A review of the publicly available resources from the FMCSA and four most common compliance troublespots for motor carriers.

1. JEREMY W. RICHTER
W EBSTER, HENR Y, LY O NS,
B R A DWELL, C O HA N & S PEA GLE, P . C .
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Top Oversights in FMCSA
and DOT Compliance and
Document Reporting

2. FMCSA’s SAFER System
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Safety and Fitness Electronic Records (“SAFER”) System

3. FMCSA’s SAFER System
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Safety and Fitness Electronic Records (“SAFER”) System
 Mission of reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities
involving commercial vehicles
 Develops and enforces regulations that attempt to balance
safety and efficiency
 Provides safety information systems that provide data
regarding motor carriers

4. FMCSA’s SAFER System
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Safety and Fitness Electronic Records (“SAFER”) System

5. FMCSA’s SMS System
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Safety Measurement System (“SMS”)

6. FMCSA’s SMS System
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Safety Measurement System (“SMS”)
 “[Y]our one-stop-shop for public motor carrier safety
data. SMS uses this information to identify motor
carriers that pose the greatest risk to safety for
interventions.”
 SMS provides very specific information regarding
motor carrier compliance and crash safety data for a
24-month window.

7. FMCSA’s SMS System
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Safety Measurement System (“SMS”)
24-month data on a medium-size Alabama trucking company:
 829 total inspections; 293 inspections resulted in violations
 Out-of-service percentage during inspection of the motor
carrier’s vehicles was 14.7% (compared to 20.7% nationally)
and drivers was 3.3% (compared to 5.5% nationally)
 20 reportable crashes, of which 4 resulted in reported injuries

8. FMCSA’s SMS System
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Safety Measurement System (“SMS”)
24-month data on a medium-size Alabama trucking company:
 Unsafe Driving Violations:
 Failure to obey traffic control devices or lane restriction violations – 11
 Following too close or improper lane change – 4
 Reckless driving – 1
 Speeding 6-10mph over the speed limit – 28
 Speeding greater than 10mph over the speed limit – 6
 Speeding in a work/construction zone – 3
 Hours of Service Compliance:
 Driving beyond 14hr duty period – 11 (7 Out of Service Violations)
 Driving beyond 8hr limit since last off duty or sleeper period of at least 30min – 13
 Driving beyond 11hr driving limit in a 14hr period – 7 (5 Out of Service Violations)
 Driving after 70hrs on-duty in an 8-day period – 2 (2 Out of Service Violations)
 No driver’s record of duty status – 2 (2 Out of Service Violations)
 False report of driver’s duty status – 7 (6 Out of Service Violations)

9. FMCSA’s SMS System
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Safety Measurement System (“SMS”)
24-month data on a medium-size Alabama trucking company:
 Driver Fitness
 Operating without a CDL – 1 (1 Out of Service Violations)
 Driving with CDL suspended for non-safety-related – 2 (2 Out of Service
Violations)
 Driving while disqualified – 1 (1 Out of Service Violations)
 Vehicle Maintenance
 Brakes out of adjustment – 35
 Inadequate, inoperative, or defective brakes 12 (3 Out of Service Violations)
 Brakes, generally – 9 (1 Out of Service Violations)
 Tire-related violations – 20 (12 Out of Service Violations)

10. FMCSA’s CSA Program
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Compliance, Safety, Accountability (“CSA”) Program

11. FMCSA’s CSA Program
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Compliance, Safety, Accountability (“CSA”) Program
 Derives scores and ratings for motor carriers based on their compliance
with federal regulations
 Compliance is determined by the Behavior Analysis and Safety
Improvement Category (BASIC) system, which measures a motor
carrier's safety and compliance in the following seven categories:
1. Unsafe driving,
2. Hours-of-service compliance,
3. Driver fitness,
4. Controlled substances and alcohol,
5. Vehicle maintenance,
6. Hazardous materials compliance, and
7. Crash indicator

12. FMCSA’s Pre-Employment Screening Program
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Pre-Employment Screening Program (“PSP”)
 Goal of helping “carriers make more informed hiring
decisions by providing secure, electronic access to a
commercial driver’s five-year crash and three-year
inspection history from the FMCSA Motor Carrier
Management Information System (MCMIS).”
 Participating in PSP does not replace or relieve either the
driver or motor carrier from producing or obtaining any of
the driver background information required by FMCSA.
 PSP is entirely voluntary, and a motor carrier can only
access a driver’s PSP scores if the driver gives his consent.

13. FMCSA’s Pre-Employment Screening Program
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Pre-Employment Screening Program (“PSP”)
 PSP records contain…
 A driver’s personal information;
 A five-year DOT-reportable crash history; and
 A three-year roadside inspection history.
 PSP can only be used during the hiring process and cannot
be used to monitor a driver’s continued compliance after
being hired.
 A driver will not have a PSP score if he has not had a
roadside inspection or DOT-reportable crash within the
three- or five-year period, respectively.

14. Common Compliance Problems
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1. Hours of Service for Drivers

15. Common Compliance Problems:
Hours of Service
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 Non-Exempt Drivers
 May drive a maximum of 11 hours within a 14-hour on-duty
period, which must be followed by 10 consecutive hours off
duty.
 May not be on duty and/or driving for more than 8 consecutive
hours without taking a rest break of at least 30 minutes.
 Prohibited from being on duty more than either (a) 60 hours
in 7 consecutive days, or (b) 70 hours in 8 consecutive days.
 Each 7/8 day period most be a followed by a “34-hour restart”.

