By Sandra Brakstad, President of Midwest Compliance Inc.,
Sauk Rapids Minnesota
800-656-1396
http://www.midwestcompliance.com/

Let’s say when, rather than if, you are audited the following format is pretty close to what you can expect.

The person assigned to conduct the compliance review will send you a letter requesting the following information:

1. Your Federal tax identification number; this might be your social security number if you are operating as a sole proprietor without employees.


2. The legal name of your company, and the name you are doing business as, (DBA).


3. The state and year you incorporated, and/or the year your operations began.


4. The principal cargo you transport.


5. A list of corporate officers and their titles, or if a partnership, the name of partners.


6. The name of your safety director, payroll clerk, and dispatchers.


7. Last year’s gross and net revenue.


8. The name and telephone number of your insurance company, (not your agent) the amount of public liability insurance you hold, the policy number, and the effective coverage dates.


9. A copy of your MCS-90, (this is only required if you are a for-hire carrier; or if you are transporting hazardous materials.)


10. If you use a consortium for random testing, the name of the company controlling the consortium activity. Also the name and telephone number of the medical review officer group.


11. If you haul hazardous material, the registration numbers for PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration), and your Minnesota Uniform Hazardous Materials registration.


12. The total miles operated in the previous twelve months.


13. A current list of all your drivers, including their date of hire, or date of contract (if your drivers are leased to you as owner/operators.)


14. The type and number of trucks and trailers you own and/or lease. The definition of lease for this question refers to trip leased, rather than financial lease.


15. They will also want your files on any DOT recordable accidents; (definition of a recordable accident is an occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle operating on a highway in interstate or intrastate commerce which results in: I. A fatality; II. Bodily injury to a person who, as a result of the injury, immediately receives medical treatment away from the scene of the accident; or III. one or more motor vehicles incur disabling damage, as a result of the accident, requiring the motor vehicle to towed away from the scene). Include information received from the agency that investigated the accident, police reports, and proof of post accident drug and alcohol tests, if applicable.


16. Driver qualification files for all drivers.


17. Alcohol and controlled substances testing records and information. This includes the statistics you should be receiving from your consortium twice each year.


18. Pre-employment drug test results for all drivers hired or contracted in the past year.


19. Time records and/or logs for the previous six months, as well as supporting documents for the same period of time. Supporting documents would include, but are not limited to, toll receipts, fuel receipts, scale receipts, bills of lading, shipping documents, invoices, dispatch records, etc. You are required to produce these documents, even if your drivers are paying for some of these items themselves!


20. Vehicle maintenance records, which should include annual inspections, daily vehicle inspection reports, records of all maintenance completed on your vehicles, and equipment files.


21. Other items subject to review may include copies of road side inspection reports, certificates of training, i.e. reasonable suspicion training, entry level training, hazardous materials and security training, driver call in records, etc.

The audit may be completed in one day, or it may take several days depending upon the size of your operation and how organized you are. Once completed, you will be asked to sit with the auditor for a recap of the information examined. You will most likely know, before the examiner leaves, what your safety rating is. Let’s hope it’s satisfactory!

See you next month, until then take it one load at a time!

Sandra Brakstad
http://www.midwestcompliance.com/
800-656-1396