Who's had a DOT audit? I have a question?

Typically when a carrier discovers a violation, they do a "write-up" to inform the driver and possibly impose disciplinary action. This protects them in case of an audit. A violation is a violation and it can't be made to "go away", so an auditor expects to see some violations and errors, but also wants to see where the carrier is monitoring their drivers and logs and is trying to be pro-active in preventing future violations. It is blatant and frequent falsification issues that an auditor won't tolerate. (A solo driver going on break in Rawlins and starts the next day in Green River for example ... although those entries probably weren't "false" in actuality ... his truck magically transported itself while he was sleeping)

Besides, many small carriers (especially private carriers) never even bother to "look over" logs, and simply make sure there are no day gaps and file them away. These will find themselves in big trouble if an aggressive auditor comes in. Even with advance notice, it's virtually impossible to scan x number of drivers logs for 12+ months inside of a week and "correct violations".

 

No need to scan 12+ months worth of logs. You only have to have to keep the last 6 months.

 

Over the years i've had five compliance review audits. When they look at logs they will want fuel card reports with days and times. They will look for scale tickets,weigh station reports on times crossed and anything that shows where you were at a certain time. When they pick the drivers to audit they usually have a reason. They have documentation as to where they were at certain times. They can and will contact shippers/recievers for in/out times. If the auditor is at all aggressive they will most likely find some violations.

 

About 35 years with company and O/O's and a few company's back into regulation times.. Many of those were hauling swinging out and produce back. That will put you on everyones radar. Always managed to achieve a satisfactory rating,but have had some hefty fines also.
Even if you pay cash they can get what date/time that ticket was printed in most cases. Pay by debit/dredit card and they will require card statements. You want them knowing every time/place you use a card? It that all going to match? Cross a scale and get entered into the system,they have that time. If you are the only driver then deep down you know if you ever"fudge"anything.
Have an inspection that showed a write up(not just oos)better have a repair order showing it fixed. Not two weeks later when you get around to it. You can write on the inspection driver repaired for say a light,won't fly for say changing a tire out. If you're written up and repair a few days later do you write it up on your inspection?
DQ files,make sure any/all drug tests are"secure". Kind off weird if you're the only one but needs to be done anyway. Make sure you pull an annual dmv and complete the review. Keep informed of any new regulations pertaining to DQ files and update as needed.
Make sure you have some sort of log auditing system(miles,check bol's ect)again weird if you're the only one.
There is a wealth of info out there that can put you someplace at a certain date/time.

 

What i meant with the tires,you would have a hard time convincing an auditor that you changed it in a parking lot. Now if you could take them out to the truck and show everything needed to do it in the truck would be no problem. If you waited two weeks to get home and then repair something it is a problem. Just because it's not an OOS doesn't mean that you can get it repaired at your leisure. That is one thing they look at and is easy to spot.
They can come at any time for any reason,you don't have to get write up's/oos,accidents. If you get complacent it can come back and bite you in the #####.
As i said,you know what you are doing. There are things that can be covered,but most can be found if they want to.
Most cases you need to have a certain percentage of violations to what is checked to get fined or conditional/unsatisfactory rating. Only exception is D/A violations.
Something to remember is that they can/do use IFTA records. IFTA show's say 100,000 miles for the year and maintainence show's 120,000 they are going to dig deeper.
Logs use a simple program like DDL(not advertising)and some kind of mileage program. You need to show that you are auditing your logs.Again weird with just you driving.
It goes a long way if you can show that you are really trying. Let them find something that you have hidden and it all goes out the window.

 

Unless someone is hiding something there would be no reason to not have all repairs/maintainence records in a file,you would do that for tax purposes. Don't give them a reason to think you're hiding anything. There is a minimum requirement for DOT,that is all you have to provide. Best course of action in an audit is to at least appear that everything is availible for inspection.
You do have a time period to produce documents,a one truck operation should not have to take a day or two to produce something. The longer they are there the more time they have to dig around.
Out of the five i've had only one auditor was all business. The other's would point out areas to improve,even give suggestions on ways to improve. One joked around so much i hated to see her go. As driver's came in she would badge them and say she wanted to talk to them in private. Talk about the deer in headlight look. It was hilarious to watch.