For carriers in their first year under a USDOT number
Send the documents you already have. Get a verdict on every one, before FMCSA’s auditor gives his.
Every new interstate carrier gets an FMCSA new entrant safety audit in its first year. New Entrant Audit Check reads the file you have already built, the way you have it now, flags what is missing, expired, unsigned, or under the wrong name, and hands it back assembled in the order the audit works through it.
We prepare and check. You submit and sign. That part stays yours.
The stakes
Sixteen violations end the audit on their own
Under 49 CFR §385.321(b), any one of these sixteen violations fails a new entrant safety audit automatically. Fourteen of them fail it on a single occurrence. Several are pure paperwork: a program that was never put in place, coverage that lapsed, an inspection that expired. An audit can also be failed on points, when violations add up across the safety factors under §385.321(a).
| Rule | The violation | How it fails the audit |
|---|---|---|
| §382.115 | No drug and alcohol testing program in place at all | Fails on one occurrence |
| §382.201 | A driver known to be at 0.04 alcohol or higher was used for safety-sensitive work | Fails on one occurrence |
| §382.211 | A driver who refused a required drug or alcohol test was used anyway | Fails on one occurrence |
| §382.215 | A driver known to have tested positive for a controlled substance was used anyway | Fails on one occurrence |
| §382.305 | No random testing program in place | Fails on one occurrence |
| §383.3(a) / §383.23(a) | A driver was knowingly used without a valid CDL | Fails on one occurrence |
| §383.37(b) | A driver whose CDL is disqualified or suspended was knowingly allowed to drive | Fails on one occurrence |
| §383.51(a) | A driver disqualified from driving a commercial vehicle was knowingly allowed to drive | Fails on one occurrence |
| §387.7(a) | A vehicle was operated without the required minimum insurance in effect | Fails on one occurrence |
| §387.31(a) | A passenger-carrying vehicle was operated without the required minimum insurance | Fails on one occurrence |
| §391.15(a) | A disqualified driver was knowingly used | Fails on one occurrence |
| §391.11(b)(4) | A physically unqualified driver was knowingly used | Fails on one occurrence |
| §395.8(a) | Drivers were not required to keep records of duty status | Fails at 51%+ of records examined |
| §396.9(c)(2) | A vehicle declared out of service was run before the repairs were made | Fails on one occurrence |
| §396.11(a)(3) | Out-of-service defects a driver listed were not corrected before the vehicle ran again | Fails on one occurrence |
| §396.17(a) | A commercial vehicle was used without its periodic (annual) inspection | Fails at 51%+ of records examined |
Source: Table to 49 CFR §385.321. Rules checked November 2026 against 49 CFR Part 385 and FMCSA’s New Entrant pages.
What a read checks
Every document, against the list the auditor works from
The auditor asks for driver files, drug and alcohol program records, hours-of-service records, vehicle inspection and maintenance records, proof of insurance, and an accident register, which has to exist even if it is blank (§385.311; FMCSA Safety Audit Resource Guide). For each document you send, the read checks four things: is it there, is it signed where a signature belongs, are its dates inside the window the rule sets, and does the name on it match the carrier and driver it belongs to.
Driver files
Applications, licenses, hire and annual motor vehicle records, annual review notes, road test certificates, medical certificates, checked against §391.51 and the dates inside it: a signed application (§391.21), the hire MVR pulled within 30 days (§391.23), the signed and dated annual review note (§391.25).
Drug & alcohol program
Your §382.601 policy, consortium enrollment, random pool roster, pre-employment results, and Clearinghouse query records, checked against the program the audit expects to find. Random testing runs at 50% of drivers for drugs and 10% for alcohol in 2026 (§382.305).
Vehicles, hours, insurance, accidents
Annual inspections, maintenance records, driver vehicle inspection reports, duty records and their supporting documents, insurance declarations and the MCS-90, and the accident register required by §390.15. Most property carriers run a $750,000 minimum in financial responsibility (49 CFR Part 387).
