to register with UCR; the UCR application form provides guidelines for selecting a base state.

If you are an entity domiciled in Canada or Mexico operating in the United States, you are also subject to UCR registration. The following two types of entities are not subject to UCR fees:

• Purely intrastate carriers, that is, those that do not handle interstate freight or make interstate movements (unless the state has elected to apply the provisions of the UCR Agreement to such intrastate carriers); and
• Private motor carriers transporting passengers in interstate commerce, e.g., church buses, are not required to register under UCR.

As a motor carrier, your UCR fees are based on the number of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) that you operate interstate. The number of CMVs operated is:

• The number of commercial motor vehicles reported on your last MCS-150/MCSA-1 form filed with the FMCSA, or
• The total number of vehicles owned and operated for the 12-month period ending June 30 of the year immediately prior to the year for which the UCR registration is made. This includes all

Operating an 18-wheeler or any other type of CMV is stressful enough, but when accidents happen, it can be devasting for the parties involved. Whether you are the commercial driver or an owner of a trucking company that transports large amounts of goods, you must familiarize yourself with the post-accident procedures that can significantly help to minimize the long-term consequences.

To start, all transportation companies must follow the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations that govern accidents. Here is what constitutes a DOT reportable accident and the post-accident testing requirements.

Drivers should understand what steps are required to be taken immediately after an accident, including what types of information should be gathered at the accident scene and how to efficiently record this information.

With the new entry-level driver training (ELDT) requirements going into effect on February 7, 2022, many motor carriers are working on a game plan to be able to provide instruction to their employees.

Gone are the days of a driver-trainee obtaining a learner’s permit, driving with a CDL holder for as little as a few hours, and then taking the CDL skills test. Under the new ELDT requirements, driver-trainees will be subject to a specific curriculum presented by an entity listed on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Training Provider Registry (TPR).

Theory Curriculum: Class A and Class B

The rule prescribes 30 specific theory topics in five areas of instruction, including:

1. Basic operation (vehicle inspections, basic control, backing/docking);
2. Safe operating practices (speed and space management, night driving, extreme driving conditions);
3. Advanced operating practices (hazard perception, skid control and recovery);
4. Vehicle systems (roadside inspections, identification and diagnosis of malfunctions); and
5. Non-driving activities (hours of service, trip planning, medical requirements).

The rule does not include a minimum number of hours that driver-trainees must spend on theory instruction. An assessment must be used to determine the driver-trainee’s proficiency for each unit of instruction. Driver trainees must demonstrate their understanding of the material by achieving an overall minimum score of 80 percent on the theory assessment.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA’s) Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) crash statistics, there were over 12,000 crashes in 2020 that involved large trucks and busses. The year 2021 is on pace to eclipse that total with 5,947 crashes reported through May 31, 2021.

One of the most important components to any successful motor carrier operation is having a good accident prevention program. Equally as important is to have a good post-accident management program. As a safety professional or a driver, it’s important to know the proper steps to take in the event you or one of your company-owned vehicles is involved in an accident. If the vehicle involved is a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), the regulatory requirements can be tricky to navigate.

Knowing what actions to take immediately following a vehicle accident is one of the keys to minimizing your risk exposure and staying in compliance with the FMCSRs.

Stop at the Scene and Report the Crash

When you are involved in a vehicle accident, you must remain at the scene of the crash and report the accident. If you are injured or if there are injuries to other parties involved, call 911 immediately. Once you’re safe, and if possible, remove your vehicle from the roadway onto the shoulder of the road to get it out of the travel lanes. Then turn on your hazard flashers, put out reflective triangles or cones. This will give better visibility to other drivers that may be approaching the crash scene.

Once a law enforcement officer arrives, it’s important that you remain calm and follow their instructions. As the investigation continues, a well-equipped accident kit can help guide you through the process. A good accident kit will contain, at a minimum, step-by-step instructions to guide you through the reporting process, a camera, driver’s accident report, pen, witness statement forms and a post-accident drug and alcohol testing decision tree.

