DOT Audits: What They Are, When They Occur & Checklist

Last Updated October 31, 2024

All trucking companies, from brand-new LLCs to seasoned businesses, must make a habit of abiding by trucking compliance regulations to prepare for DOT audits and routine inspections. To do so, carriers should prepare a DOT compliance checklist to ensure that your company, its vehicles, and its drivers are operating in accordance with trucking company regulations.

By meeting DOT motor carrier compliance requirements, you can keep your business running smoothly while avoiding fines and other penalties that could disrupt your operations.

This article will serve as a guide for everything you need to know about DOT audits, from learning what an audit involves, when these audits occur, the different types of audits, and what to include in your DOT compliance checklist.

What Is a DOT Audit?

A DOT audit is a safety assessment conducted by the FMCSA to ensure compliance for trucking companies. DOT audits are meant to evaluate a trucking company’s overall safety performance. This goes beyond routine equipment checks and other standard protocols you might find in a level 1 DOT inspection; it also looks at the company’s recordkeeping and safety protocol compliance in areas such as fleet insurance, driver logbooks, and more.

What Does a DOT Audit Consist of?

A DOT audit is usually conducted at your company’s location. It reviews key safety concerns such as:

• Having proper liability insurance coverage
• Maintaining an accident register
• Having current and complete driver qualification files (including drug and alcohol tests)
• Maintaining driver logs (including driver start and stop times, on-duty hours, and accident and injury reports)
• Following a maintenance program and keeping 14 months of inspection reports inside each vehicle
• Providing proof that you meet all hazardous material transport requirements (if necessary)

When Do DOT Audits Happen?

For new trucking companies, a DOT audit is required during the initial period when the company receives a Provisional Certificate of Registration—or within the first 12 months after it begins operations.

Aside from requirements for new companies, a DOT audit may be triggered when a trucking company experiences a high number of out-of-service violations or when it is involved in a serious accident. Other violations or citations for unsafe driving, hours of service compliance issues, or vehicle maintenance problems could also trigger an audit.

What Is the Importance of DOT and FMCSA Compliance?

DOT and FMCSA compliance standards are designed to make the road safe for all drivers and passengers. Semi-truck business owners are responsible for putting more miles on the road than standard cars meant for personal use, and the size of their vehicles makes them much more likely to cause a fatality if they are involved in an accident. To keep the roads safe for everyone, trucking DOT compliance must ensure vehicles are maintained properly and that drivers are qualified and working safely.

Different Types of DOT Audits

There are a few different types of DOT audits that trucking companies should be aware of and prepared for. Maintaining a DOT safety audit checklist and ensuring that your company is following all requirements for recordkeeping and general safety practices for drivers and vehicles will go a long way in helping your audit go smoothly.

New Entrant Safety Audit

A DOT new entrant audit is required for new carriers that want to participate in interstate commerce. This requires an initial 18-month period during which the new entrant is monitored more closely, and a safety audit must be performed within 12 months after the carrier begins operations.

There are a variety of violations that could cause a new entrant to automatically fail their safety audit, including a lack of a random alcohol and drug testing program, hiring a driver who refused a required drug and alcohol test, knowingly using drivers without a valid CDL, failing to have drivers keep hours of service records, or operating an out-of-service vehicle.

In addition to the formal safety audit, new entrants can expect to be subjected to roadside inspections to determine vehicle maintenance status and driver safety. Carriers that pass the safety audit during their probationary period will be granted permanent authority.

Security Audit

A DOT security audit is designed to review a trucking company’s safety plan and security measures, as well as its driver training protocols. This type of audit is less intensive and is primarily focused on ensuring the company has proper protocols in place to reduce its risks of safety and security.

Hazardous Materials Audit

A hazardous materials audit is usually conducted as part of a safety audit or compliance review for trucking companies that transport hazardous materials. This audit is meant to ensure that trucking companies are following all federal regulations that apply to the hazardous materials in question.

