Government audit.

Those are two words that strike fear into the heart. 

When the government offers a program to “help” you start a new business, but there’s a safety audit in the middle, does that worry you?

Or when the government calls and says, “We want to audit your safety records,” that doesn’t sound good, does it?

Welcome to the world of DOT audits. 

Are you prepared or panicking?

1. “Which records do you want first?”

2. “I’ve got everything. Give me a minute. Maybe Thursday.”

3. “Does buying a filing cabinet today count as a safety program?”

How do you respond to a DOT Audit notification?

FMCSA may examine payroll records, settlement sheets, and other business documents to verify HOS compliance.  It also checks required insurance coverage. It’s not checking your business tax returns.  That’s the IRS’s job.

What Are the Types of DOT Audits?

What truckers call a DOT audit generally falls into four categories. FMCSA calls the first a safety audit and the other three investigations.    

  New Entrant Safety Audit: Checks whether a new trucking company has basic safety procedures and required records in place.

  Offsite Investigation: Reviews records remotely to investigate specific safety or compliance problems.

  Onsite Focused Investigation: Examines particular areas of the business, such as HOS or maintenance.

  Onsite Comprehensive Investigation: Examines the company’s entire safety operation and compliance with applicable regulations.

Look at the names of the DOT agencies and programs involved in trucking, and you’ll notice a trend.

• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
• Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)

And we shouldn’t forget the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA).  It’s a separate non-profit organization whose members include government safety officials and industry representatives. It develops the North American Standard inspection procedures and out-of-service criteria used by inspectors.

Safety is a HUGE concern for the DOT, for truckers on the highway, and car drivers on the road.  The audit programs are designed to promote safety.

But “audit” is still a scary word. Especially when you’re starting your trucking business. Why do you need to be audited now?

Your First DOT Audit: New Entrant Safety Audit

When starting a trucking company, policies and protocols regarding safety have to be built into the business core. FMCSA wants new companies to incorporate safety from the start. The program’s purpose is to help prevent rookies from making fatal mistakes.

What’s the Purpose of a DOT Audit?

The purpose of a DOT audit is to determine a company’s safety performance.  It confirms that the owner-operator and the trucking firm are following required safety practices and maintaining the records to document them.  Not all categories are covered in every audit.  The scope depends on the type of review and which requirements apply to your operation.

It can be done at the trucker’s place of business or remotely.  The amount of advance notice varies,  so you might not find out when they plan to review your records until it’s too late to organize them.

What does the DOT audit cover?

US DOT reviews six categories to ensure that a company is doing what is expected when it comes to a motor carrier’s safety program.  The six categories are:

1. General Compliance
2. Driver Qualifications
3. Operational Compliance
4. Vehicle Maintenance Compliance
5. Hazardous Materials
6. Accident Register

What is the DOT looking for?  Let’s break each of these down.

Category 1:  General Compliance

General compliance means meeting the basic expectations:

1.  USDOT registration information:   keep your company information current with FMCSA.  You must file the MCS-150 (the Motor Carrier Identification Report ) every two years, even if there are no changes.

•  Truck markings:  Display your company’s legal name or registered trade name and the USDOT number on both sides of the truck.

• Required insurance: Maintain the liability coverage required for your operation.  Minimums depend on your trucks and the freight you haul.  The insurance company will provide a policy and declarations page, a certificate of insurance, and the MCS-90 endorsement when required.

Insurance Requirements Interstate for-hire operation	Minimum Liability Insurance for Interstate For-Hire Carriers*
Nonhazardous freight, vehicle GVWR of 10,001 pounds or more	$750,000
Nonhazardous freight, vehicle GVWR below 10,001 pounds	$300,000
Certain hazardous materials	$1 million
Certain higher-risk hazardous materials	$5 million

*Amounts as of October 2026.

Category 2:  Driver Qualifications

Driver qualifications start before the driver is hired.  Just because you own the company doesn’t exclude you from these requirements even if you’re the company’s only driver.  Maintaining driver qualification records is often cited as a major problem during DOT inspections. 

