In my (seemingly never ending) research, in preparation for buying a truck, insurance and my own authority after new years - I've been reading up on FMCSA Safety Audits. Geeze, between state audits, federal audits and everything else - how does a Single Truck O/O even get time to DRIVE?

Anyway - as long as have immaculate record keeping habits (I plan on SCANNING EVERY PIECE OF PAPER that passes through my hands), and actually operate safely, it shouldn't be TOO MUCH of a problem.

Seems like a huge PITA for a single O/O, operating out of his home. Driver compliance records, etc. - dudes IT'S ONLY ME.

HOS Log Audits aren't a big deal - keep all your log dupes in a binder. Maintenance seems bout the same - keep all your receipts in a maintenance binder - document all the work you do yourself. Same with financial responsibility stuff.

I'd like to hear from Solo O/O's about their audit experiences, best practices for record keeping, etc.

Thanks,

Rick

 

I dumped it all on my wife, so far, so good:thumbsup:

 

There is a new entrant audit. It's for your benefit to show you what you need. There aren't any fines. The other audits after that are to make sure you comply and they have fines.

At least , this is how it was explained to me.

 

Rick,
If you get the guidelines of the audit, then start a separate file for each guideline, when your audit comes everything will be in some order. The new entrant audit is to help you and the better you do on it, hopefully the better you will do on the next one which will impose fines if you have major screw ups or things you didnt fix from your new entrant audit. I've been through several audits over the years and the more prepared you appear to be the easier they seem to go on you. Dont piss off the auditor.

 

The feds are supposed to audit every new entrant within the first 18 months of authority being granted. My niece and her husband were audited within the first 6 months. They inspected their equipment and check their IFTA and other required records. She kept everything in order. I don't believe that they found anything wrong, but she had things pretty well organized. They are performing these audits to make sure new carriers get off on the right foot. It is actually good for the carrier. Rather than starting out with big fines they show the new carrier what they need to do in order to avoid fines and to be compliant with the current regulations. A friend of mine went through an audit during his first year and found it rather helpful. Other than a couple of minor items he was in good shape.

 

Our New Entrant Audit was actually a pleasant experience. Our assigned state DOT auditor came out within about six months and went through everything with a fine toothed comb. Since THIS is the guy who will be auditing us “for real” in the future, I made an effort to initiate a lot of discussion. I asked tons of questions, even if I thought I knew the answers, and did everything I could to get familiar with what our guy expects and how he thinks. He found two nit-picky items (one of which we really had correct, but not the exact way he wanted it... no label on the front of our maintenance file) and when it was all said and done he informed us that we did better than any new entrant carrier he could ever remember auditing (no BS, he actually said that). The guy stayed for coffee and we chatted a little more and he eventually packed up, gave me a business card and left. Since then, I’ve called the guy’s cell a couple of times to clarify some record keeping questions. Today, in fact, I called him and he spent a few minutes on the phone with me despite being home on a day off work. All in all, it’s been an educational experience, and I think we are more than ready for the day he comes out with his “game face” on.