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.