What Is an MC Number? An Owner-Operator’s Guide (2026)
An MC number — short for Motor Carrier number — is the identification number the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) assigns to your interstate operating authority. Think of it as the license number of your trucking business: if you haul regulated...
Trucking Authority Terms Every New Owner-Operator Should Know
Starting your own trucking company means learning a new language. From FMCSA filings to IFTA and IRP, you’ll encounter dozens of unfamiliar terms while applying for your trucking authority. This glossary explains the most important terms in the order you’ll...
Check Your ELD Before a DOT Inspection
A couple of weeks ago, we got a call from the Minnesota Department of Transportation after a DOT inspection. The agent asked if a specific trucker has an ELD account with us. We want to make it clear that we gave no private data to the agent, just confirmed the...
Maintenance and the Roadcheck
When was the last time you did a full inspection, not a pre-trip inspection, of your rig? The upcoming CVSA Roadcheck isn’t far away. Instead of skipping the week, why not prepare now for your rig’s inspection? Looking ahead and getting ready now will...
Check Your DOT Medical Card
With all the news about DOT inspectors putting trucks and truckers out of service, let’s take a look at one that a truck driver has the most control over (other than his flip flops.) DOT regulations about medical cards is a simple set of requirements, but some...
Need a New ELD?
Did you just find out your electronic logging device (ELD) has been removed from the FMCSA list? Are you looking for a new ELD? Before you shop, decide whether you need a contract at all. Our guide to E Logs without contracts walks through what the mandate actually...
What Is A DVIR?
A DVIR is a Daily Vehicle Inspection Report — the daily record a truck driver completes documenting the condition of the rig and any defects found. Every industry has their own abbreviations and codes. In trucking, DVIR is one of many, but it’s one that a...
Truck Maintenance Logs For Winter Prep
Talking about the weather is boring. But we have to pay attention to the changing seasons in the trucking industry the same way any outdoor business must. Driving loads across the country or even just across the city can be an easy trip or into a blizzard. Truck...
What Is a DOT Audit and How to Pass It
A DOT audit or review determines a company’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) compliance. It evaluates safety performance and confirms that the owner-operator and the trucking firm is managing their proper recordkeeping. It’s usually done at the...
DOT Inspection: Here is Your DOT Compliance Checklist
The Department of Transportation (DOT) conducts annual inspections of commercial motor vehicles. As well as the drivers to ensure highway safety. This year’s inspections will focus on the driver requirements category, among other factors. Some things they...
DOT Inspections: The 8 Levels and What to Expect with Each
If you have (or are beginning to have) interest in the trucking business, you probably know about the annual DOT inspection. The Department of Transportation does this inspection. It’s often done on all commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) weighing 10,001 pounds, and...
Love Your Trucker This Valentine’s Day with TMS
St. Valentine’s Day is just a few days away and you have a problem. You need a gift. Might we suggest a trucking management solution? TMS is now Trucking Management Solution What do you give a trucker who spends days on the road and then hours at home managing...
New Owner-Operator’s IFTA Basics
If you’re a new owner-operator, you may not have filed the IFTA until now. This isn’t a complete guide, but it can help you get started – and give you a tool to eliminate 99% of the headache that comes along with it. Because staying on top of IFTA...
Why You Must Do the IFTA Filing
What happens if you don’t file the IFTA? Do you really want to know? The consequences to not filing start at mildly annoying and move up to painful and expensive. The citation is only the first step. Tickets costs vary from state to state, but the fines will...
Truck Maintenance at the End of the Year
After days on the road, coming home might mean there’s a list waiting: the Honey-Do list. It’s not that those people at home can’t do those tasks themselves. Maybe they want to enjoy watching you do them. Maybe it’s a team effort. But home...
How to Pick the Best Truck Driver Log App
Looking for any truck driver log app isn’t any easier now than it was 5 years ago when the ELD mandate was put in place. There are still too many bad apps written without the trucker in mind. That’s why we at TruckingOffice decided that keeping the rules...
ELD Value and Service Commitment by TruckingOffice
We saw this article about the ELD delay request from Indiana. It seems that the attorney general is questioning the validity of self-certification of the ELD equipment currently on the market. We know that older electronic logging devices don’t comply with the...
ELD Mandate Requirements: What do you need to know?
What will your truck look like if you skip the ELD? Just ignore the ELD mandate requirements? That’s what it will look like. Unless something highly unlikely happens, the ELD mandate will take effect on December 17, 2017. That’s a month away. Will you be...
Truck Maintenance for the Winter
An ounce of prevention is worth far more than a pound of cure. Especially in the winter when we’re talking truck maintenance. Those emergencies on the road can destroy any profit from a load. We can’t predict when a part is going to fail. Debris on the...
Maximize Your TruckingOffice Free Trial
Did you just sign up for your TruckingOffice free trial of our trucking management software to get your IFTA done fast? You’ve filed your IFTA in record time and now… what? How can you maximize your TruckingOffice free trial? It would be pretty sad to just...Here Is Your 2017 DOT Compliance Checklist
This article contains our updated 2017 DOT compliance checklist. Some of the information has changed since we published our original version in 2013. This is especially true when it comes to electronic logbooks, which are scheduled for mandatory use by December 2017....
