DOT Audit Preparation
DOT and FMCSA audits range from a New Entrant Safety Audit in a carrier's first 18 months to a full Compliance Review — and they typically arrive with little or no warning. Preparation has to happen before the notice, not after.
We review your files the way an FMCSA auditor would, then run a full mock audit so you know exactly where you stand — because real DOT audits happen without warning.
Fewer findings, faster resolution, and no scrambling to reconstruct records after an auditor is already on-site.
- 01Review driver files, HOS/ELD records, drug and alcohol program records, and maintenance records.
- 02Run a mock audit using the same categories FMCSA reviews.
- 03Identify and correct gaps before they become findings.
- 04Provide a readiness summary and remediation plan.
The escalating ladder FMCSA actually uses
FMCSA's intervention process runs on an escalating ladder — a warning letter, then an off-site investigation, then an on-site focused investigation, and finally a full on-site comprehensive investigation (a Compliance Review) — pulling driver qualification files, HOS/ELD records, drug and alcohol program records including Clearinghouse queries, maintenance records, and the accident register at each stage.
Why a mock audit changes the outcome
Under 49 CFR 385.7, FMCSA rates carriers Satisfactory, Conditional, or Unsatisfactory based on acute and critical violations — a single acute or critical violation in a factor area is enough to trigger a Conditional rating in that factor, and two or more typically means Unsatisfactory (with HOS violations double-weighted in that math). An Unsatisfactory rating can mean being ordered to cease operating. A mock audit run against the same categories a real one uses is what catches a gap while it's still yours to fix on your own timeline.