New Entrant Safety Audit Checklist

For owner-operators and small fleets (1–25 trucks) in their first year of interstate authority. You got your DOT number, you're hauling, and somewhere in your first 12 months FMCSA will audit you — that's the law (49 U.S.C. §31144(g); 49 CFR Part 385, Subpart D). Most audits are now done offsite: an auditor emails a document request, you upload files, and you pass or fail on paper. This checklist is the paper. Work through it before the request lands, not after.

Part 1The 16 automatic-failure violations

Under 49 CFR §385.321(b), a new entrant automatically fails the audit on any one of these. Everything else is scored; these are pass/fail on their own. Check each honestly:

1. Do you have an alcohol & drug testing program at all? No program = automatic fail. §382.115
2. Has any driver worked at 0.04+ alcohol concentration? §382.201
3. Has a driver who refused a required test kept driving? Refusal counts as a positive. §382.211
4. Has a driver who tested positive kept driving without completing return-to-duty? §382.215
5. Are drivers enrolled in a random testing pool? A consortium counts — and a one-truck operation still needs one. §382.305
6. Does every driver have a valid CDL for the vehicle they drive? §383.3(a), §383.23(a)
7. Anyone driving on a disqualified CDL or learner's permit? §383.37(b)
8. Any driver disqualified from CMVs (DUI, serious violations) still driving? §383.51(a)
9. Is minimum liability insurance in effect? $750,000 minimum for general freight. §387.7(a), §387.9
10. (Passenger carriers) operating without required financial responsibility. §387.31(a)
11. Any driver disqualified under driver-qualification rules still driving? §391.15(a)
12. Any driver physically unqualified — expired or missing medical certificate? The classic small-carrier trap. §391.11(b)(4)
13. Do drivers keep records of duty status (logs/ELD)? Missing RODS in 51%+ of records examined = fail. §395.8(a)
14. Was a vehicle placed out-of-service at roadside driven before repairs? §396.9(c)(2)
15. Was a vehicle run before fixing an out-of-service defect from a DVIR? §396.11(a)(3)
16. Has every CMV had its periodic (annual) inspection? Missing on 51%+ of vehicles = fail. §396.17(a)

Thresholds: per the §385.321(b) table, only §395.8(a) and §396.17(a) use the 51%-of-records threshold. The other 14 fail you on a single occurrence.

Part 2Document checklist by area

This is what the auditor actually asks you to produce. Every unchecked box is your to-do list.

A. Driver qualification (DQ) file — one per driver, including yourself if you drive §391.51

• Employment application, completed and signed §391.21
• MVR from every state the driver held a license in the past 3 years, pulled within 30 days of hire §391.23(a)(1)
• Safety performance history — inquiries to previous DOT-regulated employers, past 3 years (keep responses or proof of attempt) §391.23(a)(2)
• Road test certificate or equivalent (a valid CDL satisfies it for most drivers) §391.31(e), §391.33
• Medical examiner's certificate — current, not expired §391.43, §391.45
• Medical certification verification — for CDL drivers (since June 2025) the med cert is verified through the CDLIS motor vehicle record you pull; non-CDL drivers: keep the National Registry lookup printout §391.23(m)
• Annual MVR review — every 12 months, with a note of the review §391.25
• Retention: whole employment period + 3 years §391.51(c)

Owner-operators: yes, you need a DQ file on yourself. "I'm the owner" is not an exemption.

B. Drug & alcohol program Part 382

• Written D&A policy given to every driver, signed receipt from each §382.601
• Pre-employment drug test — negative result received before the first safety-sensitive function, not after the first load §382.301
• Random pool enrollment — consortium/TPA proof, at FMCSA minimum rates (currently 50% drugs / 10% alcohol) §382.305
• Post-accident testing procedure — know the rules, show any tests done §382.303
• Clearinghouse pre-employment full query for every hire, before they drive §382.701(a)
• Clearinghouse annual limited query on every driver — including yourself (clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov) §382.701(b)
• Test records retained per schedule (positives/refusals 5 years; negatives 1 year) §382.401