1.  Employment Application:  You must complete and sign a driver employment application, document required previous-employer safety history inquiries, and keep a road test certificate or an accepted equivalent.

• CDL:  Commercial motor vehicle drivers  must have the appropriate license, whether it’s a state issued driver’s license or a commercial driver’s license (CDL):  Class A, Class B, or Class C.   The CDL class depends on the vehicle and what it carries.
  • Class A: Combination vehicles rated 26,001 pounds or more, with a towed unit rated over 10,000 pounds. Most tractor-trailers fall here.
  • Class B: A single vehicle rated 26,001 pounds or more, including one towing a unit rated 10,000 pounds or less. Examples include many straight trucks and dump trucks.
  • Class C: Vehicles outside Classes A and B that carry 16 or more people, including the driver, or transport hazardous materials requiring placards.

• Drug and Alcohol Tests and Program:  CDL drivers must participate in a DOT drug and alcohol testing program. As an owner-operator trucking business, you need to have a compliant DOT testing program.   Signed receipts of the drug and alcohol policy from each driver (that’s you) should be on file and readily available during the inspection.  Return-to-duty and follow-up testing results should also be available.

• FMCSA Clearinghouse queries:  Clearinghouse queries need to be completed, but the results do not need to be saved by the trucking company unless it doesn’t maintain a valid Clearinghouse registration.  The Clearinghouse stores the query history for you.

• Medical Qualification aka Medical Card:  Some drivers need an examination by a certified medical examiner listed on the FMCSA’s National Registry.  CDL drivers’ MVRs show their medical certification status. Keep a current medical certificate for non-CDL drivers who need one.

• Motor Vehicle Record:  This is a driver’s official record from a state licensing agency.  It shows the license status, traffic convictions, and suspensions and revocations.  Keep and review annual MVRs for the driver.

Category 3:  Operational Compliance

This category covers how your drivers operate on the road, including hours of service (HOS) compliance and safe driving practices. Auditors check whether drivers follow driving and on-duty limits, take required breaks, and keep accurate logs. Drivers using the short-haul exception must meet its conditions, and the carrier must keep the required time records.

A. Hours of Service:  Most, but not all, big rig drivers need an ELD  to track their HOS.  The ELD mandate allows for short-haul and other exceptions from the ELD requirement.  However, HOS are still clocked (pun intended) and maintained for a specific period of time by the company and by the driver in the cab.  If the ELD malfunctions, a paper log (or another electronic log) is acceptable for up to 8 days. Check the rules for exceptions if they apply to your organization.

B. Supporting documents: Dispatch records, BOLs, receipts, payroll records, and settlement sheets help auditors verify that the logs match the work performed.  Dispatch records are often maintained per load rather than in a safe driving file.  Keep dispatch records organized so auditors can match each load to the driver’s logs.

C. Safe driving: Drivers must follow rules covering fatigue, illness, alcohol and drug use, seat belts, texting, and handheld phone use.  Dispatch schedules must allow drivers to complete trips legally.

Category 4:  Vehicle Maintenance Compliance

FMCSA doesn’t have a specific maintenance plan for every truck, which is smart.  The maintenance plans for trucks differ from brand to brand, model to model.  Mandating a required maintenance schedule would be useless. 

1. Schedule of Maintenance: An owner or fleet manager creates a schedule of maintenance tasks based on the vehicle’s age, and by either time or miles, whichever applies to the task. 

The purpose of maintaining your vehicle is to keep it safe.  Organize your maintenance far enough in advance to show that you’ve got a schedule.  The added benefit is that you can schedule the technicians you want to work on your vehicle.

• Keep the Receipts:  Keep dated receipts to prove that the work was completed. Shop invoices can document the work, but make sure you track the work that you do yourself. 

•  All Vehicle Records:  If you have more than one truck, either as a fleet or sequentially, you need to keep your records for each vehicle.  That means every trailer, too.

According to DOT standards, CMVs are required to be systematically maintained, repaired, and inspected.  The information provided during an audit should include:

• the company number or license plate number
• make and year,
• VIN,
• tire size,
• owner’s name, if the company doesn’t own the vehicle. 

