FMCSA Compliance Reviews: What They Are, What To Expect, and Recent Trends

If you’re employed by a freight carrier, either as a truck driver or in a “desk job” role, you’ve probably heard about Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) compliance reviews. Regardless of whether or not a trucking company is actually in compliance with FMCSA regulations, these audits tend to instill fear in the hearts of even the bravest men.

It’s definitely intimidating to have the FMCSA come to your facility in person, specifically looking for the tiniest of things that may be out of order. The good news is that if you’re prepared and doing everything by the book, you shouldn’t have any reason to worry. Read further to learn a little more about how these compliance reviews work, how you can prepare, and some recent changes to the process.

What is the purpose of a compliance review?

During their compliance review, the FMCSA is looking at two main areas: regulatory compliance and safety performance. While they are, of course, looking for all of your policies, procedures, and paperwork to be in order, they also want to see that your drivers and employees are all on board with these policies and actually put them into practice. (Basically, they want your company to be walking the walk, not just talking the talk.)

If you are found to not be in compliance in regards to hours of service, safety, or other regulatory matters, it could impact your safety fitness rating, penalty fines could be assessed, or worse – you could be placed out of service.

How to prepare and what to expect

If you are going to be audited on-site by the FMCSA, you will receive at least 48 hours advance notice. According to Cottingham & Butler, these are the documents you should have prepared for the visit:

• Proof of financial responsibility
• Driver Qualification Files
• Drug and alcohol testing records
• Records of duty status and supporting documents
• Driver vehicle inspection reports and maintenance records
• FMCSA accident register
• Hazardous materials records (if you haul hazmat freight)

Obviously, if you are out of compliance or not following FMCSA regulations in some way, 48 hours is not going to be enough time to fix that. You should ensure that your business is always 100 percent up to compliance with the FMCSA at all times so that if you do get a visit from them, everything will go smoothly and you won’t be scrambling. (Also, you are required by law to follow these regulations…  so the potential of an audit shouldn’t be your only motivation to keep everything in order!)

The FMCSA will spend 1-2 days at your facility, speaking to your employees and reviewing all your documentation and paperwork to ensure everything is up to standard.

Recent trends in compliance reviews

Recently, the FMCSA announced a change in their compliance review process. Previously, while on site, they would focus on speaking to the few employees most heavily involved in the regulatory and safety procedures (like safety directors). Now, according to CCJ Digital, they have expanded this to include discussions with nearly everyone on-site, including people you may not expect – like accounting and sales. The FMCSA wants to see that safety and regulatory compliance is truly a part of your company culture.

Another recent trend, according to Trucking Info, is the occurrence of reviews due to complaints rather than CSA scores. Previously, CSA scores were the #1 trigger for a review, with complaints taking a lower priority. However, due to the new driver coercion legislation that went into effect in 2016, complaints are being taken far more seriously and triggering reviews much more frequently. The FMCSA has also made it easier to file complaints (previously, they had to be mailed in – now, they can be submitted through the website).

Also from Trucking Info, here are a few hot items to pay attention to that have been causing problems for some carriers:

• Hours of Service (HOS) violations. These are by far the most common violations discovered during the compliance reviews, and it’s important to make sure your logs are in order.
• Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIRs). As of 2016, the FMCSA is referencing these during the audit and cross-checking with maintenance and repair logs to ensure you are in compliance.
• Medical card verification. Your process needs to be up-to-date when verifying the physician and medical results for your drivers.
• Expired or suspended CDLs. Carriers should have an automated system in place to make sure their drivers have valid CDLs; the drivers should not be relied on to report this information themselves.

In conclusion

We can’t provide you with legal advice or guarantee that any of these tips will actually save you from a penalty or fine, but we like to keep our carrier network in the loop, so we hope this information helps keep you up-to-date on what’s going on in the world of compliance reviews. If you have unanswered questions, we recommend you contact the FMCSA directly. Thanks for reading!