Getting started
New to transportation and compliance? Start here.
Transportation runs the modern world, and you're about to be part of it. A few hurdles stand between you and running on your own terms, clear of shutdowns and fines. Compliance isn't a nice to have. It's a must have, and Dotra is here to make it simple. Here is the road to getting compliant: five stops, in the order you'll hit them.
Running both? Follow the CDL track, which covers everything, and scope by unit as you go: the testing program covers anyone who ever drives a CDL vehicle, IFTA and IRP follow the trucks over 26,000 lbs, and your lighter trucks' drivers may qualify for short-haul time records instead of an ELD.
Scroll to roll ↓
Before anything moves
Start your journey.
Your USDOT number is your federal ID, filed through FMCSA's Motus system. For-hire interstate carriers also need operating authority, and it won't activate until your insurer files your liability coverage and you name a BOC-3 process agent.
No number, no load. Driving regulated weight without a DOT number is the fastest fine in the book, and a lot of owners find out at a scale house.
Before the first load
File your drivers.
Every driver gets a qualification file: application, driving record pulled at hire and every year after, road test, and a current DOT medical card. CDL drivers also enter your drug and alcohol testing program with a Clearinghouse registration, and the pre-employment test comes before the first load.
Automatic fail. No testing program is one of the few items that fails the new entrant audit outright, and failing can cost the authority itself.
Before the first load
File your trucks.
A maintenance file and an annual inspection for every vehicle. Plus an ELD from FMCSA's registered list, with the hours-of-service records it produces.
Out of service means the load sits. An officer can park the truck on the spot, and the violation follows your record for two years.
Every year after
Manage your compliance.
IFTA fuel tax quarterly, IRP plates, UCR every year, Form 2290, and the MCS-150 update every two years. Each one has its own deadline and its own place to file.
The audit is coming either way. FMCSA audits every new carrier inside twelve months. Carriers with organized files pass it. That can be you, on purpose.
First load
You’re rolling. That was the whole road.
Five stops, each one knowable, each one datable. The catch is that every item behind you expires or renews, and watching them is nobody’s full-time job. That’s the job Dotra does: one place for every file, and a heads-up before anything goes stale.
See how Dotra keeps you rolling →Take the checklist with you.
Free PDFs, no email required. Print one, stick it on the wall, and check items off as you go.
For CDL carriers
The new carrier compliance roadmap.
Every FMCSA requirement for a new for-hire carrier, where each item gets filed, and the order to do it in. 13 pages.
Download the guideFor non-CDL fleets
The non-CDL compliance checklist.
Every DOT obligation for vehicles rated 10,001 to 26,000 lbs, and the ones you get to skip. 11 pages.
Download the checklistThe whole list, written down.
The road above, in plain checklist form. Which column is yours depends on your vehicles: trucks rated over 26,000 lbs need CDL drivers and carry the full set of rules, while box trucks, heavy vans, and work trucks rated 10,001 to 26,000 lbs skip the CDL but keep more of the rules than most owners expect.
CDL operations
Trucks over 26,000 lbs.
Also any vehicle hauling hazmat or 16+ passengers.
USDOT number and operating authority
Your federal registration, filed through FMCSA's Motus system. For-hire interstate carriers also need operating authority before booking a load.
Insurance on file
Liability coverage your insurer files directly with FMCSA, plus a BOC-3 process agent. Authority doesn't activate without them.
CDL and DOT medical card
Every driver carries both. Both expire, and an expired med card can downgrade the license itself.
Drug and alcohol testing program
Enroll in a testing program and register with the FMCSA Clearinghouse. The pre-employment test comes before the first load, not after.
A qualification file for every driver
Application, driving record at hire and every year after, road test, medical certificate. One file per driver, kept current.
ELD and hours of service
A logging device from FMCSA's registered list, and the records it produces.
A file for every vehicle
Maintenance records, an annual inspection, and daily inspection reports.
The recurring filings
IFTA fuel tax, IRP plates, UCR every year, Form 2290, and the MCS-150 update every two years. Each one has its own deadline.
Non-CDL operations
Vehicles rated 10,001 to 26,000 lbs.
Box trucks, heavy cargo vans, work trucks, and pickups pulling loaded trailers.
USDOT number
Required when the vehicle, or the truck and trailer together, is rated over 10,000 lbs and crosses state lines for work. Many states require one for in-state work too.
DOT medical card
The same exam CDL drivers take. The physical card lives in the driver's file, because there's no state record to point to.
A qualification file for every driver
Application, driving record at hire and every year after, road test, medical certificate. Same file a CDL driver needs.
A file for every vehicle
Maintenance records and an annual inspection, even for a box truck or a heavy van.
Hours of service records
Most local crews qualify for the short-haul exception: no ELD, but you keep accurate time records.
The recurring filings
UCR every year and the MCS-150 update every two years to keep your DOT number active.
The basics
Insurance minimums, an accident register, and your USDOT number marked on the truck.
What you can skip: no CDL, no drug and alcohol testing program, and no IFTA or IRP under 26,000 lbs. Watch the combination, though. A truck pulling a trailer that tops 26,000 lbs together crosses back into those rules.
Dotra is a tool, not your compliance department. The duty to comply sits with the motor carrier under 49 CFR, and it doesn’t transfer to a vendor, a consultant, or a software product. This road is general information about federal requirements, not legal advice: state obligations aren’t covered, hazmat, passenger, and intrastate-only operations carry requirements it doesn’t address, and rules change. Verify anything that matters at fmcsa.dot.gov before you rely on it.
Where Dotra comes in.
Compliance stress isn't really about paperwork. It's the quiet worry that something, somewhere, has expired and you'll find out at the worst possible moment. Dotra was built to take that worry off your plate.
Everything lives in one place.
Driver files, vehicle files, filings, and dates. No more folder on the truck seat, tab in a spreadsheet, and pile on the kitchen table.
You hear about deadlines before they hit.
Med cards, inspections, registrations, filings. Dotra tracks every date and tells you while there's still time to act.
It knows what applies to you.
CDL, non-CDL, or mixed. You track the obligations your operation actually has, not a checklist written for someone else's fleet.
An audit stops being scary.
When the letter comes, your files are already organized and current. You knew they would be.
You started this to move freight and build something of your own. Dotra handles the watching and the remembering, so compliance becomes something you check on, not something that keeps you up at night.
Talk to us
Want to hear more? Two easy ways.
No pitch deck, no pressure. Tell us where you are and we'll meet you there.
Have us call you.
Leave a name and number and we'll talk through where you are and what applies to you.
See the software live.
A 20-minute Zoom walkthrough of Dotra on your screen. Bring your questions, and see exactly what staying compliant looks like day to day.