Keep documentation of the most recent annual inspection on the vehicle, such as the inspection report or a qualifying sticker or decal. Maintenance records must be retained for one year and for six months after the vehicle leaves your control. Annual inspection reports must be retained for 14 months.

Category 5:  Hazardous Materials

Everyone wants hazardous materials handled safely. 

1. Hazmat employee training records:  This covers affected employees, including drivers, dispatchers, and loaders whose duties involve hazmat safety.  Keep the employee’s name, training completion date, trainer’s name and address, a copy or description of the training materials or their location, and certification that the employee completed training and testing.  Keep current training records covering the preceding 3 years throughout the employee’s hazmat employment and for 90 days afterward. Employees must complete refresher training at least every 3 years.
2. PHMSA registration records (as required):  Keep registration statements and certificates at the company office for 3 years after the certificate is issued.  That current registration should also travel with the truck.
3. Written security plan (as required):  This plan covers how the trucking company protects the hazardous load from theft, tampering, or unauthorized access.  It covers personnel security, how to keep unauthorized people away from the load and equipment, and protection from pick up to delivery, including stops and temporary storage. There should be an annual review of the plan.  This is not always required, as it’s based on the material and load quantity.  Using a placard for a load doesn’t mean a security plan is required. 
4. Hazmat shipping papers: These records should be kept with the driver in the truck, but also 3 years after the carrier accepts the load.   Keep required hazmat shipping papers in the truck during transportation, and retain copies for 1 year after the carrier accepts the load, or 3 years for hazardous waste.   Some loads need an FMCSA Hazardous Materials Safety Permit.  Emergency response information should be accessible during transportation.  Keeping these records only in the office doesn’t replace the paperwork in the truck. 
5. Cargo tank inspection and test records (as required): Tank qualifications, inspections, tests, and repair documentation should be kept.  The amount of time to keep these records varies. 
6. Hazmat incident reports: DOT Form 5800.1 is required for specific incidents, including certain releases, spills, or certain cargo tank damage.  Keep them for 2 years.

Category 6:  Accident Register

If a crash involving a commercial motor vehicle on a highway results in a fatality, an injury requiring immediate medical treatment away from the scene, or damage to any vehicle (not only the truck) that requires towing, add the accident to your accident register.

1.  Accident register:  Maintain an accident register with the required information and supporting records.  FMCSA doesn’t require a specific format (paper or electronic), but it must record:
2. Crash date.
3. Nearest city or town, and state.
4. Driver’s name.
5. Number of injuries and fatalities.
6. Whether hazardous material spilled, excluding fuel spilled from the fuel tanks of vehicles involved in the crash.
7. Any accident reports required by government agencies or insurers.

This material needs to be retained for three years after the crash.

• Supporting records: Keep copies of all accident reports required by government agencies or insurers.  Photos, videos, repair records, and witness information can be helpful, but they are extras, not requirements. 

How to Pass Your DOT Audit

Don’t be caught off-guard by a DOT investigation notification.  By being prepared all the time, you’ll still probably worry, but the anxiety can be reduced by getting ready in advance.

Keeping track of all this can be almost as intimidating as collecting it.  That’s why complete trucking management software like TruckingOffice PRO can help you corral the data and keep it organized and accessible for when you need it.

Driver records, general compliance, and vehicle maintenance records are built into TruckingOffice.  By using the FileSafe option, you can upload other materials, like accident records and hazardous materials compliance records.  Using a TruckingOffice ELD that integrates with TruckingOffice PRO, you can track your HOS – and use the ELD data to compute accurate miles for IFTA and IRP. 

Keep your trucking business organized whether or not you’re facing a DOT audit or investigation.  You don’t need to depend on dozens of spreadsheets and random Google Docs to keep your business in line.  Instead, use a program and a plan from a company that’s supported truckers since 2010.

Check out TruckingOffice PRO for free with our 30-day trial.  You can also see how the TruckingOffice ELD helps you meet HOS requirements without paying for bells and whistles that owner-operators don’t need and shouldn’t pay for.

Investigate TruckingOffice and be ready when the DOT investigates you.