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FMCSA recordkeeping

Regulations from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) require that motor carriers retain a variety of records and make those records available for auditing.

Scope

The FMCSA recordkeeping requirements apply to motor carriers operating commercial motor vehicles.

Regulatory citations

49 CFR 391.51 — General requirements for driver qualification files
49 CFR 391.53 — Driver investigation history file
49 CFR 391.55 — LCV Driver-instructor qualification files
49 CFR 382.401 — Retention of records

Key definitions

None

Summary of requirements

All motor carriers must maintain certain documents and records as a part of compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). Motor carriers have options for where and how these records are maintained, so companies should take time to develop an efficient recordkeeping system designed to fit their particular operation.

Record location. When a motor carrier registers with the FMCSA, it is required to provide the address of the company’s main office. That location is generally where an FMCSA official would go first to perform a compliance review. The main office, however, is not necessarily where the FMCSA-required records have to be kept. Unless a regulation specifies a different location, required records can be kept:

At a company’s principal place of business,
At a regional office,
At a driver work-reporting location, or
At the offices of a third party.

The important thing to remember is that the records must be made available to an inspector within 48 hours after a request is made (or longer as allowed by the inspector). An FMCSA representative or agent can request that the records be made available:

At the motor carrier’s principal place of business, or
At any other location specified by the agent or representative.

The 48-hour timeframe does not include Saturdays, Sundays, or federal holidays. Also, if a motor carrier has only one business location and all records are stored there, the 48-hour timeframe does not apply.

If a third party is hired to maintain a motor carrier’s documents, liability for the condition of those records always falls to the motor carrier. In other words, the motor carrier is subject to the regulations, not the third party. If the third party loses a record or fails to deliver a record to an FMCSA auditor, the motor carrier will pay the penalty.

Filing options. Motor carriers also have options when it comes to the organization of their FMCSA-required records. Though certain FMCSRs seem to suggest that the records must be kept in distinct files arranged by topic, that is not the case. For example, 49 CFR Parts 382 and 391 contain requirements for:

A driver qualification (DQ) file,
A driver investigation history file,
A longer-combination-vehicle driver-instructor qualification file, and
A drug and alcohol testing file.

The above files, however, do not have to be stored in four separate folders or cabinets (although that is one option). All of these files, or any combination, along with a driver’s personnel file, could be stored in a single file. If files are combined, keep the following in mind:

Organization is key. The files should be arranged in such a way that an auditor can access requested documents quickly.
Follow the most stringent recordkeeping requirements. The drug/alcohol and driver investigation history files must be stored in “a secure location with controlled access.” If one of these files is combined with the DQ file, for example, then the entire file must be secured, even though the DQ file is not subject to the same security requirements.

Copies. FMCSA-required documents do not always have to be stored in their original paper form. The regulations state that all required records and documents must be preserved in their original form unless they are suitably copied or converted into an electronic format. To be acceptable in place of original records, copies must be legible and must accurately reflect the information required to be contained in the document (390.31). Once suitably copied or converted, the original records can be destroyed.

Electronic recordkeeping. The FMCSRs also allow electronic recordkeeping (390.32). An electronic signature may be used as long as it “identifies and authenticates” the person doing the signing as the source of the electronic document and indicates that person’s approval of the information in the document. Electronic signatures may be made through use of a stylus, biometrics, smart cards, or authentication via username and password, for example.