What happens if I fail my new entrant safety audit?

Chapter 01

What does the failure notice mean, and how long do I have?

The failure notice is FMCSA’s written warning. It says your registration as a new carrier will be revoked, and your company put out of service, unless you take the steps it lists. FMCSA must send it no later than 45 days after the audit ends. The deadline is counted from the date printed on the notice, not the day you open it. Most carriers get 60 days. Some get only 45 (the federal rule on audit results).

Here is how that looks in real life. Say you run three trucks and haul freight for hire. You got your DOT number and your MC number in the spring of 2026. In September, FMCSA asked for your records for the audit, which FMCSA calls the New Entrant Safety Audit. You sent them online, in what is called an offsite audit. The auditor finished on Thursday, September 24. Then, on Thursday, October 1, the notice arrives. You failed. (For the full audit process, from the first letter to the result, see our guide to how the new entrant safety audit works.)

Why did you fail? Your drivers all took a drug test before they started. But you never joined a random testing program. The rules say drivers must also be tested at random, all year (the random testing rule). Having no random program is one of 16 violations that automatically fail the audit, regardless of your other records (the list of automatic failures). You can read all 16, and how to check yourself for each, in our guide to automatic failures.

There is a second way to fail. The auditor gives points for problems in six areas, such as drivers, vehicles and hours of service. An area receives a failing score at 3 points. If three areas receive a failing score, you fail the audit (the audit scoring rules). Either way, the notice and the deadlines that follow are the same.

It does not matter that no one came to your office. An offsite audit can fail you too. Since September 2014, if the papers you send show one of the 16 automatic failures, you fail, and the process for correcting the violations begins (FMCSA’s 2014 notice).

Now count the days. Your notice is dated Thursday, October 1. You haul freight, so you have 60 days. Your last day to fix things is Monday, November 30. If FMCSA has not accepted your fixes by then, your registration is revoked on Tuesday, December 1. That is day 61, and it is the day the out-of-service order takes effect (the rule on what happens next).

Three kinds of carrier have 45 days. The first carries passengers for pay in a vehicle built or used for 9 to 15 people, counting the driver. The second uses any vehicle built or used for more than 15 people, counting the driver. The third hauls hazardous materials in amounts that need placards (the federal rule on audit results). If you were in this group, with the same notice date, your last day would be Sunday, November 15. The order would start on Monday, November 16.

Until that date, you may keep running. The notice is a warning, not yet an order. The order only takes effect on day 61, or day 46 (the rule on what happens next). But every day you wait is a day less to fix things.

A failed safety audit also does not give your company a safety rating. The rules say an audit does not end in a rating. Ratings come from a longer FMCSA investigation called a compliance review (the rule on ratings). The issue here is whether you can keep your registration.

Chapter 02

How do I fix the problems and prove it?

You fix each problem the notice lists. Then send FMCSA documents that show what you corrected. FMCSA calls this your corrective action plan. It wants proof for every violation that led to the failure. And it wants it within 15 days of the date on the notice. The 15 days are a submission target under FMCSA’s policy. The legal deadline for avoiding revocation is still 60 or 45 days. It gives its staff time to review your proof before your 60 or 45 days run out (FMCSA’s 2012 policy).

In your case, the fix is simple, but it must be real. On Friday, October 2, you sign up with a drug and alcohol testing company that runs random draws for small carriers. FMCSA calls it a consortium or third-party administrator (the testing rule’s definitions). You put all three drivers in its random pool. Then you ask the company for two papers. One shows that your company is enrolled, and since when. The other lists the drivers in your pool.

Address the cause of the problem as well as the missing paperwork. The rule asks you to “remedy inadequate safety management practices” (the federal rule on audit results). In plain words, FMCSA wants to see that your safety system now works, not just that one form got signed. So ask yourself why it happened. Then write down the steps you will take to prevent it from happening again. For example, every new driver goes into the random pool on the day of hire. And each month, you check the pool list against your list of drivers.

