Is this new? Mini audit with state police

Some compliance reviews are done through the state police(who are FMCSA authorized), others are through the feds(FMCSA) Doesn't make any difference in the audit.

Have you had the new entrant yet?

 

"Mini Audits" are what is actually termed "Focused Compliance Review". It's one of the things CSA changed. Prior to CSA any audit that might result in a Safety Rating (or change) had to be a full blown Audit. CSA allowed them to do Focused Compliance Reviews which are mini audits that use your SMS (formerly CSA) BASIC information (commonly called CSA Scores) to, like the name says, focus where they want to look and can indeed result in a proposed Safety Rating or a change to one you already have. State Law Enforcement with CMV Enforcement responsibilities often do these now. It was a smart (unusual for the Feds lol) way for the Feds to be able to audit 50% more motor carriers without additional budget expense. It shortened the time for an audit and gave them extra manpower. They started a big push for auditing as many as they could, right after CSA went full on implemented. They can now do what is termed "Off Site Compliance Review". That's when they send you a letter telling you to provide them with a bunch of stuff by mailing, faxing, electronic or bring it to them. Whole different world from just 2009 when it had to be a Fed and he had to come to you and spend a couple days going over everything.

What I'd do if it was me would be to use my USDOT Motor Carrier PIN; login to CSA through the A & I login, and take a detailed look at my SMS info and prepare the same way you'd prepare for a full audit. Unless it's Off Site. If It's Off site I'd still look at my SMS info but I'd only provide them with what they ask for; which BTW is not a bad practice during any audit or interaction with any Law Enforcement. Be nice, friendly but professional, only give them what they ask for, never volunteer information and preview you SMS info so you can answer questions quickly and have an idea of what direction they are looking in going.

Best of luck and be safe.

 

Good info. We had one about a year ago and you hit the highlights.

 

kw, you don't mention what state this is. Do you have intrastate authority in that state as well, maybe?

 

Hi. New Entrant is pretty easy. About four hours or so. Seventy two points in five general categories. Six categories and more points to ask about if you haul Haz. He's right. It's designed to see if you know what you're doing and help you comply if he finds weak areas. You should get a pretty detailed report, but it won't result in a Safety Rating or like he said fines etc., for any non-compliant areas he may find. It will just show up on the report and he'll give you a ton of free "How to Comply with Drug and Alcohol Testing [or insert HOS or whatever]" material. New Entrant is no sweat. I will say this: take advantage of the opportunity and take what he finds to heart and fix it. Make it compliant. It's a whole lot easier to start a habit than break one and this is your one "freebie" from them. Use it to your advantage. Then when the real deal hits you'll be awesomely prepared. Or you may see the need to have a Safety Rating (a lot of major shippers and brokers won't use a non-rated carrier) and you can request a Compliance Review and pass with flying colors and then be able to tell your shippers and brokers you have a Satisfactory Safety Rating as the result of a recent Compliance Review ("Satisfactory" is the top rank).

 

They want to talk to the person most familiar with the daily operation of the company, not necessarily the owner. In our latest audit that was our ops manager/dispatcher. The owner was never spoken to despite being in the building both days.