Anything you do not send is reported as not read. It is never assumed to be fine. And every verdict tied to one of the sixteen automatic-failure items is reviewed by a person before your report goes out.
How it works
Three steps, and your paper comes back organized
1
You send the pile
Fill in the intake form and we confirm a delivery date in writing, with the short list of what to send. Phone photos or scans of what you already have are fine. The shoebox is the point; uncategorized paper gets read too.
2
We read every document
Each document gets a verdict: in order, needs fixing, or tied to an automatic-failure item, with the rule cited. You get a flags report that shows, document by document, what is missing, expired, unsigned, or under the wrong name.
3
You fix and submit
Alongside the report you receive your packet assembled in the order the audit works through it, with a manifest that cites the rule for each item. You make the fixes and you submit. Your source documents are purged 30 days after delivery.
The sample
See exactly what comes back
The sample report walks through a fictional two-truck carrier whose file looks ordinary and is not: an unsigned driver application, a medical certificate that expired, a hire MVR pulled late, an annual review with no note, a random pool roster that does not exist, an expired trailer inspection, no accident register at all, and an insurance endorsement whose policy number does not match. Eight problems, each shown the way it would appear in your report.
The carrier, the people, and every document in the sample are fictional. It is labelled a sample here, on its page, and on the report itself.
What the alternatives cost
Generation is cheap. A department is not. Reading your paper is the job nobody else sells.
| Route | What it does | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| Make new paper (CrewPapers, FreightVerdict) | Generates a fresh packet and forms from your company details. It never looks at the documents you already have. | $149 one time (CrewPapers); $79 one time (FreightVerdict kit) |
| Rent a department (TenFour, Roadworthy HQ) | Ongoing compliance software and services, with audit preparation inside the subscription. | TenFour $99/mo billed annually ($1,188); Roadworthy HQ from $39/mo |
| Hire a person to read it (DOT Services of America, Milepost Safety) | A consultant reviews your records and plans the fixes, priced as human hours. | Audit preparation $595, mock audit $399 (DOT Services of America); readiness $1,500–$2,500 (Milepost Safety) |
| This read (New Entrant Audit Check) | A one-time verdict on the documents you already have, plus the packet assembled in the auditor’s order. | $199 one time |
Prices read from each seller’s own pages, November 2026.
What we are not
- Not the government. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Transportation or FMCSA.
- Not FMCSA-certified or FMCSA-approved, and neither is anyone else. FMCSA does not certify or endorse recordkeeping vendors. There is no such program.
- Not a law firm, and a document review is not legal advice.
- Not a compliance department. This is a one-time read of the file you have now, not a subscription and not ongoing management.
- We do not file, upload, submit, or sign anything for you, and we do not speak to FMCSA on your behalf.
- We do not promise an audit outcome. We tell you what your documents show. FMCSA’s auditor decides the rest.
Questions carriers ask
Three of them, answered straight
Is this approved by FMCSA?
No, and no vendor can say otherwise. FMCSA does not certify or endorse recordkeeping vendors; there is no approval program to hold. Anyone who claims FMCSA certification is selling you a credential that does not exist.
Do you send my documents to FMCSA for me?
No. We prepare the packet and check it. You submit it and you sign it. When FMCSA asks for your documents in an offsite audit, you upload them through the New Entrant Web System (NEWS), and you sign in with Login.gov.
What happens to my documents afterwards?
Your uploaded source documents are purged 30 days after your report is delivered. You keep the report and the packet. We keep the report and the verdict log. We do not collect Social Security numbers, and no audit document needs one. The full statement is on the privacy page.
Your audit is already on the calendar
FMCSA must run it within 12 months of your USDOT number, 120 days if you carry passengers (§385.3), and you stay monitored for your first 18 months (§385.307). The cheapest time to find a missing signature is now, while it is still your problem to fix quietly.
Rules checked November 2026 against 49 CFR Part 385 and FMCSA’s New Entrant pages.