Trucking Compliance Is Four Checklists

You just got your operating authority. Or you are about to. Either way, you are staring at a wall of acronyms — UCR, IFTA, IRP, ELD, HOS, DQ file, Clearinghouse, BOC-3, MCS-150 — and wondering if you need a compliance department before you have revenue.

You do not. You need four checklists, a calendar app, and about two days of focused paperwork. This page is the system. The next four pages are the checklists.

Compliance is four things and you already know what they are

Every federal trucking compliance requirement falls into one of four buckets:

That is the entire compliance universe. CDL? Driver checklist. Annual DOT inspection? Truck checklist. ELD logs? Trip checklist. UCR renewal? Business checklist. Every item maps to exactly one bucket.

Complete the setup items on each checklist. Then follow the calendar. If nothing is missing and nothing is expired, you pass any audit.

Work through setup once, then compliance is habits and a calendar

Each checklist has two parts: setup (one-time items you do to get legal) and ongoing (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual items that keep you legal).

The setup is front-loaded. It takes about two days of focused effort, plus 2-8 weeks waiting for IRP plates. After that, compliance is repetition — not invention.

Setup items by checklist:

The driver checklist is where most carriers stumble. Not because it is hard — because they do not know about it. The drug testing consortium and the FMCSA Clearinghouse are the two items that trip up more new carriers than everything else combined.

Your daily burden is 6 items and 20 minutes

Once setup is done, here is what compliance looks like every working day:

1. Pre-trip inspection — walk around the truck, check tires, lights, brakes, fluids, review yesterday’s DVIR
2. Log hours on your ELD — automatic while driving, annotate status changes at day’s end
3. Bill of lading — one per load, verify it matches freight, keep your copy
4. Check load securement — before departure, within 50 miles, then every 3 hours or 150 miles
5. Post-trip inspection — note any defects found during the day
6. Save fuel receipts — photograph immediately, note state and gallons

That is it. Six things. Every day. Once they become habit, they take about 20 minutes total.

Everything else runs on a calendar:

• Weekly (~30 min): Reconcile fuel receipts against ELD mileage. Review HOS logs. Glance at tires, fluids, lights.
• Monthly (~1 hr): Reconcile IFTA records. Review maintenance schedule.
• Quarterly: File IFTA return. Even if you drove zero miles.
• Annually (~10 items): DOT inspection, IRP renewal, UCR ($76), MVR pull, Clearinghouse query ($1.25), consortium renewal, insurance review, HVUT 2290, IFTA renewal, certificate of violations.
• Every 2 years: MCS-150 update (free, 15 minutes). DOT physical ($75-$200).

Set calendar reminders for every recurring item. The FMCSA does not send courtesy notices. They send fines.

The FMCSA will audit you — this system is how you pass

The new entrant safety audit happens within your first 18 months of operating. An FMCSA auditor reviews your records. Here is what they find most often:

Four of the top ten violations are the same system — the Clearinghouse. Total fix cost: $2.50 in query fees and 30 minutes of registration. Failure to comply can result in penalties up to $5,833 per violation.

The carriers who fail audits are not bad operators. They are operators who did not know about the Clearinghouse, or assumed a solo operation was exempt, or registered as a driver but forgot the employer side.

The four checklists are your audit prep. Complete them, keep them current, and the auditor is checking boxes next to things you already did. You are not preparing for the audit — you are already prepared.

What compliance actually costs — most of it is insurance

Insurance dominates. At $12,000-$25,000 per year, it accounts for 90%+ of annual compliance costs. Strip out insurance and recurring compliance runs $406-$2,325 per year — consortium fees, inspections, registrations, and filings.

IRP registration creates the widest range in setup costs. A truck running 5 states costs less than one running 25. Budget $1,500-$5,000 for total initial compliance setup and you will cover it.

Start the checklists now

The complexity is front-loaded. The first two days feel like a paperwork avalanche. After that, compliance is 20 minutes a day and a calendar you check once a month.

Work through each checklist in order. The driver checklist is the most important — it contains the items most likely to get you fined. The truck checklist takes the longest because IRP registration has a multi-week processing time. The trip checklist has zero setup — it starts when you start driving. The business checklist is mostly items you already completed when getting your authority.

• The Driver Checklist — Qualified, Tested, Documented
• The Truck Checklist — Registered, Inspected, Maintained
• The Trip Checklist — Hours, Paperwork, Fuel
• The Business Checklist — Filed, Renewed, Current

Ninety days from now, compliance will feel like brushing your teeth. The first two weeks are the hard part. Start today.