DOT silliness

How do you show that in a file?

 

That is all that is required for employment verification from the DOT. We use a system that many others use for taking apps, processing apps, storing docs and tracking docs. The system can do all this for us and others that use it get requests electronically and respond electronically. While we have low turnover so we don't get a lot of requests I can't recall getting one by mail.

I think a lot of "DOT silliness" (and actually it is FMCSA that sets the regulations) is misunderstanding and misinformation.

 

That's nonsense. I'm not saying it's YOUR nonsense OP, more probably an officer trained a long time ago, or going by what he/she hears.

We had an audit today at the place where I work and for the qualifications files I used their own applications/forms downloaded from the ETA handbook. The form itself has a place to mark how the review was done: mail, fax, telephone, or other. Since I know the owner/operator these guys were working for and actually talked to him, I put it down as a personal conversation. It comes from their own forms, so she would have been hard pressed to find a problem with it.

The main thing I have found they need, and what the officer herself highlighted was you need to document everything, but just writing down that you had this conversation with this specific person on this specific date at this specific time is documentation enough for them.

 

I will comment from my very recent experience (last week):

Definitely. They will check the dates against log books, citations, scales, weight stations, and anything else they can think of.

Yes, but you can have somebody in-house doing the inspections, as long as you also have an inspector qualifications file for that person.

BIG TIME. They will go through them with a very fine tooth. And again, they will verify them against anything they can think of: fuel receipts, IFTA records... And if you have drivers they want to see that you are auditing their logbooks, not just receiving them and filing them away. And don't forget your DVIRs. Oh! And make sure they are not all spotless and the driver never found anything wrong with the truck. That's a big red flag that you're just forging them.

Yes.

If it was the truck that was put OOS, make sure you have the receipts for the repairs on the Vehicle Maintenance File. It's better to make a copy and put it together with the copy of the OOS order. If parts were not required then make a statement by the driver or whoever fixed it and put it together with the order. Another thing she pointed about the maintenance file, you have to have a separate one for every vehicle, trailers included. You can't have the truck and the trailer in the same file. Also she mentioned the file needs to be labeled on the outside.

Not per my experience. Maybe if the vehicle is there and it's easy they will do it, but we have three tractors and trailers and none of them were on premises, and she didn't even ask.

Yes, and insurance first of all.

And compared to one another.

She came in a patrol car, in uniform, with her big gun, and a don't-even-talk-to-me attitude. After she started going through records and finding everything reasonably straight she relaxed a lot.

Yeah, he/she will start asking for records, just bring them and wait for them to examine them and ask for another one. They will also have comments and questions, that's when you can clarify things you might not be doing correctly and that kind of stuff. She was joking at the end about how many questions we asked. Actually my last question was "where can I contact you if I have any more questions?" and she said "I doubt you will, 'cause you asked me about everything, but here's the number".

You WILL be nervous regardless, but I hope this post will make it easier.

One thing that got us points with her was she saw we were familiar with the ETA handbook and using some of the forms provided. If you have any specific questions that is a very good resource because you can search through it on the computer. It has the 16 points that could/would result in an automatic fail.

Oh! And one more thing: you won't necessarily get an OOS if you don't pass it, there are three outcomes, satisfactory, CONDITIONAL, and fail. If they find things that are bad enough that you won't pass but not bad enough to put you OOS, they will give you a conditional and ask you to submit some more records later.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/carrier-safety/motor-carriers-guide-improving-highway-safety

Good luck!

 

and that's what you put in the file, you simply document the info and how you obtained it, not so silly looking at it that way