Then you write a short cover letter. Keep it plain. Say what was wrong, what you did and how it stays fixed. Yours could read like this. Fill in the parts in brackets with your own details.

Corrective action plan. USDOT [your number]. Safety audit failure notice dated October 1, 2026.

What was wrong. We had no random drug and alcohol testing program. Our drivers were tested before hiring, but we did not enroll in random testing.

What we did. On October 2, 2026, we enrolled with [testing company] for random testing. All three of our drivers are in the random pool. The enrollment certificate (1) and the pool list (2) are attached.

How we will keep it fixed. Every new driver is added to the pool on the day of hire, before driving. On the first of each month, the owner checks the pool list against our driver list.

Notice what it does. Each statement refers to a supporting document. It does not argue with the auditor. If you think the auditor was wrong, there is a separate review process, and it comes next.

If your notice lists more than one problem, correct each one and send proof for all of them. For papers that were missing or out of order, our guide to audit documents shows what the auditor reads and how to keep it.

Where do you send it? Your notice tells you where and how. Follow it exactly. Keep proof that you sent it, such as a screenshot of the upload, an email receipt or a mail tracking number. We could not check FMCSA’s current screens, because its websites block automated checks. So we do not describe them here. If the notice is unclear, call the office that sent it. Write down who you spoke with, and when.

You send everything on Friday, October 9. That is day 8, well inside FMCSA’s 15 days, which end on October 16.

Chapter 03

What will FMCSA say, and what if it says no?

If FMCSA accepts your proof, it sends a letter. It says your registration will not be revoked and you may keep operating. If FMCSA has not accepted proof by the deadline, your registration is revoked. The out-of-service order then takes effect on day 61, or day 46 for carriers with 45 days (the rule on what happens next). FMCSA may add up to 60 more days if you are making a good faith effort. For carriers with 45 days, it may add up to 10 (the rule on extra time).

In your case, the answer comes on October 27. FMCSA accepts your plan. The letter says your registration will not be revoked, and you may keep running (the rule on what happens next). You are still a new carrier, though. FMCSA keeps watching your roadside inspections for the rest of your 18 months. Then it makes your registration permanent and tells you in writing. If your 18 months had ended while you were still fixing things, that step would wait. It would come only once FMCSA decided the fixes were done (the rule on the end of the 18 months).

Stay careful in those months. Some events bring a new demand for proof, with only 30 days to answer. They include using a driver with no valid CDL, or a driver who failed or refused a drug or alcohol test. They include running a truck that was put out of service before it is repaired, or running without the required insurance. A bad roadside record counts too: half or more of at least three inspections in 90 days ending out of service. Fail to answer within those 30 days, and your registration is revoked (the rule on quick action against new carriers). FMCSA’s policy asks for that proof within 10 days (FMCSA’s 2012 policy).

Now go back to October 1, and say you had put the letter in a drawer. You find it in late November and send your proof on Wednesday, November 25. FMCSA’s policy is plain about this. Proof that comes more than 15 days after the notice may not be reviewed in time. If the 60 days run out first, the registration is revoked. If FMCSA later accepts the proof, it reinstates your registration at once. If it does not, you must wait 30 days before you apply again (FMCSA’s 2012 policy). The 60 days must cover both your corrections and FMCSA’s review. Do not leave submission until the end.

What if the fix takes longer than you have? FMCSA may extend your 60 days by up to 60 more. It does so only if it decides you are making a good faith effort to fix things. For carriers with 45 days, it may add up to 10 days. That is only when you have already sent your proof and FMCSA needs more time to check it (the rule on extra time). With your notice date, a full extension would move your last day from November 30 to Friday, January 29, 2027. The out-of-service date would then be the next day.

