How this affects you:
- More success on legitimate challenges: Fleets will no longer face “rubber-stamp” denials from the same officer who issued a citation; the new rule mandates independent, multi-stage reviews to eliminate conflicts of interest.
- Strict timelines for faster score corrections: States are now held to mandatory deadlines, including opening requests within seven days and providing initial decisions within 21 days, helping motor carriers clean up CSA scores and safety records faster than under the previous system.
- Increased transparency in denials: Each denied appeal be accompanied by a comprehensive explanation—including the name of the decision-maker and the specific evidence reviewed—giving fleets and drivers a clearer legal basis to decide whether to escalate to Stage 2 or 3.
Federal regulators are launching the most significant reform of the DataQs system in years, mandating a more independent and timely appeals process for motor carriers challenging safety data, according to a 24-page notice scheduled for publication in the Federal Register April 16.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced the revised requirements following a 2025 proposal that drew 223 public comments from trucking companies, drivers, and safety consultants. The new rules tie state compliance to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) grant funding, providing a financial incentive for states to reform how they handle Request for Data Review (RDR) challenges.
“These changes will ostensibly help the partiality issue fleets have been struggling with for years,” Trucksafe President Brandon Wiseman. “Personally, think it’s a step in the right direction towards sorely needed due process for carriers and drivers whose livelihoods are quite literally hinging on the accuracy of this type of data.”
The overhaul comes as the agency manages a massive volume of data challenges. In 2024, the DataQs system handled 8,314 crash data requests and over 63,500 requests regarding inspections and violations.
Mark Schremmer
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is moving forward with a study looking at how a truck driver’s work schedule relates to crash risk.
In a notice that was published in the Federal Register on Monday, April 20, FMCSA said the study, “Crash Risks by Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Schedules,” will answer important questions about how work schedules relate to driver performance and fatigue.
“The information collection will be used to examine the relative risk of crashes and inspection violations based on various factors related to the driver’s work schedule and demographics,” FMCSA wrote.
Information from duty logs, as well as incident and crash data, will be collected electronically, and driver data will be sent to a third-party telematics company by motor carriers participating in the study. That data will be married up with data collected by FMCSA in the Motor Carrier Management Information System database – such as recordable crashes and inspection violation records.
The agency first announced the study in November 2025 and accepted public comments for 60 days.
FMCSA received 19 comments focused on topics such as fatigue risks, inflexible hours-of-service regulations, the lack of safe and legal truck parking, the lack of driver autonomy and concerns about the study’s design and recruitment.
In its comments filed in January, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association told the agency that hours-of service logs don’t indicate whether or not a truck driver is tired.
“As proposed, we do not believe the Information Collection Request (ICR) will achieve FMCSA’s objectives of answering questions related to driver schedules and how these factors impact overall driver performance and fatigue,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer wrote. “Hours-of-service logs do not reveal anything about fatigue, simply how many hours a driver was on duty. Additionally, crash rates tend to increase during certain times of day, which may have absolutely no connection with how long a trucker has been on duty. In order for a more accurate analysis, the ICR should incorporate control groups for comparison, which are notably absent from the proposal.”
FMCSA responded that the study is observational and that the study design controls for time-of-day effects by including duty and driving time-of-day as covariates in the modeling framework.
“This separates time-of-day effects from the effects of schedule factors (e.g., long duty) and prevents confounding between these factors,” FMCSA wrote. “While the commenter noted HOS logs do not directly measure fatigue and do not capture all the factors influencing driver fatigue, HOS logs do provide information on sleep opportunity, time awake, and time-on-task, all of which are directly related to fatigue risk.”
Overdrive Staff
It didn’t take long for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance to highlight one of its newest out-of-service violations.
Earlier this week, the alliance of state/federal enforcement and industry announced false-log violations as a result of ELD tampering will be an out-of-service violation, effective April Fool’s Day, citing 49 CFR 395.8(e)(2).
