Motor carriers must undergo a New Entrant Safety Audit within the first 12 months of their operations to complete the New Entrant Program.
A New Entrant Safety Audit is a review of a motor carrier’s records designed to verify that a carrier has basic safety management controls in place to ensure compliance with applicable Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs), and related record-keeping requirements.
How is a New Entrant Safety Audit conducted?
The audit is conducted by an FMCSA-certified safety auditor at the carrier’s place of business, or electronically, by submitting relevant documents to FMCSA online or via mail
or fax. FMCSA will tell carriers which type of audit they have been selected for by phone or mail. It is essential to maintain all contact information current so you are able to receive FMCSA communications. If needed, contact FMCSA to update your information.
During the audit, carriers will be asked to submit documentation which verifies that they have established effective safety management controls. Safety auditors may
request documents related to drivers and vehicles, as well as general operating procedures and record-keeping requirements.
Prepare for Your Safety Audit
Download and review the FMCSA Safety Audit Resource Guide for a list of documents the safety audit may request to verify that your safety management controls are established and effective. Keep these well organized and have them read to submit during your audit.
What violations would cause a carrier to automatically fail a New Entrant Safety Audit?
Carriers will be notified of all violations found during a safety audit and provided an explanation of how to address their safety problems. Some violations
are deemed egregious enough to cause the carrier to automatically fail the safety audit. Click on the boxes below to review this list of automatic-fail violations.
- No alcohol and/or controlled substances testing program.
- No random alcohol and/or controlled substances testing program.
- Using a driver who refused a required alcohol or controlled substances test.
- Using a driver known to have an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater.
- Using a driver who tested positive or altered or substituted a test for controlled substances.
- Using a driver without a valid Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).
- Using a disqualified driver.
- Using a driver with a revoked, suspended, or canceled CDL.
- Using a medically unqualified driver.
- Operating a motor vehicle without having in effect the required level of insurance.
- Failing to require drivers to make hours-of-service records (log books).
- Operating a vehicle declared out-of-service (OOS) for safety deficiencies before repairs are made.
- Not performing OOS repairs reported in driver-vehicle inspection reports (DVIRs).
- Operating a motor vehicle not annually inspected.