Recordkeeping Basics & Audits

LOCATION OF RECORDS - §390.29

Records maybe stored at:

• Principal Place of business
• Regional office or
• Driver work-reporting location (unless otherwise specified in the FMCSRs)
• MUST be made available to the FMCSA within 48 hours at your principal place of business

RECORDKEEPING BASICS

§390.31 & 390.32 – Explain how to keep documents

• Photocopies are acceptable
• You may destroy originals once they are properly scanned
• Electronic documents and signature are allowed
• Auditors may need to print documents

Why Recordkeeping?

• Proof of Compliance
• Regulators rely on you to document your compliance activities
• On Site audits up 13%
• 94% of audits uncover violations
• 65% of “critical violations in 2023 were for recordkeeping
• Records are an important business asset

DRIVER QUALIFICATION (DQ) FILE

Medical Certificate/ MVR

• Get MVR before driving, then within 15 day after every DOT medical exam (at least annually)
• MVR in Q file
• Don’t use if status is “not certified” or CDL is downgraded or disqualified
• CDL Drivers must carry med card for at least 15 days; non-CDL drivers must always carry one

Medical Card/CDL Integration

• Chanes in June 22, 2021
• Med cards transmitted electronically
• MVR = only official proof of certification
• Use National Registry verification

Driver Investigation History

• Recordkeeping: 391.53
• Requires confidentiality
• Secured location, access limited to those involved in hiring process
• If combined with DQ file, entre file must be secured

DQ/DIH Retention

Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) Recordkeeping

• Driver’s consent form: 3 years
• FMCSA-specified language
• Subject to auditing by PSP contractor
• www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov

Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse

• Pre-employment query (prospective drivers)
• Annual query (existing drivers)
• Must be enrolled by 1/5/21
• Limited -query consent forms: 3 years after last authorized query
• All query records are  stored in the Clearinghouse
• Educational materials to include Clearinghouse information (382.601)
• Beginning 11/18/2024, State Drivers Licensing (SDLAs) will be required to remove the commercial driving ALL commercial driving privileges of drivers in a “prohibited” status in the Clearinghouse, which would result in a downgrade of the CDL until the driver completes the return-to-duty (RTD) process

DRUG & ALCOHOL RECORDS

§40.333 - §382.401 - §40.25



Consideration of Confidentially cannot be stressed enough. A secure location with controlled access must be maintained at all time. If combined with other files, then they ALL have to be scoured.

TRAINING RECORDS

Part 380, § 301, 303,401, & 509

HOURS of SERVICE

• Kept for six (6) months
• Logs (paper or electric)
• Time records for short-haul drivers (within a 150-mile radius (§395.1(e) Company must document daily start time & end time. Show total daily on-duty time and total time for preceding 7 days
• Supporting documents as outlined under §395.11
• No more than 8 supporting documents per driver in a 24-hour period
• Must obtain the last seven days of time records from new or occasional drivers §395.8(j)(2)
• Must show compliance with 60/70-hour rule & 8/10 hours of off-duty prior to first dispatch

HOURS of SERVICE: ELDS

The following MUST be in the vehicle

• The ELD user’s manual
• Instruction sheet for data transfers
• Instruction sheet for malfunctions
• At least 8 blank paper logs.

ELD Office Records

• Access to ELD data and user accounts
• Back-up copy of electronic files, on a separate device, kept for 6 months

VEHICLE RECORDS - §396.3

• Records for All vehicles controlled for 30 + days and kept for 12 months
• Records must be kept where vehicle is hosed or maintained
• Vehicle make, number year, tire size, etc
• ALL inspection/maintenance /repair records
• PM schedules
• Records on vehicles leased or sold must be kept for a) the remaining time left on 1 months, or b) 6 month from when the vehicle leaves your control, whichever occurs first
• For buses: test records for pushout windows, emergency doors and door lights

IFTA AND IRP RECODKEEPING

• International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA)
• International Registration Plan (IRP)
• Vehicles over 26,000 lbs GVW or RGVW, single or combination
• 3 or more axles, regardless of weight
• Individual vehicle mileage records, trip sheets or trip reports 

