Federal regulations require that you communicate a number of things to the motor carrier you are contracted to immediately:
- Any roadside inspection – even those where the officer may have told you that the citations listed are just warnings. CSA points are assigned to every item listed, no matter what it is called.
- Any citation/ticket/ arrest – if you are arrested – even in your own auto – the motor carrier you are contracted to must be informed. Every arrest affects your motor vehicle report, and most arrests carry points against your license; your carrier must know about every violation.
- Any collision – Every claim/collision/ accident/ crash must be reported to your carrier. States report collisions to the federal government, and the federal government audits carrier accident registers. Avoid embarrassment and fines by reporting all incidents – even those where the customer’s commercial vehicle has not been damaged.
- Any damage to your unattended vehicle – if your vehicle has been vandalized, or fuel has been siphoned from its tank, or a part has been stolen from it as it stood parked in a motel or truck stop parking lot, report the loss. Report the loss to local police and get a police report or case number.
Not all surprises are good; for the company you work with to learn you had been involved in a collision months before is not an example of the kind of good communication federal regulations demand.
