FMCSA new entrants: who they are and what the audit means
Reviewed · Numbers are Rookiefeed analysis as of , updated daily
A new entrant is a carrier that just got a USDOT number to start interstate operations. FMCSA monitors it for 18 months and audits it within 12 months of starting operations; 16 violations mean automatic failure, and a failure not fixed in time ends in revocation. Nearly every carrier on a new-authority list is in this window: 98% of the last 30 days' grants were first-time authorities.
Who is a new entrant
FMCSA defines a new entrant as a motor carrier not domiciled in Mexico that applies for a USDOT number to begin operating in interstate commerce. For-hire carriers also need operating authority, which can only go active once insurance and a process agent are on file.
So the carriers on a daily new-authority list are, almost by definition, new entrants. The exceptions are returning carriers that held authority before and kept an older USDOT number; first-time authorities were 98% of the 5,591 for-hire grants in the last 30 days. Rookiefeed flags first-time vs returning on every row.
The 18 months, step by step
| Stage | What the rules say | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Monitoring | Once the carrier meets the pre-operational requirements, it is monitored for 18 months, with its roadside inspections watched closely | 49 CFR 385.307 |
| Safety audit timing | FMCSA's program page says the audit happens within 12 months after the carrier begins operations; the rule says once it has enough records to review, generally at least 3 months | FMCSA; 49 CFR 385.307(b) |
| Where | Generally at the carrier's principal place of business | FMCSA |
| Result notice | Pass or fail notice no later than 45 days after the audit | 49 CFR 385.319 |
| Fix window after a fail | 60 days from the notice for most carriers; 45 days for passenger carriers and certain hazmat carriers | 49 CFR 385.319(c) |
| If not fixed | Registration revoked and an out-of-service order effective day 61 (or day 46) | 49 CFR 385.325 |
The 16 automatic failures
A new entrant fails the audit outright for any one of 16 violations. Grouped:
- Drug and alcohol: no testing program, no random testing program, or using a driver known to have tested positive, refused a test or had an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more.
- Drivers: knowingly using a driver without a valid CDL, a disqualified driver or a physically unqualified driver.
- Insurance: operating without the required minimum financial responsibility (for property carriers, the BIPD liability on file with FMCSA).
- Vehicles: running a truck declared out of service before repairs, not fixing out-of-service defects a driver reported, or, in 51% or more of records examined, using vehicles that weren't periodically inspected.
- Hours of service: failing to require drivers to keep a record of duty status, in 51% or more of records examined.
What can bring the audit forward
FMCSA can expedite the audit, or order a compliance review, if a new entrant is caught using a driver without a valid CDL, running an out-of-service vehicle, using a driver who tests positive or refuses a test, operating without required insurance, having certain hazmat incidents, or showing a driver or vehicle out-of-service rate of 50% or more over at least three inspections in 90 days (49 CFR 385.308).
Why it matters if you sell to new carriers
- Factoring reps: a client that fails the audit and doesn't fix it in 60 days is put out of service and can't haul the loads you'd fund. That risk sits in the carrier's first year.
- Truck insurance agents: coverage lapses are both an automatic failure and an expedited-audit trigger, so a new venture's policy staying in force is part of keeping its authority.
- Dispatchers: a truck under an out-of-service order can't take loads; ask early whether the carrier has drug and alcohol testing set up, since missing it is the first automatic failure on the list.
- Everyone: the new entrant window is also the window when the carrier is choosing its vendors. Reaching it in the first weeks after the grant is the point of a daily list.
Finding new entrants each day
New entrants start showing up the day their authority is granted, about 237 a business day. New MC numbers today shows the newest grants by state, and the MC number lookup shows how many days old one carrier's authority is. Rookiefeed is $59 a month for one state once a week, $149 for one state every day, $299 for up to 8 states and $599 for every state, and you can cancel any time.
Questions
- What is the FMCSA new entrant list?
- It usually means the carriers in FMCSA's New Entrant Safety Assurance Program: companies that just got a USDOT number to start interstate operations and are inside their 18-month monitoring period. In practice they're the carriers that recently got a USDOT number and, for for-hire carriers, operating authority.
- When does a new entrant get its safety audit?
- FMCSA says within 12 months after the carrier begins operations. The rule says the audit comes once the carrier has run long enough to have records to review, generally at least 3 months. Certain violations can bring it forward.
- What happens if a new entrant fails the safety audit?
- FMCSA sends a notice within 45 days of the audit. Most carriers then have 60 days to show corrective action (45 for passenger carriers and certain hazmat carriers). If they don't, the new entrant registration is revoked and an out-of-service order takes effect on day 61 (or day 46).
Every new carrier, by 7am
Owner name, phone, email, fleet, equipment and insurer for each carrier FMCSA authorized yesterday, as a CSV.
Related
Sources: FMCSA: New Entrant Safety Assurance Program · 49 CFR 385.307 (monitoring period) · 49 CFR 385.308 (expedited audits) · 49 CFR 385.319 (audit results, corrective action) · 49 CFR 385.321 (automatic failures) · 49 CFR 385.325 (revocation and out-of-service)