IFTA/IRP RECORD SUMMARIES

Monthly summaries must show:

• Total distance of the vehicle by jurisdiction
• Total distance and total fuel for the month
• Quarterly summaries are also required under IRP

IFTA/IRP RECORD RETENTION & ORGANIZATION

IFTA requires the records used for the quarterly tax return to be retained for 4 years from the return due date of filing date, whichever is later, plus any time period included as a result of waivers or jeopardy assessments. If a licensee fails to provide the required records for the audit, the 4-year retention requirement is extended until the required records are provided

IRP requires the licensee to preserve the records their apportioned registration application is based upon for the current application year, plus the preceding mileage years. Note that depending on when a carrier renews for IRP, distance data may need to be kept for more than a 3 year period. The recordkeeping time-frame may actually end up being up to 6 ½ years. For this reason, it it highly recommended to keep ll distance and fuel data for 6 ½ years.

IFTA/IRP AUDITS

What do auditors look for:

• Internal controls
• Gap miles
• No odometer reading
• Inconsistent distance reporting
• High/Low MPG
• Unused IFTA decals

IFTA TRIP REPORTS

Trip reports must include:

• Date of trip, start and end
• Trip origin and destination
• Routes of travel
• Beginning/ending odometer readings
• Total trip miles
• Miles by jurisdiction
• Unit number or vin number
• Vehicle fleet number
• Registrant’s name

ELECTRONIC DISTANACE RECORDKEEPING

On-board devices or global positioning systems (GPS) may be used to track distance:

• Original GPS or other location data
• Date and time of each GPS reading
• Location of each GPS reading
• Beginning & ending from the odometer, hub odometer, engine control module (ECM) 
• Calculated distance between each GPS or other system reading
• Route of travel
• Total distance traveled by the vehicle
• Distance traveled in each jurisdiction
• Vehicle ID Number or unit number
• New GPS rules as of 1/1/24 require a GPS ping every 15 minutes for IRP and every 10 minutes for IFTA

FUEL TAX DOCUMENTATION

• IFTA licensees must maintain fuel records in order to take tax-paid fuel credits on their IFTA quarterly return
• Fuel may be purchased at the pumps (retail) or carrier may maintain bulk fuel storage

TAX-PAID FUEL – RETAIL

Tax-paid fuel receipts must include:

• Vehicle’s plate or unit number
• Purchase date
• Seller’s name and address
• Number of gallons purchased
• Fuel type
• Price per gallon of total sale
• Unit number
• Purchasers name

TAX-PAID FUEL – BULK

Bulk fuel records contain:

• Date of withdrawal from bulk fuel tank
• Number of gallons
• Fuel type
• Unit number or other details identifying the vehicle
• Purchase and inventory records to show that the fuel tax was paid
• Carriers must also maintain bulk fuel reconciliations quarterly

VEHICLE RECORDS: INSPECTIONS

49 CFR Part 396

Carrier is responsible for: A) Annual inspector credentials & B) Brake inspector credentials (for employees). They must have at least one year of experience and/or training, plus knowledge of the rules

ACCIDENT RECORDS

Each “accident” as defined in §390.5 for the past 3 years

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Proof of Insurance

THE “REAL” REASON for COMPLIAMCE

• Rear Ed Collision - $24.7 Million – Three dead and fifteen injured due to distracted truck driver
• Rear End Collision - $21.6 Million – (non-CDL) Passenger vehicle rear-ended cause it to lose control and cross into oncoming traffic. Fatality at scene and husband and wife injured
• Rear End Collision - $16.1 Million – (non-CDL) Elderly woman permanently disabled
• Lane Change Collision - $18.1 Million (DOT recordable) Passenger with herniated disk from bus accident 

What got them in trouble?

• 1 item in a qualification file
• 1 false log
• 1 improper drug test specimen
• 1 missing road test
• 1 invalid annual safety inspection
• 1 improper hazmat shipping paper
• 1 accident

It just doesn’t pay to cut corner’s !!