Compliance
Nothing here is complicated on its own. The difficulty is that the obligations come from different agencies on different calendars, and missing one is expensive in a way that is entirely avoidable.
The recurring calendar
A small interstate carrier is generally dealing with the following. Amounts and exact dates are in our federal fee reference.
| Obligation | Cadence | Administered by |
|---|---|---|
| Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) | Annual | Participating states, under FMCSA rules |
| Heavy Vehicle Use Tax, Form 2290 | Annual, tax period July–June | IRS |
| IFTA fuel tax return | Quarterly | Your base jurisdiction |
| IRP apportioned plates | Annual | Your base jurisdiction |
| MCS-150 biennial update | Every two years | FMCSA |
| Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse query | Annual per driver, plus pre-employment | FMCSA |
| Random drug and alcohol testing | Ongoing, via a consortium | FMCSA rates |
| Annual vehicle inspection | Annual per vehicle | Qualified inspector |
The records that get examined
Compliance is not only about paying things on time. In a new entrant safety audit or a compliance review, what gets checked is whether the paperwork exists and is complete:
- Driver qualification files — application, MVR, road test or equivalent, medical certificate, previous employer checks.
- Hours-of-service records — ELD data and supporting documents, retained for the required period.
- Vehicle maintenance records — systematic inspection, repair and maintenance history, plus annual inspection reports.
- Drug and alcohol testing program — enrolment, random selection records, Clearinghouse queries.
- Accident register — maintained whether or not you have had one.
The point worth internalising: these are systems, not documents you produce when asked. A carrier that has been running eight months without driver qualification files cannot create them the week before an audit.
Articles in this section
What is coming
Planned next for this section: hours of service explained with worked examples, the split sleeper berth provision, ELD exemptions, and the Clearinghouse annual query step by step.