C. Hours of service Part 395

• ELD in use and on FMCSA's registered list (unless you genuinely qualify for an exception like short-haul §395.1(e)) §395.8(a)(1), §395.22(a)
• ELD paperwork in the truck: data-transfer and malfunction instruction sheets, plus 8 days of blank paper logs §395.22(h)
• RODS retained 6 months, producible for the auditor §395.8(k)(1)
• Supporting documents — up to 8 per driver per 24h (fuel receipts, BOLs, dispatch, payroll), kept 6 months, matchable to logs §395.11
• No falsification — logs that don't match fuel receipts or tolls are how paperwork problems become falsification findings §395.8(e)

D. Vehicle files — one per truck and trailer Part 396

• Periodic (annual) inspection report for every CMV, within the last 12 months, by a qualified inspector; keep 14 months §396.17, §396.21(b)
• Maintenance file per vehicle: ID (make, serial/VIN, year), scheduled maintenance plan, inspection/repair records; keep 1 year + 6 months after disposal §396.3(b)–(c)
• DVIRs — written post-trip report when a defect is found (no-defect reports haven't been required since 2014 for property and 2020 for passenger carriers); keep 3 months. Running a single truck? One-CMV carriers are exempt from DVIRs entirely §396.11, §396.11(a)(5)
• Certification of repairs before a vehicle with a DVIR defect runs again §396.11(a)(3)
• Driver pre-trip — satisfied the vehicle is safe; reviewed the last DVIR if defects were noted §396.13

E. Company documents

• Insurance with the MCS-90 endorsement — the actual endorsement page, not just the certificate; $750k minimum for general freight §387.7(d), §387.9
• BOC-3 process agent designation on file Part 366
• UCR registration current for this year Part 367
• USDOT number marked on both sides of every power unit — legal name + "USDOT" + number, contrasting color, readable from 50 ft §390.21
• MCS-150 accurate — updated when your operation changes, at least biennially (schedule set by your USDOT number's digits) §390.19T(b)(2)

F. Accident register §390.15

• Register of every DOT-recordable accident for 3 years (or since you started): date, city/state, driver, injuries, fatalities, hazmat release §390.15(b)
• Keep it even if it's empty — a one-line "no recordable accidents to date" register shows the control exists; a blank stare does not.

"Recordable" = a fatality, an injury treated away from the scene, or a vehicle towed with disabling damage — §390.5.

Part 3Timeline: when, how, and what happens if you fail

• The audit must happen within your first 12 months of interstate operations (120 days for motorcoach passenger carriers) — 49 U.S.C. §31144(g). Usually scheduled after ~3 months of operations so there are records to look at; the full monitoring period is 18 months §385.307.
• Most audits are offsite: you get a notice, upload requested documents electronically by a deadline, the auditor follows up by phone or email. Treat the document request as the audit — because it is.
• Ignoring the audit is itself a failure — refusing or not producing documents gets your registration revoked §385.313, §385.337(b).
• If you fail: written notice of revocation unless you submit a corrective action plan — 60 days for general property carriers, 45 days for passenger/placarded-hazmat, 30 days under expedited action (invalid-CDL driver, positive test, no insurance, 50%+ OOS rate) §385.319, §385.308.
• If you pass: written notice within 45 days; roadside monitoring continues through month 18 §385.319(b).

Part 4The five failure points that catch small carriers most often

• No drug & alcohol program / no random pool. The #1 killer for new owner-operators — a one-driver company still needs a consortium and a pre-employment test on file for the owner. §382.115, §382.305
• Missing pre-employment items: no negative pre-employment result before first dispatch; no Clearinghouse query or registration. §382.301, §382.701(a)
• Incomplete DQ files: missing MVRs, no employer inquiries, unsigned applications, expired med cards. Partial files are almost as common as no files. §391.51, §391.23
• No producible annual inspection report on one or more vehicles. §396.17(a)
• HOS records missing or unproducible: no registered ELD (and no valid exemption), logs not kept 6 months, no supporting documents. §395.8, §395.22

DryRun / Peculiar Systems is a private company — not FMCSA, not USDOT, not affiliated with any government agency. We will never ask for your USDOT PIN. This checklist is general information based on 49 CFR as of September 2026, not legal advice; regulations change — verify current requirements at ecfr.gov and fmcsa.dot.gov.