US DOT # questions

[truckdiagnostics]

Do I Need a USDOT Number? | Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
According to the above if you are a commercial vehicle over 10,001 combined gross vehicle weight you need to have a DOT number. My pick up is a commercial vehicle and pulls a 12,000 pound trailer, so you need a DOT number. I have one other employee that will drive it. We move our own equipment around and we are not for hire. We just got it and have to go through an initial safety audit.

So with in the scope of what I am using the Pick up for, what do I need to do for the safety audit? We are not a trucking company for crying out load. I get the obvious stuff insurance, make sure vehicle is safe.

Do we need DOT annual inspection on the truck?
driver logs.

Anybody else have similar situation, with DOT number that can give me advice.

thanks

 

[rusty842]

My understanding is if you use it for a business you are a commercial vehicle and need a DOT# along with an annual inspection. Truck and trailer have to be inspected.

 

[Rock knocker]

My understanding is if you use it for a business you are a commercial vehicle and need a DOT# along with an annual inspection. Truck and trailer have to be inspected.

Only for interstate commerce, unless your state requires defferently.

 

[bdog]

Do I Need a USDOT Number? | Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
According to the above if you are a commercial vehicle over 10,001 combined gross vehicle weight you need to have a DOT number. My pick up is a commercial vehicle and pulls a 12,000 pound trailer, so you need a DOT number. I have one other employee that will drive it. We move our own equipment around and we are not for hire. We just got it and have to go through an initial safety audit.

So with in the scope of what I am using the Pick up for, what do I need to do for the safety audit? We are not a trucking company for crying out load. I get the obvious stuff insurance, make sure vehicle is safe.

Do we need DOT annual inspection on the truck?
driver logs.

Anybody else have similar situation, with DOT number that can give me advice.

thanks

Are you crossing state lines? If not then you likely do not need a USDOT number. I have had one since 2008 because of the 10k rule and crossing state lines. Now we have things over 26k but didn稚 until about three years ago.

First I would make sure you need one - they are a pain. In most states if you are over 10k and under 26k you don稚 have to do anything special if you stay in the state.

If you do need one there is a lot involved:

You must have commercial inspections on all trucks and trailers
You must have UCR (unified carrier registration)
Drivers must have medical cards
You must have driver qualification files and get yearly driving records from the dmv for all drivers including your self.
You must have written maintenance schedules and keep a log of all repairs, etc on vehicles and trailers
You need copies of all the driver logs and IVDR痴

My initial audit was nearly ten years ago and at the time we had nothing more than 3/4 ton pickups and 14k trailers hauling our own equipment between job sites. I spent nearly a full day with the DOT and they wanted to see everything and they scanned copies of a lot of it.

 

[HarryVanderpool]

If you do need one there is a lot involved:


Drivers must have medical cards
You must have driver qualification files and get yearly driving records from the dmv for all drivers including your self.
You must have written maintenance schedules and keep a log of all repairs, etc on vehicles and trailers
You need copies of all the driver logs and IVDRç—´

Not necessarily.
If your rig is used in agriculture there are exemptions:

http://www.ifca.com/media/files/ag_exemptions_in_map_21_quicksheet.pdf


Also, read, (scroll down to) 391-2:

eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

 

[YLee Kioti]

If you did this already I apologize.

But have you researched this:

Wisconsin Department of Transportation


Research and Library

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Are you crossing state lines? If not then you likely do not need a USDOT number. I have had one since 2008 because of the 10k rule and crossing state lines. Now we have things over 26k but didn稚 until about three years ago.

First I would make sure you need one - they are a pain. In most states if you are over 10k and under 26k you don稚 have to do anything special if you stay in the state.

If you do need one there is a lot involved:

You must have commercial inspections on all trucks and trailers
You must have UCR (unified carrier registration)
Drivers must have medical cards
You must have driver qualification files and get yearly driving records from the dmv for all drivers including your self.
You must have written maintenance schedules and keep a log of all repairs, etc on vehicles and trailers
You need copies of all the driver logs and IVDR痴

My initial audit was nearly ten years ago and at the time we had nothing more than 3/4 ton pickups and 14k trailers hauling our own equipment between job sites. I spent nearly a full day with the DOT and they wanted to see everything and they scanned copies of a lot of it.

Quora - A place to share knowledge and better understand the world.
Do I Need a USDOT Number? | Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
based on the above it sure looks like Wisconsin and Texas for that matter require a dot number.

thank you you for your information. our situation sounds similar. I was wondering how detailed they where going to be. And it sounds like they are going to be. It is the cost of doing business I get it and I will do it. Interesting thing is people have no clue what it costs to do any of this and do it right. Thank you for responding.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Not necessarily.
If your rig is used in agriculture there are exemptions:

http://www.ifca.com/media/files/ag_exemptions_in_map_21_quicksheet.pdf


Also, read, (scroll down to) 391-2:

eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

the minute money changes hands it is commercial. So even if your moving your own equipment from job site to job site you are being paid for the work on that job site it is commercial. Even the farm exemption you have to be careful..... some state are more of a stickler on the definition of commercial than other. In our area don't really have to worry about it. It is when I travel out of it that it concerns me. And who knows what happens when some other bureaucrat gets elected. I would like to get it right to the best of my ability then if I make a mistake it is just that.

there are a lot running around that should have a dot number and do not. That however does not make it right. Issue we do the right thing which raises our costs decreasing our profit margins and those that do not......... I,m asking the questions becease we want to error on the side of caution.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Are you crossing state lines? If not then you likely do not need a USDOT number. I have had one since 2008 because of the 10k rule and crossing state lines. Now we have things over 26k but didn稚 until about three years ago.

First I would make sure you need one - they are a pain. In most states if you are over 10k and under 26k you don稚 have to do anything special if you stay in the state.

