One of my newer clients was recently audited by the US DOT. (YES, the US is still performing audits and it was over Zoom) Overall they did pretty well. But the US DOT had two recommendations for improving their process.

Both of the recommendations, I believe, are items that all US bound Should pay attention to.

First Recommendation was to use Data Q

The first recommendation was to submit some of the qualifying crashes to “Data Q” and see if we could get the points removed. When the auditor reviewed the collisions, they noted that had the collisions that qualified had the points removed; the company would not be in “Alert” for the crash basic. The client being in “Alert” for the Crash Basic caused the DOT Audit.

I find many companies that go to the US do not understand the process of having qualifying crash points removed from their crash basic. I have created a video showing you step-by-step how to request the removal. You can view it here:

If you need assistance, please reach out. I would be happy to help.

Second REC, Annual Query

The second recommendation concerned the “Annual Query” to the “Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.”

The company had not performed their annual queries. They also had not engaged their drug testing consortium to do it on their behalf.

So this is a reminder to all of you. Annual queries for all your US drivers must be performed at least once every 12 months.

You can either do this or have your consortium do it on your behalf for a small fee. Either way, you are responsible for ensuring this gets done annually. More information can be found here: Clearinghouse

PS:

Do you want to training with the Canadian Hours of Service? For the month of November, the Hours of Service for Canada course is on sale for 90% off.

Use Discount Code: HOS-90%