How to Choose a DOT Compliance Company

Owner-Operators can usually keep a good handle on their own safety and compliance with a DOT compliance checklist and a good drug and alcohol testing consortium. Large motor carriers usually have a safety director and/or a team of safety and compliance managers. But, what about the trucking companies in between?

Managing all of your fleet’s safety and compliance responsibilities can be a huge challenge, especially on top of all of your other duties.

So, you might be considering working with a company that specializes in DOT compliance for trucking companies.

These are known as a DOT compliance company (like My Safety Manager) or a DOT compliance consultant. Some other names for them are transportation compliance services, DOT compliance services or even just trucking compliance services.

Whatever you call them, A DOT compliance service provider can help you comply with all of the FMCSA regulations that you must follow. But, how do you know which partner to choose and what your needs are?

What to Look For in a DOT Compliance Company

The needs of each trucking company can be different and I’m sure that yours is no exception. Depending on the type and size of your operation, you may need help with some areas of fleet safety and DOT compliance more than others.

You may be a seasoned trucking industry veteran or someone new to the industry asking ” what is DOT compliance?” Either way, there are many factors to consider when choosing a a USDOT compliance services provider to help with your DOT compliance program.

Let’s work through them.

DOT Compliance Companies: DIY vs. Done For You

Recently, there has been a growth of software and tech companies entering the DOT compliance services space. These services can provide some bounce for small to medium trucking companies.

But, they usually just give you another system or app that you have to use manage your safety and compliance data and documents.

But, does the transportation compliance service actually help you comply with the DOT regulations or just give you another way to manage your compliance information?

Are you looking for someone that you can reach out to to answer your questions or do you want to almost totally outsource your safety and compliance functions?

Each DOT compliance service provider will serve you differently, so understanding what they focus on and which services they offer is key.

DOT Compliance Company Areas of focus

Do the providers that you work with mostly work with owner-operators? Perhaps they focus on helping those who mostly haul hazardous materials. Some companies are well known for handling conditional safety rating upgrade requests. Other DOT compliance companies focus on driver and vehicle file management.

You’ll find that most DOT compliance services or DOT compliance consultants have a specific area of focus, but you may have to dig a bit to find out what that is.

Some good questions to ask each transportation compliance service company that you’re considering working with are:

• What sets your company apart from your competitors?
• What makes your company different than others out there?
• How will you help our fleet prevent DOT violations?
• How long has your company been in the transportation compliance services DOT compliance consulting space?

Their answer to these questions should give you a better understanding of their strengths and area(s) of focus.

For some trucking companies, they would like someone to be in the office helping while others are very comfortable with a virtual safety and compliance management solution, like our My Safety Manager program.

If having someone in your office on a regular basis is critical, try doing a google search for ” dot compliance companies near me” or ” dot compliance consultants near me” and see what comes up.

This can be an effective way to start to find a good FMCSA compliance partner. Another key consideration are the services offered by a transportation compliance company.

Transportation Compliance Services Provided

ADOT compliance company can offer many different types of transportation compliance services.

Let’s discuss some of the most common services in detail and explore some questions that you should ask DOT compliance companies that you are interviewing.

Safety Audits or Mock DOT Audits

Most DOT compliance companies offer some type of file auditing service. This usually involves reviewing your driver qualification, vehicle maintenance and drug and alcohol records of your company to determine your compliance with DOT regulations.

Audits can be conducted on an annual, semi-annual, or monthly basis and companies will vary on what those audits may include.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Do the DOT compliance services provided include a mock DOT audit?
• Will the company charge you extra for a mock DOT audit?
• How many audits will they conduct on your files each year?
• How will they deliver audit results to you?

Hours of Service/ELD Audits and Management

Managing your hours of service and electronic logging devices (ELD) are one of the most critical DOT compliance activities. It’s important that any DOT compliance company helps ease this burden for you!

Good Questions to Ask:

• Will the DOT compliance services provided include ELD or HOS management services?
• How will a DOT compliance company help your fleet with hours of service and ELD management?
• Will they audit your logs or ELD records?
• If so, how often will they review them and what will the audits include?
• Will the company review your HOS supporting documents as well?
• How will they report their audit findings to you?
• How will the service provider help you manage personal conveyance use and ELD disconnect events?
• Will they report HOS violations to you directly or do you still have to use your ELD system (like Motive or Samsara) to monitor your ELD information?
• Will they tie in driver safety training to violations found during the ELD audit?

In 2023, the FMCSA is changing the CSA BASIC program to better target trucking companies that need to be audited or have other interventions. Learn more about these upcoming changes to the FMCSA CSA program here!

Driver Qualification Services

The process of brining new drivers into your organization is critical to your business’ success. Having a consistent system in place helps reduce the time and money spent and can show how professional your company is to driver candidates and newly hired drivers.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Do the trucking compliance services provided include Driver Qualification services?
• How will the company qualify your new driver candidates?
• How quickly do they turn around initial driver qualification information back to you?
• Do they provide you with an online truck driver application?
• What DQF reports (MVR, FMCSA PSP, Background checks) do they order and provide to you?
• Will they dig into and investigate violations found on a driver’s PSP report for you?
• Do they actually review the information and help you make an informed hiring decision or do they simply provide you with the information?
• How is the pre-employment drug testing process handled?
• Will the company conduct the required Safety Performance History for you?

