If you hire truck drivers for your company, you need to ensure you comply with the federal Department of Transportation (DOT). If you are not in compliance, a DOT audit can be devastating for you and your business. Because of this, you need to ensure you are prepared for every type of audit they may perform to ensure you are compliant.
For those worried about these regulations, we offer a DOT compliance checklist for truck drivers. If you are in line with this checklist, you should be in line with DOT regulations. That means you will be ready for any audits, including drug and alcohol regulations, pre-employment drug tests, and any new entrant audits.
If you are concerned about compliance, reach out to our team at Simplex Group. Our transportation company record services offer the support you need to comply with these regulations and make your DOT audit a breeze.
Driver Screening
One of the earlier steps you will need to take is a new entrant audit for each of your drivers. This audit goes beyond drug and alcohol testing. Before your new truck driver operates a commercial motor vehicle, you need to ensure they are following all steps of the DOT checklist. When this is part of your hiring process, you can avoid trouble later on.
First, you will need to ensure they have a commercial driver’s license before they get behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle. Keeping a driver qualification file is also a crucial part of this process. Driver qualification files can help you ensure you have all the necessary information on your workers and are compliant from state to state.
Completing driving screenings can help you avoid major issues in the hiring process. For example, failure to complete this step can lead to overlooked alcohol abuse, which can lead to drunk driving and serious injuries. Trucking industry leaders vet all truck drivers and complete valid annual inspections to ensure security measures are compliant with a current DOT security plan.
Hours of Service (HOS) Regulations
When a driver is on the road, they will need to take a certain number of breaks to meet federal regulations on driver’s hours. DOT rules state motor vehicle records must show a certain number of breaks for rest and meals for drivers. Safety performance histories show that driving past the regulation limits leads to an increase in accidents.
These regulations are also important for your security audit. This type of audit ensures you are taking all steps possible to prevent unsafe driving that can lead to citizen complaints and more. Avoiding long driver hours can protect lives and evidence of this may be included in required records relating to your drivers.
Maintenance and Repairs
The DOT requires post-trip inspection reports as part of your shipping documentation for each completed trip. That means you need to maintain records, not just on your drivers, but on the maintenance of the trucks, the testing performed, and any repairs made.
Completing post-trip inspection reports is a major part of ensuring your trucks remain safe and compliant. This is especially important if your truck is carrying hazardous materials, so completing a hazardous materials audit may also be a part of your post-trip audits. These checks look for signs of wear or damage that can impact the performance of the truck.
Because it is your property carrying cargo across the country, completing the DOT checklist and making any repairs before the next trip is vital.
Part of this process is also checking completed driver logs, which can be simplified through electronic logging devices (ELD). ELD data can be easily gathered and used for information on hours driven, information for the International Fuel Tax Agreement, and safety checks completed by the driver.
DOT Number Issuance
As the owner of a commercial vehicle, you will need to meet all requirements for the FMCSA compliance checklist, which includes your DOT numbers. The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration helps ensure driver qualifications are being met for US trucking companies.
New and rehired drivers will need to be sure they have a DOT number, which is required in many states across the US, making it a vital step for transportation companies around the country to stay registered with the FMCSA for hauling cargo. These numbers help track how long drivers have been licensed, crash investigations, and much more.
Before you allow any drivers behind the wheel, check that their DOT number appears in their required documentation. This information is not done on the honor system—this is a highly regulated system, and to stay on the national registry, fleet managers will need to review the current status of all current and replacement drivers.
Drug and Alcohol Regulations
Ensuring you follow drug and alcohol regulations can have a huge impact on your company. Suppose you are not following an alcohol compliance checklist and completing any alcohol testing program for your drivers consistently. In that case, you may find yourself not in compliance and may lose your registered status.
Often, this means regular or even frequent drug and alcohol testing for your company. If you have been negligent in your company’s drug and alcohol testing in the past calendar year, you may be past due for this part of the checklist.
Performing these safety-sensitive tasks can do more than protect your company from compliance issues. Ensuring that drivers are not driving intoxicated can protect the general public by preventing serious accidents that can be avoided by driving sober. Protect yourself and others by completing this simple compliance testing.
How Our Services Can Help You Succeed
As the manager of a truck fleet, all of this testing and documentation can be a nightmare to maintain. Even if you have extensive documentation on paper, it can become overwhelming, especially as your fleet grows. Tracking a few drivers may be simple, but what happens when you have more than a dozen drivers, and your fleet is still growing?
