Most common causes of being placed out of service.
If you are placed out of service for any reason, you will not be able to legally operate under your DOT Number, or MC Authority. In certain situations depending on the reason why you’re out of service, you may also incur fines & penalties. To be placed back into service usually entails resolving the original issue, paying any due fines, and waiting a minimum 30-day suspension period.
Failure to complete registration process or schedule the safety audit
Carriers who are subject to an audit will receive multiple letters in the weeks after filing for a DOT number that will ask them to call FMCSA directly, complete the registration process, and schedule an audit. Failure to respond to this letter in time will result in you being placed out of service.
Failed Safety Audit
Most carriers are subject to a new entrant safety audit, during which your operation is reviewed by a safety officer. If you fail to comply with the regulations that have been put in place, you will be placed out of service. For more information on failing a safety audit, please click here.
Vehicle violations
Some Vehicle violations include; not maintaining an annual vehicle inspection, improperly tagged or plated vehicle, overweight without proper permits, or not having appropriate items in truck (fire extinguisher, reflective triangles, etc.)
Driver Violations
If you are not complying with Hours of Service rules, fail to maintain driver logs, falsify log documents, or if the driver is operating a vehicle without a qualifying license class etc, you are subject to an out of service violation.
General Compliance Violations
You may be placed out of service if a CDL driver is not enrolled into a Drug & Alcohol Consortium, if a driver does not have a Driver Qualification File, no Medical DOT Card, under the influence, expired license, no insurance etc.
Additional reasons relate to other federal regulations like a UCR Filing, unauthorized authority, no supervisor training, and more.
How can we help?
Not only can we help you prevent running into any of these issues from the start, but we can also help the moment you failed an audit and file the corrections necessary to keep your DOT Number active before the Out Of Service order takes place. Should you have already been placed as Out of Service, we will work quickly and diligently to get you back into service and keep you there. Contact us directly to avoid common pitfalls or mistakes that put carriers out of service on a daily basis. Allow us to lessen the time you are put Out of Service and get your company back into doing what you do best - moving cargo and running your business. Your agent will walk you through every step of the process, and you will have a designated specialist that will correspond with you and the Safety Officer directly.