Exchange Information with Other Parties Involved

Document all identifying features of the other vehicle(s) involved. This documentation should include make, model, license plate, model year and color of the other vehicles as well as any other distinguishing features. If the crash involves other CMVs, it’s important to document any identifying markings on that CMV. These identifying markings could include:

• Company name
• Company logo
• DOT number
• Any other identifying markings

If the crash involves a tractor-trailer, it’s important to document identifying markings on both the tractor and the trailer. It is extremely important that you exchange proper information with the other party prior to leaving the scene of the crash. Once all parties have left the scene, it can be difficult to track them down if additional information is needed. Information exchanged with the other parties should include:

• Name, address, email address and phone number of other drivers involved
• Insurance company and policy number of other drivers involved
• Driver’s license number of other drivers involved
• Company name and contact information (if another CMV is involved)
• Name, address, email address and phone number of any witnesses

If any of the parties involved refuse to exchange information, do not become confrontational. Wait for a law enforcement officer to assist with the exchange of information.

Document the Crash

Scene Using a camera from your accident kit or your phone, document the crash scene with photos and/or video. Make sure you take photos of the entire scene from multiple angles. If possible, place an object in each photo to give a sense of scale to the photo. When taking photos of vehicles involved, be sure to get distant photos and closeup photos of damage. Take photos of all four sides of each vehicle involved, whether there was damage to that side or not. Take photos of damage to a vehicle’s interior to include shattered glass and any airbags that were deployed. Take photos of any property damage that occurred because of the crash. This could be damaged fences, buildings, power poles, traffic control devices or landscaping. Look for things that could have been a contributing factor to the crash, including damaged roadways, road construction, inoperative traffic control devices or debris in the roadway.

The qualifications for drivers are outlined in 49 CFR Part 391, including physical qualifications (also known as the medical certification or medical examiners certification, aka, the MEC), along with mandates that carriers must follow when hiring commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

Also outlined are the requirements for what must be included on a CMV driver’s application, the different types of background requests that are required, and ongoing requirements for carriers and drivers in the way of expiring documents that must be updated. For example, the MEC must be updated with a new physical exam on or before the expiration date of the current one (carriers are also required to run a state driving record. i.e. MVR within 15 days of receiving a new/updated MEC). Annual updates include the state driving record, the driver’s annual certification of violations, the annual review of the driving record by the company, and annual queries to the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. Retention periods for the different documents are also covered in this part.

As a best practice, carriers should periodically audit their own records (annually at a minimum) to ensure that all required documents are being updated in a timely manner. It’s recommended carriers audit at least 25% of their fleet annually for errors, expired documents and/or omissions. For larger sized fleets (over 500 trucks), it may be wise to hire an outside auditor to come to their place of business and conduct the audit if staffing is an issue.

Any time you discover a DQ deficiency, it’s imperative you correct the issue immediately. If the issue involves an expiring document(s), correct it as soon as you find the error and place a note in the file to explain the oversight and what you are doing going forward to ensure the same type of mistake doesn’t recur, or at the very least is kept to a minimum.

After several years of being pushed out due to technological challenges, the Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) rule compliance date of February 7, 2022, is fast approaching.

The rule establishes minimum training requirements for any driver trainee applying for a Class B or Class A CDL, any driver trainee upgrading from a Class B to a Class A CDL, and any driver trainee seeking a School Bus, Passenger, or Hazardous Materials endorsement for the first time.

A trainee must obtain a certificate of completion, and they can only obtain it from a training provider that is registered on the FMCSA's Training Provider Registry (TPR). Examples of training providers are schools, motor carriers, and other entities that provide CDL instruction. The training provider must also maintain information in the TPR, including the upload of training certificates to the TPR once a trainee has completed their training. This information is electronically transmitted from the TPR to the state driver’s license agency and the certificate must be in their system in order for the trainee to obtain their license.

