New trucking company checklist: from USDOT number to your first audit

Before the first load

1. 1. USDOT number. Register in FMCSA's Motus system at motus.dot.gov. You sign in with Login.gov and verify your identity with a government ID. The USDOT number itself is free. Motus and the MCS-150.
2. 2. Operating authority (MC number). For-hire carriers hauling regulated freight across state lines also need operating authority, applied for in Motus. FMCSA charges $300 per authority.
3. 3. Insurance filing. Your insurer files proof of liability coverage with FMCSA. The federal minimum for general freight in trucks of 10,001 lb or more is $750,000; $1 million for oil and most hazardous materials; $5 million for certain bulk hazmat. Many brokers require more.
4. 4. BOC-3 process agent. A filing that names an agent for legal papers in every state. Your authority does not activate until the insurance filing and BOC-3 are on file.
5. 5. UCR. Unified Carrier Registration, paid every year before January 1. The fee follows fleet size. UCR fees and deadline.
6. 6. IRP plates and IFTA license. Apportioned plates and a fuel tax license from your base state, for trucks over 26,000 lb or with three or more axles that cross state lines. Trucks of 55,000 lb or more also file IRS Form 2290 (heavy vehicle use tax). IRP and Form 2290.
7. 7. Drug & alcohol program. Join a random testing consortium, adopt a written policy and get a negative pre-employment test before the first CDL driver drives. What the program needs.
8. 8. Clearinghouse. Register as an employer (owner-operators designate a C/TPA) and run a full query on every driver before hire. Clearinghouse queries.
9. 9. Driver files. A complete driver qualification file for every driver, including you if you drive. DQ file checklist.
10. 10. Logs and ELD. An ELD from FMCSA's registered list in every truck that needs one, and six months of logs and supporting documents. Hours of service rules.
11. 11. Maintenance files. An annual inspection for every truck and trailer, a maintenance file for each vehicle, and DVIRs when defects are found. Inspection and maintenance.

A few states add their own requirements for trucks running through them, such as Kentucky (KYU), New Mexico, New York (HUT) and Oregon weight-mile taxes. Check the states on your lanes.

The first 18 months

Every new interstate carrier is a "new entrant" for its first 18 months. FMCSA audits property carriers within the first 12 months, and passenger carriers sooner. The audit checks the records in the list above, and sixteen specific violations fail it automatically, from having no drug and alcohol program to running a truck without its annual inspection.

See what the auditor checks and the sixteen violations.

The first renewals

• Every quarter: IFTA return. Due dates.
• Every year: UCR before January 1, IFTA license renewal by December 31, annual inspections, annual driving record reviews and Clearinghouse queries for every driver.
• Every two years: the MCS-150 update, on a date set by your USDOT number. Find your date.

Sources: 49 CFR 385 Subpart D, 387.9, 390.19; FMCSA Motus and operating authority guidance. Fees and requirements change; confirm in Motus before filing. General information, not legal advice. IFTAX is not affiliated with FMCSA or any government agency.