Benefits of Web-Based Trucking Software
We get calls asking about our app sometimes. “It’s not an app,” we say. “It’s a web-based software program. You can access from anywhere you have an Internet connection.” A lot of people don’t understand that....
The Eclipse and Truckers
Apparently, someone is worried about us truckers. I saw this about the eclipse on the Overdrive website: Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado are placing restrictions on oversize/overweight loads in the days around the eclipse. The Oregon Department of...
Don’t Wait to File your HVUT
Did you remember that the HVUT is due on August 31? What is that? The Heavy Vehicle Use Tax is another tax we truckers pay to stay on the roads. I think it’s supposed to pay for highway maintenance, but I couldn’t find anything concrete to back that up....
3 Benefits of an Electronic Truck Driver Log Book for New Truckers
When we announced our new TruckingOffice ELD system, we talked to a lot of truckers about truck driver log books. The phrase “electronic truck driver log book” gets a lot of comments. A lot of comments. One of my favorite misconceptions was that the truck...
ELD Mandate: Truth and Myths
The deadline for complying with the ELD mandate is December 17, 2017, according to the FMCSA website. You’ll need to have your vehicles compliant by that date. Unfortunately, there’s a ton of misinformation floating around about the ELD mandate, both on...
What Happens If You Don’t File the IFTA?
What happens if you don’t file the IFTA? You’re off the road. It’s that simple. There are those people who think they can beat the system. Avoiding government scrutiny becomes a game for them. The IFTA is not a game you want to play. The...
Sneak Peek: TruckingOffice ELD announcement
TruckingOffice ELD (electronic logging device) is in development now December is right around the corner. We’ve got the government mandate to get an electronic logging device (ELD) into our cabs by then. TruckingOffice ELD is now in the works. What is the ELD...
3 Keys to Success in Trucking: Organization, Customers, & Data
It’s not like these are big secrets. If you talk to any successful trucker or broker, they’ll tell you the same things. The three keys to success are Organization Finding the problems and solving them Building up the customer base. As a broker with many...
IFTA Basics for New Owner-Operators
If you’re starting your own trucking business, IFTA can sound confusing. If you’ve talked to any truckers about it, some will say it’s a huge pain. Others will say it’s nothing at all but another bill to pay. How can that be true? Actually,...
The Goal You Never Thought Of – and Why You Must
[bs_well size=”md”] TruckingOffice Wants Truckers to Succeed We’ve been focusing some of our blog posts on goals and goal setting. SMART goal setting SCHEMES to figure out your action plan Measurements to determine where your strengths and...Building Your Trucking Team to Reach Your Goals
[bs_well size=”md”] TruckingOffice Wants Truckers to Succeed We’ve been focusing some of our blog posts on goals and goal setting. SMART goal setting SCHEMES to figure out your action plan Measurements to determine where your strengths and weaknesses...HVUT – Heavy Vehicle Use Tax Due August 31
I just figured I should remind people that the HVUT is due on August 31. What is that? The Heavy Vehicle Use Tax is another tax we truckers pay to stay on the roads. I think it’s supposed to pay for highway maintenance, but I couldn’t find anything...What Should an Owner-Operator Do to Keep Organized?
As an owner-operator, you’re responsible for all of your paperwork and compliance to all the laws. I found I could get snowed under really quickly if I didn’t take care of my paperwork. If I didn’t do it after every load, I at least had to do it...The 12 Days Before the Roadcheck Blitz
We decided to have some fun with the Roadcheck Blitz this year. Sing along with us! But at the end, this is how we feel: You know why we pass the Roadcheck Blitz every year? Because we don’t just care about our trucks for only the week before the Roadcheck. We...Fleet Maintenance Management
Paul wants to keep on top of his small fleet’s truck maintenance. His boss came down last week with a half dozen unexpected emergency bills that she thought should have been avoided. He wouldn’t argue with that. But managing a fleet of nineteen trucks...4 Unique Features of Bookkeeping for Truck Drivers
Make Your Bookkeeper Happy Bookkeepers have got a tough job with truckers. Until they’ve gotten familiar with the government requirements and the complications of our billing – especially LTL – they’ve got a lot to master. Bookkeeping for...What Every Trucker Should Know About IFTA Filing
What happens if you don’t file the IFTA? Do you really want to know? The consequences to not filing start at mildly annoying and move up to painful and expensive. The citation is only the first step. Tickets costs vary from state to state, but the fines will...3 Things Owner Operators Can Organize in the New Year
Making New Years Resolutions to Get Organized? As an owner operator, you’re responsible for all of your paperwork and compliance to all the laws. I found I could get snowed under really quickly if I didn’t get organized and take care of my paperwork. If...Free Load Profit Calculator for Truckers
How To Get Your Own Trucking Authority
Get Your Own Trucking Authority
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