New Carrier Checklist: Your First 90 Days and the Safety Audit

Before you apply for authority

1. Form the business. Register your LLC or corporation with the state and get an EIN from the IRS. Write down the exact legal name and address and use them everywhere.
2. Open a business bank account. Keep truck income and expenses separate from day one. It makes IFTA, HVUT, and tax time far easier.
3. Get insurance quotes. Ask agents for quotes on the coverage brokers in your lanes actually require. The federal floor for general freight in a truck rated 10,001 pounds or more is $750,000 liability, and many brokers ask for more plus cargo coverage.
4. Pick a blanket process agent company. Choose from FMCSA's registered list so you can file the BOC-3 the day you get your docket number.
5. Apply in Motus. Create a Login.gov account, pass identity verification, and apply for your USDOT number and operating authority ($300 per authority type).

Before the first load

1. Have the insurer file BMC-91 or BMC-91X. Call them as soon as you have your docket number.
2. File the BOC-3. Your blanket company submits it. See BOC-3 filing.
3. Register for UCR. $46 for 0 to 2 vehicles in 2026, $55 for 2027. See UCR registration.
4. Get IRP plates and an IFTA license if the truck qualifies. A two-axle power unit over 26,000 pounds, three or more axles, or a combination over 26,000 pounds.
5. File Form 2290 if the truck runs at 55,000 pounds or more. You need the stamped Schedule 1 to register the truck.
6. Join a drug and alcohol consortium. Required when any driver needs a CDL, including you. Get a verified negative pre-employment drug test before the first trip.
7. Register in the Clearinghouse and run a full pre-employment query. Do it for every CDL driver, yourself included.
8. Build driver qualification files. Application, motor vehicle record, road test certificate or CDL equivalent, and medical examiner's certificate.
9. Install the ELD and test it. Log in, run a short trip, and practice sending logs from Inspection Mode. See ELD for a new authority.
10. Letter the truck. Legal name and USDOT number on both sides once the number is active.
11. Confirm authority is active. Check FMCSA's Licensing and Insurance record. Brokers will check it too, and many also verify your ELD during onboarding. See brokers that require an ELD.

First 30 days

• Start a maintenance file for each truck and trailer: inspections, repairs, and the annual periodic inspection report.
• If you run more than one truck, require a DVIR at the end of each day a driver finds a defect, and keep the repair sign-offs. Single-truck carriers are exempt from the written report, but the daily walkaround still catches problems before an officer does. Our DVIR guide covers the rule.
• Review logs weekly. Look for unassigned driving, edits without notes, and form-and-manner errors before an officer finds them.
• Start an accident register, even if it stays empty.
• Keep fuel receipts and let the ELD record miles by state for your first IFTA return.
• Calendar your recurring dates: IFTA quarterly returns, the HVUT tax year starting July 1, UCR before January 1, and your biennial update month.

By day 90

• Confirm you pulled a motor vehicle record for each driver within 30 days of hire, covering every state that licensed them in the past 3 years, and set the annual review date.
• Confirm your consortium has you in its random pool and that you know how a selection notice reaches you.
• Check your FMCSA record for accuracy: address, power units, drivers, and cargo.
• Look up your roadside inspections. Fix whatever caused any violation, and keep proof of the fix.
• Do a mock audit with the list below. Most safety audits happen after you have a few months of records, so day 90 is a good time to find gaps.

New entrant safety audit prep list

Every new carrier is monitored for 18 months. FMCSA generally conducts the safety audit within the first 12 months of operation, after you have enough records to review. The auditor looks at five areas. Have these ready:

• Driver qualification files. Application, MVRs from every state the driver held a license in the past three years, road test certificate or accepted equivalent, current medical examiner's certificate, annual MVR review notes.
• Drug and alcohol testing records. Consortium enrollment, pre-employment negative result, random selection records, Clearinghouse queries, and your written policy.
• Hours of service records. Records of duty status and supporting documents such as fuel receipts and bills of lading. With an ELD, be ready to send or export logs for the review period.
• Vehicle maintenance files. Inspection, repair, and maintenance records for each unit, annual inspection reports, and, for multi-truck fleets, DVIRs with repair certifications.
• Insurance and the accident register. Proof the required coverage was in force, plus a register of any recordable crashes.

A failed audit is not the end, but the clock is short. Most carriers get 60 days to complete corrective action, and some passenger and hazmat carriers get 45. Without it, FMCSA revokes the new entrant registration. The full launch sequence is in how to start a trucking company.