The transportation compliance company’s role in driver qualification management is just beginning once the driver is hired.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Are Driver and Vehicle file management included in the DOT compliance services provided?
• How are your Driver Qualification Files going to be managed?
• Will the service provider use a cloud based solution or manage separate paper files?
• Will they run your required annual MVRs for your drivers?
• If so, will they charge you each time that they do?
• Will they request and review each driver’s MVR within 15 days after they renew their DOT medical certificate?

Driver and Vehicle Maintenance Expiration Management

One of the most basic transportation compliance services that most providers are offering these days is the ability to notify you when different documents (like the annual DOT inspection) are expiring.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Do the DOT compliance services provided include document expiration notifications?
• How will the company notify you?
• Will they reach out the the drivers directly to request this information or simply provide you with an alert?

Driver MVR monitoring

MVR monitoring is kind of a 2.0 safety and compliance service that is available in the marketplace. A few different vendors provide this information to trucking companies. More important than driver MVR monitoring is driver CDL status updates.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Is driver MVR and CDL monitoring included in the trucking compliance services provided?
• Will the safety DOT compliance company notify you if a driver’s CDL has been suspended for failure to pay child support, etc?

Vehicle Maintenance Management

Regularly maintaining your fleet’s equipment is critical to the survival of your business. Some trucking compliance services can help you manage this compliance area as well.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Do the trucking compliance services provided include vehicle maintenance management?
• How will your company help maintain our truck files?
• Will the DOT compliance company alert me to upcoming annual truck inspection exprirations?
• Can your company help with DVIR management?
• How will the DOT compliance company help you avoid lighting violations?

DOT Drug and Alcohol Testing Services

A solid drug and alcohol testing program is critical. When selecting a DOT compliance company, you should ask them about which drug and alcohol testing companies they use and how many testing locations they have across the US. Understanding what FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse services provided is also important.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Is DOT drug and alcohol testing management included in the DOT compliance services provided?
• Will the company manage your DOT drug and alcohol testing program individually or include you in a testing consortium?
• How does the company handle pre-employment drug testing?
• What happens if a driver has a positive drug test?
• How is DOT random drug testing handled?
• Will the company manage the return to duty process for you?
• Will they manage the required follow-up testing process?
• Will they report negative Return to Duty tests and completed follow up testing program results to the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse for you?
• Will the company charge you extra to run the initial “Full” and annual “Limited” FMCSA clearinghouse queries?

Be sure to understand the drug and alcohol tesing services provided and if the company charges you for each drug test that you request!

CSA BASIC Score Management

How will working with trucking compliance services help with your FMCSA CSA scores? After all, this is the scorecard by which we measure all trucking company compliance, right?

Good Questions to Ask:

• Do the DOT compliance services provided include FMCSA CSA management?
• Will your compliance partner alert you to changes in your CSA BASIC scores?
• How about providing you with trend analysis?
• Do they let you know which drivers are causing your CSA points to rise each month?
• Do they provide you with customized improvement plans and help forecast where your BASIC scores will be heading in the next few months?
• Will the DOT compliance company update your MCS 150 for you as needed?
• Will they help implement and/or manage your progressive discipline program?

Roadside Inspection Monitoring

Tied very closely to your CSA BASIC score management is how a transportation compliance company may help with monitoring roadside inspection activity. Sometimes your drivers may “forget” to provide you with a copy of the DVER from a recent roadside inspection.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Is Roadside Inspection Monitoring included in the DOT compliance services provided?
• Will the company notify you of recent inspection activity before it shows up when your CSA scores update each month?

Truck Driver Safety Training

No doubt, you must train your drivers on a regular basis. The FMCSA regulations say so and increasingly larger nuclear verdicts against trucking companies are showing that the public demands this too.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Is driver safety training part of the trucking compliance services provided?
• How will the DOT compliance service provider be helping to train your drivers?
• Is their training program video based or text based based?
• Where does the company get their driver safety training videos?
• How is training provided?
• Can drivers take safety and compliance courses directly on their phone, tablet or laptop?
• Is “event based” training provided?
• For instance, if a driver receives a violation during a roadside inspection, will the DOT compliance service provider send them a driver safety training video to watch?
• How is training documented?
• How and where are the training records retained?

Camera/Drving Event Monitoring

As many fleets move further along their safety and compliance journey, they realize that having at least a front facing video event recorder (camera) in each truck can have a huge impact on both safety and compliance.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Is Camera event monitoring included in the DOT compliance services provided?
• Will your DOT compliance partner monitor events recorded by your fleet’s cameras?
• How will they judge recorded events?
• Do they tie in their driver safety training with events triggered by your camera system as well?

DataQ and CPDP Support

Using the FMCSA DataQ program can have a significant impact on your CSA BASIC scores. Ensuring accurate inspection data improves your entire DOT compliance management program.

Sometimes mistakes happen at the roadside.