16. Common Compliance Problems:
Hours of Service
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 Non-Exempt Drivers
 Must use either paper logsheets or an electronic logging device
("ELD") to record their duty status for every 24-hour period
required by the FMCSA.
 Four types of duty status:
1. On-duty not driving,
2. Driving,
3. Sleeper berth, and
4. Off duty

17. Common Compliance Problems:
Hours of Service
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18. Common Compliance Problems:
Hours of Service
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 Electronic Logging Devices
 Beginning on December 16, 2017, most commercial drivers will
be required to use electronic logging devices ("ELDs") to
record their duty status; two years to comply.
 Who does this affect?
 The rule can be generalized as follows: if a driver is required to
keep logsheets, he will be required to have an ELD.
 An example of a driver who may continue to keep paper logs is
a short-haul driver who operates a commercial vehicle 8 or
fewer days in a 30-day period.

19. Common Compliance Problems
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1. Hours of Service for Drivers
2. Valid Medical Certificates

20. Common Compliance Problems:
Valid Medical Certificates
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 A person is physically qualified to drive a commercial
motor vehicle if he or she meets all the criteria set forth
in 49 C.F.R. § 391.41, which requires the following:
 No loss or impairment of limb;
 Has not been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, certain vascular or
cardiovascular diseases, certain respiratory dysfunctions, high blood
pressure, epilepsy or conditions likely to cause loss of consciousness,
and/or mental or psychiatric disorders likely to interfere with an
ability to safely operate a commercial vehicle;
 Meets certain sight and hearing parameters;
 Does not use any Schedule I drug under 21 C.F.R § 1308.11;
 Does not use any non-Schedule I drug apart from having a
prescription from a licensed medical practitioner; and
 Has no current clinical diagnosis of alcoholism.

21. Common Compliance Problems:
Valid Medical Certificates
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 In order to ensure that a person meets the physical
qualifications for driving a commercial vehicle, drivers
are required (unless otherwise excepted) to undergo a
medical examination every two years.
 The guidelines and instructions for the performance of
a medical examination by a medical examiner are set
forth in 49 C.F.R. § 391.43, with the results of the
examination recorded in a Medical Examination
Report (“long form”).

22. Common Compliance Problems:
Valid Medical Certificates
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23. Common Compliance Problems:
Valid Medical Certificates
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 If the medical examiner finds that the driver is
physically qualified to drive a commercial vehicle
pursuant to the guidelines of 49 C.F.R. § 391.43, the
examiner is to furnish the driver with a Medical
Examiner’s Certificate (“medical card”).
 Once the driver has been issued a Medical
Examiner’s Certificate, the driver should maintain a
copy in his possession, provide a copy to the motor
carrier, and register a copy with the appropriate state
agency (i.e., Alabama Department of
Transportation).

24. Common Compliance Problems:
Valid Medical Certificates
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25. Common Compliance Problems:
Valid Medical Certificates
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 The FMCSA does not instruct motor carriers to take
any measures to verify that accuracy or merits of a
DOT medical certification.
 The FMCSR do not require a motor carrier to obtain
a driver's medical records.
 Even if the motor carrier wanted to make such an
inquiry, it may not be permitted access to its driver's
medical records, secondary to the HIPAA Privacy
Rule. See Whatley v. Merit Distrib. Svcs., 191 F.R.D.
655, 659 (S.D.Ala. 2000).

26. Common Compliance Problems
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1. Hours of Service for Drivers
2. Valid Medical Certificates
3. Drug and Alcohol Screening

27. Common Compliance Problems:
Drug and Alcohol Screens
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 The most common testing circumstances are as
follows:
1. Pre-Employment
2. Random
3. Reasonable Suspicion
4. Post-Accident
 A motor carrier is required to keep the results of a
negative test for a minimum period of 1 year and is
required to retain the results of a positive test for a
minimum period of 5 years.

28. Common Compliance Problems:
Drug and Alcohol Screens
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 Following a collision involving one of a motor carrier’s
commercial vehicles on a public roadway, the motor
carrier must submit its driver for testing "as soon as
practical" if the collision involved either:
 The loss of human life, or
 The driver receives a either a citation for alcohol or controlled
substance or a moving traffic violation related to an accident
involving either:
 Injury to a person requiring medical treatment away from the accident
scene, or
 Resulting in one of the involved vehicles incurring disabling damage
from the accident that requires the vehicle to be towed from the scene.

29. Common Compliance Problems
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1. Hours of Service for Drivers
2. Valid Medical Certificates
3. Drug and Alcohol Screening
4. Hiring Non-English Speaking Drivers

30. Common Compliance Problems:
Non-English-Speaking Drivers
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 The FMCSR require that a commercial driver is able
to “read and speak the English language sufficiently
to:
 converse with the general public,
 understand highway traffic signs and signals,
 respond to official inquiries, and
 make entries on reports and records.”
 Two major driving forces behind hiring English-
language deficient drivers are a lack of qualified
drivers and high driver turnover rates.

31. Common Compliance Problems:
Non-English-Speaking Drivers
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 In 2008, the FMCSA identified tasks and driving
activities that required proficiency in English that could
adversely affect the driver and others on the roadway if
the driver were not proficient in English:
 pre-trip inspections, making logbook entries, reading bills of lading
and other paperwork related to loads and delivery instructions,
reading and interpreting maps and directions, reading and operating
controls and instruments, reading traffic signs.
 In 2011, the FMCSA determined that it “is becoming
increasingly common” for commercial drivers with
limited abilities to speak, read, or understand English to
be on the roadways.

32. Jeremy W. Richter
Webster, Henry, Lyons, Bradwell, Cohan & Speagle, P.C.
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Jeremy W. Richter
www.jeremywrichter.com
An Insurance & Personal Injury Defense Law Blog