📖 Table of Contents
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What the program is
A new entrant is a U.S. or Canada carrier that applied for a USDOT number to start interstate operations. That is 49 CFR 385.3. One truck. Owner-operator. Still you.
The audit
12 months (property)
385.3 says the safety audit must happen within 12 months after you receive the USDOT. Passenger carriers: 120 days.
The watch period
18 months
After pre-operational requirements, they monitor you for 18 months. Roadside data counts. Passing the audit does not end the clock.
This sits next to the post-authority checklist, your DQ file, and — if you run a CDL truck — a testing program. Registration still goes through Motus. See the August 2026 Motus update.
Safety audit vs a later compliance review
Different tools. 385.3 defines both.
Safety audit
First-year records check
- Teach and check: do basic safety controls exist?
- Sample of required records.
- No safety rating. 385.317.
- Pass / fail on those controls — plus the automatic-fail list.
Compliance review
Later, deeper, rated
- Can happen any time data looks bad.
- Can produce a safety fitness rating.
- Can start enforcement.
- If they do a CR first and issue a rating, that CR replaces the new-entrant audit. The 18-month watch still runs.
What actually happens
They call or write. You send files, or they come to the address on your USDOT. Not a random roadside stop.
On-site
Business premises
385.315 says the audit is generally there. If your principal place of business is a house, that is the address they have.
Off-site
Upload, mail, or fax
FMCSA's NEWS page (still posted August 2026) says many audits are electronic. They tell you which kind.
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What they actually check
Not a vendor “18 documents” list. 385.311 plus Appendix A to Part 385: a sample of required records, and six factors.
Driver qualification files
Application, MVR, medical proof, CDL or road-test equivalent. Even if the driver is you. See the DQ file guide.
Drug & alcohol (if CDL)
A real Part 382 program, including randoms. Separate from the DQ file. Testing setup.
Hours / ELD if it applies
Records of duty status and supporting documents. ELD only if 395 requires it for your operation. Short-haul exceptions stay exceptions.
Insurance
Part 387 financial responsibility actually in effect. Operating without it is an automatic fail.
Accident register
Required by 390.15. Empty is fine if you had no recordable accidents. Missing the register is not.
Maintenance
Periodic inspections, DVIRs, repairs — especially anything marked out of service. Part 396.
Automatic fail items (385.321)
Sixteen regulations. Most: one occurrence. Two need a 51% miss rate on the records they look at. Full table: 49 CFR 385.321 and FMCSA's FAQ (last updated May 22, 2023).
CDL testing
No program = fail
- No alcohol/controlled-substances program (382.115)
- No random program (382.305)
- Using a driver at 0.04 or higher (382.201)
- Using a driver who refused a test (382.211)
- Using a driver known to have tested positive (382.215)
Drivers
Unqualified or disqualified
- No valid CDL when one is required (383.3 / 383.23)
- Revoked, suspended, or canceled CDL (383.37)
- Disqualified driver (383.51 / 391.15)
- Physically unqualified driver (391.11(b)(4)) — usually missing or expired medical proof. The DQ post covers that.
Insurance & hours
Coverage and logs
- No required financial responsibility (387.7; passenger: 387.31)
- Not requiring records of duty status (395.8(a)) — automatic fail only if 51% or more of the records they examine are missing
Vehicle
OOS and inspections
- Running a vehicle still declared out of service (396.9)
- Not fixing OOS defects listed on a DVIR before it rolls again (396.11, as listed in 385.321)
- No periodic inspection (396.17(a)) — also a 51% threshold on examined records
Pass, fail, and what happens after
The auditor reviews findings with you. Written pass or fail follows within 45 days (385.319).
Pass
Keep running. Stay watched.
They keep monitoring for the rest of the 18 months. If nothing else blows up, 385.333 says the new-entrant tag comes off and registration becomes permanent. Same rules as everyone else after that.
Fail
Fix it on their clock
Notice: registration will be revoked and operations placed out of service unless you fix what they listed.
- Most property carriers: 60 days (385.319(c)(1))
- Certain passenger and HM operations: 45 days (385.319(c)(2))
Miss that window — 385.325 — and they revoke the new-entrant registration and issue an out-of-service order on day 61 (or day 46 for the 45-day group). Interstate work stops on that effective date.
385.323 lets FMCSA extend the 60-day period up to another 60 days if they see a good-faith fix. The 45-day group can get up to 10 extra days, and only so the Agency can finish reviewing what you already sent.
What to have in a box before they call
Owner-operator still counts. One folder per driver. One folder for the truck. One for the company.
CDL truck
DQ file plus a working Part 382 program. No program is a single-occurrence fail.
Non-CDL CMV
Still a DQ file, hours if they apply, insurance, maintenance, accident register. Part 382 is a CDL rule.
You are the only driver
You are still the motor carrier. The file still has your name on it.
Paper or phone photos
Either works if you can produce it when they ask. Label the folders.
FAQ
When does the 12 months start?
385.3: within 12 months after you receive the USDOT number(120 days for passenger). FMCSA's program page and NEWS: within 12 months after you begin operations. 385.307: they generally wait until you have been operating at least 3 months. The 18-month monitoring period starts after pre-operational requirements. Both wordings are still on official pages as of August 2026.
Can I fail for a messy folder if the driver is qualified?
Messy is not on the 385.321 list. Using a physically unqualified driver is. If they cannot find medical proof, that is how “physically unqualified” shows up — same point as the DQ file post.
Do they come to my house?
Sometimes. 385.315 says generally at the business premises. If that address is your house, yes. NEWS also says many audits are off-site (upload, mail, or fax). They tell you which. Not a surprise roadside.
What if I only run in one state?
This federal program is for carriers that applied for a USDOT to start interstate operations (385.3). Stay in one state and never cross a line, and you are not in Subpart D. Your state may still audit you. Cross a state line and you are interstate.
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