With DataQ, you have a open avenue to challenge potential issues via the FMCSA DataQ system. You can also DataQ crashes! You can also submit the crash to the FMCSA Crash Preventability Determination Program (CPDP) for review if you have a crash that may be considered “Not Preventable” by the FMCSA

Good Questions to Ask:

• Do the DOT compliance services provided include DataQ and CPDP challenges?
• Will your transportation compliance company submit DataQ requests on your behalf?
• How will they monitor the progress of your FMCSA DataQ challenge?
• Will they respond directly to the State officers for you or leave you to do that?

Truck Accident and Claims Management

Another rare but valuable service that the best dot compliance companies may provide is assistance with filing and managing claims. Will the company with your truck insurance partner or transportation insurance companies?

Good Questions to Ask:

• Is accident and insurance claim management included in the trucking compliance services provided?
• Will they submit a First Notice of Loss on your behalf?
• Will they monitor the progress of the your claims through to eventual settlement?
• If required, will they serve as an expert witness for you or testify on your behalf in court?
• If so, will they charge separately for this service?

DOT Audit (Compliance Review) support

Sometimes the FMCSA will determine that a DOT audit, or “compliance review” is necessary for your company. Working with DOT compliance specialists who can help with this stressful process is key to a successful DOT audit.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Is DOT audit support one of the DOT compliance services provided?
• How will your trucking compliance services respond during a DOT audit?
• Will the company ensure that all of your driver files and vehicle files are “audit ready” at all times?
• Will they help coach you on what to expect during the compliance review ( DOT audit ) process?
• Will a DOT compliance specialist physically be there for your audit?
• If not, will there be DOT compliance consultants on the phone with you throughout the audit?
• What about audit “after-care”?
• Will the transportation compliance services company help you understand the audit findings?
• How will they help navigate any rating changes or Notice of Claim (NOC) fines?
• What about helping to draft and manage appeals to the DOT audit findings or proposed fines?

Conditional Rating Upgrade

Unfortunately, some trucking companies undergo a full DOT audit (compliance review) and may have their safety fitness rating moved down to a Conditional safety rating or even an Unsatisfactory safety rating.

Good Questions to Ask:

• How will the FMCSA compliance company help you with this?
• Will they help gather all of the evidence for your safety rating upgrade request?
• Will they draft and file the safety rating upgrade request and Corrective Action Plan on your behalf?
• If so, will they charge you extra to do this?

There are a large number of trucking compliance services that a DOT compliance company can potentially provide you. Hopefully, after reviewing this list, you’ll have a better understanding of what to expect and some great questions to ask potential DOT compliance companies.

With that being said, a very common concern is “how much will working with a DOT compliance service provider cost”?

DOT Compliance Company Pricing

While it is important to select a transportation compliance service provider with expertise in managing safety records and operations, it is also important to understand their pricing.

This can help you budget your business and budget your expenses accordingly.

Transportation compliance services companies come in all shapes and sizes. Some are large, established companies with years of experience and thousands of customers.

Others are smaller, newer companies that may have only been around for a few years. Each type of company has different pricing models, strengths and weaknesses.

You can generally expect to pay between $50 to $250 monthly per driver for most full-service dot compliance company services.

Beware of DOT compliance companies who charge you a smaller fee and then nickel and dime you with fees for things like MVRs, drug and alcohol tests and PSP (pre-employment screening program) reports. That can get very expensive quickly.

For DOT compliance consulting, you can expect to pay between $50 to $250 per hour of their time or more.

Good Questions to Ask:

• Does the DOT compliance management company require us to sign a contract?
• If so, how long is the contract period?
• Do they require you to pay an enrollment or setup fee?
• What transportation compliance services are included in the monthly/annual price per driver?
• Are there any uncovered additional charges?

Transportation Compliance Company History and Experience

The company history and experience of the transportation compliance service company can give you a good idea of how they perform. To get a better sense of the company, read their reviews and client testimonial.

You may also want to reach out to the management of the DOT compliance company and ask them questions about their experience and how they will help manage your operations.

Asking a potential DOT compliance partner for references or current clients that you can speak with is always a good idea.

When you are hiring a DOT compliance services provider, you are looking for a partner to help you manage your business!

You want to know that they can help you stay compliant with the FMCSA and State regulations and help have a positive impact on your fleet safety and DOT compliance program. Good DOT compliance companies will be able to provide you with both of these!

Final Thoughts

The safety of your fleet of commercial vehicles is of utmost importance and finding a high quality transportation compliance services partner to help is a great idea. A good transportation compliance services provider can help you manage your fleet safety and DOT compliance tasks and really provide you with an opportunity to focus on growing and/or improving your trucking business.

Hopefully, we’ve given you some great ways to help judge all of the different DOT compliance companies, DOT compliance consultants and compliance software providers out there.

Of course, I’m totally biased because I started My Safety Manager in 2015 as the answer to what I saw as many different safety and compliance challenges that small and mid-sized trucking company owners face. We provide all of the services listed above for a low monthly price of only $49 per driver.

There are no enrollment fees or set up fees and we don’t charge anything but the flat monthly charge per driver for all of the services we provide!

Interested in partnering with us? Learn more at www.MySafetyManager.com!