In addition to basic safety audit practices like maintaining liability insurance coverage, vehicle inspection records, and other paperwork, trucking companies that transport hazardous materials must also keep records of all hazardous material shipments for one year after accepting the shipment and provide proof that all drivers who transported hazardous materials had the required specialized training.

Compliance Review

A DOT compliance review or safety audit is the broadest type of audit, covering a wide range of safety management protocols to ensure the company is compliant with all applicable regulations and safety standards.

The compliance review will typically cover driver qualifications and fitness, driver duty status, vehicle maintenance status, accident registers, and adherence to requirements for drug and alcohol use and testing requirements. A hazardous materials audit will also be included if necessary.

Trucking businesses must ensure that they have all necessary paperwork and reports organized and ready for the audit.

DOT Audit Checklist

Regardless of whether you’re attempting to develop a DOT new entrant safety audit checklist or just a general trucking compliance checklist, many of the requirements are largely the same. By ensuring you have all necessary documentation (and that it is fully up-to-date), you can streamline the audit process and be less likely to have an issue.

Be sure that you have the following documents prepared for your DOT audit:

• Up-to-date copy of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR)
• Current MCS-90 form showing liability insurance coverage
• Written policy for drug and alcohol use and testing program
• Summary of past calendar year’s drug and alcohol test results
• Motor vehicle records and proof of current CDL for drivers
• Copy of pre-employment drug tests for drivers
• At least six months of completed driver logs for all drivers
• At least 14 months of annual inspection documentation for all vehicles
• Vehicle maintenance records for all commercial vehicles
• DOT security plan
• Three months of post-trip inspection reports when defects were found
• Up-to-date driver qualification files (including valid road tests, certificate of violations, signed receipt of drug and alcohol training materials, and any instructions about moving violation convictions)
• Current accident register
• Documented disciplinary system for driver violations
• Documented processes for maintaining driver medical certificates, keeping CDLs current, checking the accuracy of driver logs, controlling work hours, and ensuring other compliance needs
• Written hiring and driver removal policies

Keeping these documents in a secure, organized, and accessible location will help a DOT safety audit go much quicker and ensure that you pass. These documents should be reviewed regularly to ensure they are all up to date.

In-Summary: Preparing for a DOT Audit and Ensuring Compliance

A DOT audit can be intensive—but it’s a crucial part of ensuring that your company and its drivers are operating in a safe manner. Whether you’re starting a new trucking company or you’ve been running your business for years, maintaining a DOT compliance review checklist and ensuring that your documents and processes are always up to date will help you pass an audit.

In addition to keeping all necessary documentation up to date, trucking businesses should also ensure that their vehicles are properly maintained and that drivers are working in a safe and compliant manner. By following all driver safety protocols and keeping commercial vehicles in good working order, you can reduce the risk of accidents or out-of-service violations that would trigger a DOT audit in the first place.

DOT Audit and Compliance FAQs

What happens if you fail a DOT audit?

You will be informed if you fail a DOT audit within 45 days of its completion. Your registration will be suspended 15 days after the service date of your failure notice unless you can prove that there was a material error with the safety audit. If there was no error with the safety audit, you must provide evidence of the corrective action you’ve taken to resolve the issue within 30 days of the Order of Suspension. Failing to correct the issue will cause your registration to be revoked.

What triggers a DOT audit?

Trucking companies can expect a DOT audit if they are involved in serious accidents, receive roadside violations during a DOT inspection that cause a driver to be placed out of service, or have high CSA scores. Complaints from employees, members of the public, or dispatchers could also trigger an audit.

Are DOT audits random?

Sometimes. The DOT may randomly select a trucking company for an audit, though audits are usually triggered based on accidents, roadside violations, or other issues.

Are DOT audits mandatory?

Yes. All new trucking companies must undergo a DOT audit to ensure they are following all applicable safety standards.