Simplex Group North Carolina

If you run a small trucking company in North Carolina, you know that you have to comply with many federal and state regulations while keeping expenses down. Our trucking experts here at Simplex Group will make sure your company is compliant with federal and state regulations. We are committed to the success of the trucking companies we partner with and will do everything we can to keep your costs down.

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) oversees all commercial and non-commercial activities of our nation’s highways.The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the agency within the DOT that sets the rules for the commercial trucking industry. The North Carolina Department of Transportation also has the authority to make trucking rules in the Old North State. 
In order to operate a trucking company, you will have to comply with the rules set forth by the FMCSA.

Certain types of commercial vehicles are required to have a number issued by the Department of Transportation to operate legally. If you operate a vehicle that weighs over 10,000 pounds and takes hauls across state lines, or if you operate vehicles that carry hazardous material in an amount that requires placarding, you will have to get a USDOT number.

The state of North Carolina requires commercial trucks to have a DOT number whether or not they cross state lines in the course of business. 

You must apply for a DOT number through the National Registration System. You will need to provide certain information about your business when you do this. You must register your company as a business entity with the state of North Carolina. You can register it as an LLC, corporation, or partnership. You will also have to provide an agent for service which is simply a person who will receive legal paperwork on your company’s behalf.

We can assist you with applying for a USDOT number. You should get your tags about 4 to 6 weeks after you apply.

The FMCSA requires that trucks with USDOT numbers have between $750,000 – and $5,000,000 of liability insurance. The exact amount depends on the type of cargo that you haul. If you drive vehicles that weigh under 10,000 pounds and you carry non-hazardous cargo across state lines, you will need to have $300,000 worth of liability insurance.

Although any trucking company needs to have cargo insurance, The FMCSA only legally requires companies that move household goods to have a certain amount of this type of coverage. If you are a moving company, you must have cargo insurance of $5,000 for each vehicle and $10,000 per occurrence.

Even if the FMCSA does not require you to have cargo insurance, your clients will. When you make a contract with your clients, they are going to require that you are insured for the wholesale amount of the goods that they are shipping. There will always be a clause within your contract that specifies the amount of cargo insurance you must have.

You will need several other types of insurance to operate a trucking company safely. You will have to have general insurance in case a visitor injures themselves at your facility. You will need to have vehicle damage insurance for truck repair if your driver causes an accident. Bobtail insurance will cover your driver’s medical bills as well as vehicle repairs if they have an accident with one of your trucks when they are off duty.

When a trucking company hires a driver, they are legally required to contact all of the driver’s employment references and verify employment history. The trucking company must also look up the driving records of the applicant. The driver must not have any license suspensions in any of the states in which they have held a license. 

The state of North Carolina requires that professional drivers have a commercial driver’s license. Although a person only needs to be 18 years old to get a commercial driver’s license, they must be 21 to actually get an interstate truck driving job.

All commercial drivers must get a physical from an FMCSA-approved doctor. There are certain kinds of medications and certain medical conditions that will prevent a person from becoming a commercial truck driver. A driver will also have to have a pre-employment drug test before you can let them take calls.

Your driver’s records must be kept in an electronic file for 2 years after their employment ends. Here at Simplex Group, we will help you with background checks and help you get your employees drug tested. We know the importance of having top-quality drivers. Not only will your insurance rates be lower, but you will also have a piece of mind that your trucks are in the best of hands.

The FMCSA requires all professional truck drivers to use an Electronic Logging Device to record their Hours of Service. The device attaches to a vehicle’s computer system and reads the number of miles a truck has been driven, the speed at which it traveled, and the consecutive number of hours it has been traveling. A driver must never operate a vehicle over 11 consecutive hours.

We offer state-of-the-art, customizable ELDs to our customers. They will record all of your driver’s work activities. They will also be able to record the results of your driver’s daily inspections and any repairs that are made to your vehicles.

A truck driver must inspect their vehicle both before and after it is driven. If they find any problems during an inspection, a mechanic must correct those problems before the vehicle can be driven again. You must keep a record of a driver’s hours of service and the results of their vehicle inspections for 6 months.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will conduct a new entrant audit of your company within its first year of operation. Our experts will do everything in their power to make sure you pass that inspection with flying colors.

Starting a trucking company should be fun and exciting. When you hire our team to help you with compliance, you can concentrate on acquiring clients and getting their cargo where it needs to go.