As of the compliance date of February 7, 2022, all training providers must…

• Register and be listed on the FMCSA's TPR
• Have an ELDT compliant training curriculum in accordance with 49 CFR Part 380 Appendices A through E
• Have instructors that meet the qualifications under §380.713
• Have facilities compliant with §380.709
• Have vehicles compliant with §§380.711, 392, 393, and 396 and applicable to the proper class license or endorsement that the driver trainee is undergoing training for
• Assess driver trainees in accordance with §380.725
• Produce and upload a Driver Training Certification into the TPR when a trainee completes their training program
• Retain required documents and records under §380.725 for at least 3 years

The enormity of the change to the trucking industry under the ELDT rule cannot be understated. The rule sets requirements where none existed before, and the required curriculum is robust. The curriculum is split into two primary elements, theory and behind the wheel.

Imagine this … you have recently been hired as the new Safety Director for a mid-sized motor carrier. Since you have taken the position, you have worked hard to implement practices and policies to improve your company’s DOT compliance program. Over the last several months, there has been an improvement in driver morale, profits are up, and roadside violations, although historically high and with only one CSA BASIC in alert status, have decreased slowly but steadily over the last two months. As you settle in for another day’s work you check your email and much to your surprise there is a message from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) with the subject line: “XYZ Transport has been selected for an FMCSA investigation.” After further reading you determine that this is not an ordinary investigation, this is an Off-Site Audit! Immediately, you ask yourself a million questions: “What is an off-site audit?” “Why were we selected?” “What is this going to do to our safety rating?” “Are we going to be penalized?”

Why the Need for the Off-Site Audit?

The FMCSA uses the Compliance Safety and Accountability (CSA) data to determine which motor carriers are targeted for compliance investigations and audits. Historically, poorly performing motor carriers, generally those that have BASICs in alert status or a high number of crashes, received notification from the FMCSA that an agent or representative of the agency would go to the principle place of business to conduct the investigation. This practice created a huge strain on the FMCSA due to limited resources, which limited the number of motor carriers the FMCSA could audit. Therefore, the agency decided to develop other methodologies and tools to capture more of the 560,000 motor carriers that operate under FMCSA jurisdictions. As a result, the Off-Site Audit was implemented and has resulted in a 305 percent rise in investigations between 2018 and 2019, before the pandemic started, and eighteen times higher than the number of audits completed in 2017. This audit format allows the FMCSA to conduct more investigations in a shorter amount of time and is used for motor carriers that have operated for a long time, as well as those subject to the “new-entrant” process.

What Happens During the Off-Site Audit?

The Off-Site Audit is conducted in much the same way an on-site investigation is done, except that the field agent is conducting the audit from a remote location and all documents must be sent to the field office for review. When a motor carrier is selected for an audit due to high CSA scores, they’re a “new-entrant,” or a complaint has been filed against them, the field investigator will begin pre-audit reviews to understand more about the motor carrier’s operations. These include: • Where the company is located and contact information • What the company does • Previous audit results (if applicable) • Safety performance • Vehicle licensing • Insurance • Registration data • Information resulting from roadside inspections and crash data. Essentially, the field agent is building a case prior to notifying the motor carrier that an audit is to take place. The next step includes notifying the motor carrier that an investigation will occur and begin with a document request. The number and types of documents requested will depend on what triggered the audit in the first place (e.g. new-entrant, CSA related, etc.). Document requests must be fulfilled within the time frame requested or the motor carrier risks having their DOT number revoked. Therefore, it is important to meet all required timelines.

FMCSA audits, sometimes called “DOT audits” or “investigations,” come in three main varieties:

• Offsite focused investigations target a specific area of compliance, such as hours of service. The motor carrier sends its compliance records to the FMCSA regional office for review. This type of investigation does not result in a safety rating.

• Onsite focused investigations also target a specific area of compliance, but enforcement personnel will perform the audit at the motor carrier’s principal place of business (as identified on the USDOT registration). This type of investigation also does not result in a safety rating.

• Onsite comprehensive investigations address all aspects of a motor carrier’s operation and take place at the motor carrier’s principal place of business. This type of investigation results in a safety rating