You may need help with all these systems and paperwork. That is where our team can help.
Tracking All The Information You Need
Our services offer the tools you need to track all information related to compliance. Our logging services and other tools can help you stay compliant with any ELD rule that can impact your company. We are here to provide the specific updated tools that make staying compliant easy.
We understand that transportation entrepreneurs need support and solutions for compliance. Taking the pressure off you to stay compliant gives you more time and energy to focus on growing your business. Our team is here to help you through the growth process by providing all the tools you need for safety compliance.
Innovative Solutions to Your Problems
Maintaining your records is one of the most important steps towards remaining DOT compliant. However, as you prepare your documentation and ensure your employees meet industry regulations, unexpected issues may arise that impact your business.
Our team understands that specific industry issues may impact your trucking company. Fortunately, our team is ready to put decades of experience to use for your issues. If you have any problems remaining compliant, our team is ready to troubleshoot your issues and ensure you get the solutions you need for your particular company.
Premier Customer Service
Our team understands how important compliance can be to your business, and we understand that you may have specific issues that may take time to fix. When this happens, you do not want a team that is not willing to listen and give you the answers you need.
That is why we focus on treating all our customers like family, so they can expect the respect they deserve. We focus on providing the best possible customer service so that each of our clients knows we are giving them our best in every situation.
DOT Compliance FAQ
As you begin crossing things off your DOT compliance checklist, you may find yourself dealing with terms and ideas you may not have encountered before. For example, you may be unsure how to prepare an international registration plan, or you may be confused about some of the documentation you need.
Our team can review all the compliance steps you will need to take to keep your business in line with agencies like the DOT and the FMCSA. If you have any questions, you can always turn to our team for answers. In the meantime, here are some generalized answers to our most commonly asked questions.
How do you ensure compliance with DOT standards?
Ensuring compliance with DOT means taking steps to ensure you are documenting and following all rules as set down by the DOT. From roadside inspections to thorough driver screening, you may have many complex steps to track, log, and record.
Because of this, ensuring compliance with DOT requirements means keeping accurate, thorough records of most aspects of your trucking company. Our tools can provide the resources you need to ensure you have all the information on hand for compliance reasons.
What goes in a compliance binder?
When engaging in interstate commerce, you need to be sure that you have all the documents needed to stay DOT-compliant. That includes various documentation and qualification records. For your compliance binder, you may need information such as duty status, driver qualifications, proof that your team is meeting all regulations, and other documents.
If you have any doubts about what goes in a compliance binder, or if you are afraid you are missing something, do not hesitate to reach out. Our team can provide the answers you need about your safety compliance status.
What documents do you need in a DOT audit?
When you are in the middle of a DOT audit, there are certain things you may be legally required to provide. That includes documentation, proof of compliance in testing, and many other types of documents and paperwork.
Because passing these DOT audits is so important, talk to our team about maintaining thorough records and even keeping up backup data for your drivers. Backups can provide security and assurance that you will always have the paperwork and documents needed to stay compliant.
What is a compliance investigation?
If the DOT suspects you are not remaining compliant with their regulations, a compliance investigation from DOT may ensue. These investigations include reviewing your records, ensuring your drivers have up-to-date qualifications, and checking for any signs that you are not meeting their regulations.
Any signs that you are not meeting these compliance standards can lead to major consequences for you and your team. That can even include losing your license to transport cargo through many states. Because of this, you may need to reach out for help regarding a compliance investigation before you find yourself in serious trouble.
Prepare for Your DOT Compliance Review
Compliance with the Department of Transportation can be a vital part of maintaining your transportation company and keeping your drivers on the road. If you are not compliant with their rules, you may find yourself dealing with penalties that, in extreme cases, can end your business. Because of this, it is important to ensure you are taking all the right steps.
At Simplex Group, we understand the importance of compliance with these regulations. These regulations are to prevent accidents and keep all drivers, including truck drivers, safe on the road. Because of this, we take maintaining accurate records and ensuring you have the tools to stay safe seriously. That is why you can put your trust in our services to keep accurate records throughout the life of your business.
If you are ready to take action and prevent any issues involving your transport company, reach out to us for the help you need. Our team is here to guide you through this DOT audit process, starting with a call or through completing our online contact form. We are ready to discuss our services and the logging tools we can provide for your business.