If your company has ever been part of a FMCSA compliance review than you know how stressful that can be trying to check all of your information and hoping that everything is in place. If you are trying to make a good business decision and stay compliant with all federal regulations, ITI recommends completing a mock audit once a year. The mock audit service will examine all of the items a Federal or State investigator would examine when they come to perform a compliance review. The results from a mock audit will identify anything that has been overlooked and therefore avoid hefty fines and unfavorable ratings.

 A compliance review resulting in an unfavorable “Conditional” rating or even worse an “Unsatisfactory” rating could lead to the loss of loads and increased insurance rates. The following two examples are situations which should have resulted a successful compliance review with a “Satisfactory” rating. But because the issues were not identified prior to FMCSA review it resulted in a “Conditional” rating and hefty fines instead:

• A company took a driver in for a reasonable suspicion drug test.  As it turns out, no one at the carrier had received the required “Supervisor’s Reasonable Suspicion Training” (382.603) for drugs and alcohol. Without this training, the carrier did not have legal grounds to send the driver for a reasonable suspicion drug test.  A mock audit would have quickly discovered this problem and avoided the repercussions that ensued.
• A company had maintenance files, but did not properly document the files with the required annual inspections and maintenance info per 396.3(b)(1).  They also failed to have certification for their mechanic to be an inspector and/or brake inspector. Their driver was involved in a fatal accident and a full compliance audit was required. This situation could lead to an enormous amount of problems for the carrier.

For more information about mock audits and FMCSA compliance reviews please email safety@itihq.com

Other resources: https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/NewEntrant/Regulations.aspx