If you do need one there is a lot involved:

You must have commercial inspections on all trucks and trailers
You must have UCR (unified carrier registration)
Drivers must have medical cards
You must have driver qualification files and get yearly driving records from the dmv for all drivers including your self.
You must have written maintenance schedules and keep a log of all repairs, etc on vehicles and trailers
You need copies of all the driver logs and IVDRç—´

My initial audit was nearly ten years ago and at the time we had nothing more than 3/4 ton pickups and 14k trailers hauling our own equipment between job sites. I spent nearly a full day with the DOT and they wanted to see everything and they scanned copies of a lot of it.

how does one get DMV records?
UCR? i can look it up but what is that?
Drivers logs I was under impression that if we were with in 150 miles of shop, employee time cards would be ok? on this i have never done a time card I own the company, so..... I need to do one now?

thanks again....

 

[Bigfoot62]

UCR
Log books are not required if you're running in-state and local. Additionally, if the truck is year model 2000 or newer, it has to be E-Logs. And, all drivers have to have them, including you.

My example: I have a Pete and a triple axle dump trailer. I mainly haul rock for a local rock yard. All deliveries are inside Louisiana and the "local" radius. I have LA "weight" plates, not Apportioned plates. My truck is a '01 model, but I'm not required to have E-Logs, because I was already exempt from paper log books. (because I'm an O/O, local, intrastate, non-apportioned) The state does not require me to have a DOT#. If any of that changes, (ie: I started hauling across state lines) then everything changes.

And something that bdog failed to mention, is drug tests. If you get a DOT#, then you have to contract with a Lab for drug tests.

 

[bdog]

Drug tests are not required until GVWR exceeds 26k. I do them because I drive the semi but my other employees who are over 10k under 26k do not have to. Basically if you need a CDL you need to drug test if you don’t need a CDL no drug test.

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/Drug and Alcohol Brochure for Drivers.pdf

Yes there are many ag exemptions but op mentioned nothing about ag he said he was commercial.

There is a form you can get from your state dmv and the driver signs it and you mail it in along with the fee and you get the record back. It is stupid. There is no pass fail criteria you have to examine on the record but you are supposed to get it every year and have it in your files. Along with this you need employment applications and have to contact prior employers and get driving history on the drivers and have this in a file for everyone even yourself.

Logs are not required if your are local and exempt but you have to maintain I think six months of time cards showing they didn’t go over on hours.

UCR is another racket that does nothing. Basically you pay a fee each year based on the number of trucks you have. It is supposed to help them cover the cost of maintaining records or something.

 

[bdog]

Texas requires a dot number for intrastate commerce once you exceed 26k. Until then they do not.

 

[Bigfoot62]

. . . UCR is another racket that does nothing. Basically you pay a fee . . .

That just about covers all of it!

Can't take credit for this one, but I like it: "A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing right."

A little off topic, but the one that I just LOVE is the Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax. You pay the IRS $550 a year just because you OWN a big rig. :hissyfit:

 

[Bigfoot62]

To bdog and others,
Please don't think I'm trying to correct you, or start a fight. I am just stating the rules as I have come to understand them. And, that's not an easy task. You can ask 10 different DOT enforcement officers the same question, and get 10 different answers! (or maybe more) It's a stupid mess, and one that I deal with daily. And, this mess gets worse as time goes by. It doesn't help that Gov't regs are written by bureaucrats who probably wouldn't recognize an 18-wheeler if it ran over them, much less know how to drive one.

 

[bdog]

To bdog and others,
Please don't think I'm trying to correct you, or start a fight. I am just stating the rules as I have come to understand them. And, that's not an easy task. You can ask 10 different DOT enforcement officers the same question, and get 10 different answers! (or maybe more) It's a stupid mess, and one that I deal with daily. And, this mess gets worse as time goes by. It doesn't help that Gov't regs are written by bureaucrats who probably wouldn't recognize an 18-wheeler if it ran over them, much less know how to drive one.

No offense taken.

I too deal with this daily. Aside from having the DOT number for hauling my own equipment to job sites for the past three years or so I have had a MC number and operating authority to haul for hire across the US. The way a lot of the laws are worded leads to a lot of confusion and yes many officers do not know the law. I get my information straight from the laws posted on the FMCSA website and state DMV web sites. I just try to share the correct information to help others.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Thank you for your comments and please feel free to correct me if I am wrong I am going to put it in my own words. I have read the FMCSA and state websites. They can be rather inundating but I don稚 believe it is that hard. Big pain. All the unsolicited mail and phone calls I have gotten since signing up is a bit much.
There are two magical numbers 10,001 and 26,000
10,001 GCWR to 26,001 GCWR
ALL CMV Crossing state lines must have dot number, in Wisconsin we must have for in state travel.
Drivers must pass annual DOT physical have card on their person? Employer must maintain copy on file?(no CDL drivers licence required)
Driver log must be kept, in my case employee time sheets will work.
DMV record needs to be requested and filed.
Still trying to figure out what happens when there is violation on record. Not an issue, as if it comes up i am in control any way and I personally have none.
Annual DOT inspection must be performed.
If you cross state lines and are a CMV you must have UCR(bigfoot 62 thanks! Did not know)
Want to deal with just above for now but need to keep below in mind.
26,001 GVWR (straight truck)
You now must have CDL and stuff gets a tad more complicated to say the least. I have class B now.
You are considered a straight truck as long as your trailer is less than 10,000 lbs.
Once the trailer goes over 10,001 you are a tractor and trailer and CDL goes from B to A, which in future is issue for me. So, I will be registering the trailer under 10,000 lbs.
I will be asking more questions doing more research when I get over the 26,000 lbs number; I have school bus I am turning into dump truck, long story. Thanks again for responses.:cool2: