NEW TRUCKING BUSINESS
Being a new trucking business means that you will be the subject of a “Safety Audit” sometime within the first 18 months of being in business. The audit is likely to be after about three months. Companies are given enough time to record some operating history so that your safety management controls are established.
Audits help carriers identify safety risks. You will be given a 60-day corrective action period. During that time, you will need to correct all deficiencies found during the audit. Passenger transportation and hazardous materials that require placarding are given 45 days to correct deficiencies.
A “Safety Audit” is based on elements critical to basic safety management involving operation in interstate (across state lines) commerce. Motor carriers fail the audit if regulation compliance is found to be lacking.
If this happens, your US DOT registration is revoked until the DOT is satisfied with your corrective actions.
SAFETY ELEMENTS
Overall the various elements (there are 16) that are reviewed during an audit include:
- Drug and Alcohol Program
- Financial Responsibility (Insurance)
- Driver and Commercial Driver License (CDL) Requirements
- Driver records of duty status (Hours of Service compliance)
- Motor Vehicle out-of-service status
- CMV periodic inspections
All of the safety element regulations can be reviewed in detail in the “Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations” manual that we supply when setting up a new company.