Do not count on it, though. FMCSA’s 2012 policy ties extra time to proof that arrives within 15 days. It also says FMCSA will not give extensions to carriers of passengers or hazardous materials (FMCSA’s 2012 policy). So if your deadline is 45 days, plan to finish within that time.

What if the auditor got it wrong? Say you had a random program all along, and the auditor missed your papers. Then you can ask for a second look, called an administrative review. It goes to the head of the FMCSA Service Center that handles your case, whom FMCSA calls the Field Administrator. Your request must explain the error, list every fact and step you dispute, and attach your proof. FMCSA may ask for more papers or a meeting. If you do not send them or do not come, it can drop your request (the rule on reviews).

Watch the dates on a review. You have 90 days after you are notified, so until December 30 in your case. If you sent proof and FMCSA rejected it, the 90 days run from that later letter instead. But if you want an answer before the out-of-service date, ask within 15 days, by October 16. FMCSA must decide within 45 days of getting your request, or 30 days for carriers with 45 days. Its answer is final (the rule on reviews). Asking for a review does not pause your clock. If you ask after day 15, you may be revoked before the answer comes. To protect your registration, request the review and submit proof of your corrections as well.

Chapter 04

What happens if my registration is revoked?

Your registration as a new carrier is revoked, and an out-of-service order takes effect. From that day, your company may not operate in interstate commerce. You can apply again, but not sooner than 30 days after the revocation. You send an updated company form and proof that the problems are fixed. Then your 18 months as a new carrier start over, from the day FMCSA approves you (the rule on applying again).

Go back to the letter in the drawer. Say your late proof was not reviewed in time. On Tuesday, December 1, your registration is revoked. From that day, your three trucks are out of service for interstate work (the rule on what happens next). Any loads you booked across state lines go to someone else. What you may still do inside one State depends on that State’s rules, which we did not check.

Do not run anyway. A new carrier that drives while under an out-of-service order can be fined for each offense (the rule on running while out of service). The failure notice itself is about your registration, not about money. A fine comes through a separate FMCSA enforcement case, which starts with its own notice and has its own deadlines. FMCSA’s rules name an audit as one place the facts for such a case can come from (the rule on how enforcement cases start). If a fine notice ever comes, read how to respond to an FMCSA enforcement notice.

Now the way back. The earliest you may apply again is Thursday, December 31, 2026, 30 days after the revocation (the rule on applying again). Your registration was revoked over a failed safety audit, so you must do three things. You send an updated MCS-150. That is the form that holds your company’s details for your DOT number (the rule on registration forms). You send proof that the problems are fixed and that your safety controls will stay in place. And your 18 months of monitoring as a new carrier start again, counted from the day FMCSA approves the new application. The months you already ran do not count. If you haul for hire and your operating authority, your MC number, was revoked too, you must apply for that again as well.

Registration can also be revoked without an audit failure. Some carriers never take the audit at all. If a carrier refuses, FMCSA sends a notice. The carrier must agree in writing within 10 days, or its registration is revoked on the 11th day (the rule on refusing an audit). To come back from that, the carrier sends an updated MCS-150, starts the 18 months again and takes the audit (the rule on applying again). So keep your mailing address, email and phone current with FMCSA, and open every letter the day it comes.

What has changed? Not the rules. FMCSA raised the bar for passing in December 2008 (as its 2012 policy recounts). Its policy on sending proof within 15 days has applied to failure notices since August 20, 2012 (FMCSA’s 2012 policy). Offsite audits have been able to fail a carrier since September 9, 2014 (FMCSA’s 2014 notice). So if anyone tells you there is no rush because you have 60 days, that advice has been out of date since 2012.

There are things we could not check. FMCSA’s websites block automated checks. So we could not see the screens you use to send proof or to apply again. We also could not see what your public record shows after a failure. And we found no official figure for how many new carriers fail. What decides your case is on this page: the date on your notice, and proof that the problems are really fixed.

If you would rather hand this to someone, we read the notice with you and build the proof: here is what it costs.