On Thursday, CVSA announced its annual International Roadcheck inspection blitz will be held May 12-14 and place special emphasis on ELD tampering, falsification or manipulation.
During the three-day Roadcheck, inspectors at weigh/inspection stations and pop-up inspection sites primarily conduct the North American Standard Level I Inspection, a 37-step procedure that includes two major parts — an examination of the driver’s operating requirements and an assessment of the vehicle’s mechanical fitness.
For the driver portion of the inspection, inspectors check the driver’s qualifications, license, record of duty status, medical examiner’s certificate, seat belt usage, skill performance evaluation certificate (if applicable), and status in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (in the U.S.).
Inspectors also look for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment.
For the vehicle portion, it’s more than just the biggies: Lights, tires and brakes. Inspectors assess a whole host of components from the coupling devices and driveline/driveshaft components to the driver’s seat and securement of cargo.
Other mechanical components inspected include fuel and exhaust systems, frames, steering mechanisms, suspensions, wheels, rims, hubs and windshield wipers.
A vehicle that successfully passes a Level I or V Inspection without any critical vehicle inspection item violations may receive a CVSA decal, which is valid for up to three months. A valid decal signals to commercial motor vehicle enforcement personnel that the vehicle was recently inspected and did not have out-of-service violations.
For the emphasis on ELD tampering, during Roadcheck inspectors will review the driver’s record of duty status as usual and check for false or manipulated entries, with a focus on ELD tampering.
Inaccurate ELD entries may result from a driver’s lack of understanding of the federal regulations and exemptions, CVSA noted, but in some cases, inaccurate entries are purposefully used to conceal hours-of-service violations, and some records are manipulated to conceal driving time (with no indication the record was edited as required by federal regulations).
Last year, falsification of record of duty status was the second most-cited driver violation, according to CVSA. The false logs violations saw a sizable uptick in issuance last year, according to Overdrive/RigDig analysis published earlier this week.
During Roadcheck in 2025, “false logs” was the No. 4 overall driver violation, and five out of the top 10 driver violations were related to hours of service or ELDs.
Where’s violation risk most likely? It’s instructive to review the intensity of focus individual states’ inspectors put on the hours of service violation category, generally. The map below, charting Overdrive sister company RigDig analysis, illustrates which states issued the most HOS violations as part of their total mix — where the likelihood of hours attention is high.
The vehicle focus for this year’s Roadcheck is improper/inadequate cargo securement, which as any serious owner-operator knows can pose serious risk to the driver and others on the road. Adverse impacts on the vehicle’s maneuverability, unsecured loads falling or becoming dislodged — all can result in roadway hazards and/or crashes, CVSA noted.
Overdrive/RigDig analysis shows a generally less-intense focus on cargo securement among states than hours, yet plenty variability state-to-state, too.
In 2025, CVSA said, 18,108 violations were issued because cargo was not secured to prevent leaking/spilling/blowing/falling, and 16,054 violations were issued for vehicle components or dunnage not being secured.
During Roadcheck 2025, cargo securement was the No. 5 overall vehicle violation across North America.
During the 72 hours of International Roadcheck, data will be collected, and the results will be released later this year.
Washington, D.C. (Feb. 12, 2026) – From May 12 to 14, enforcement personnel throughout North America will inspect commercial motor vehicles and commercial motor vehicle drivers for compliance with vehicle, cargo and driver regulatory requirements as part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) 72-hour inspection, enforcement and data-collection initiative, International Roadcheck.
During International Roadcheck, inspectors at weigh/inspection stations and pop-up inspection sites primarily conduct the North American Standard Level I Inspection, a 37-step procedure that includes two major parts – an examination of the driver’s operating requirements and an assessment of the vehicle’s mechanical fitness.
For the driver portion of the inspection, inspectors check the driver’s qualifications, license, record of duty status, medical examiner’s certificate, seat belt usage, skill performance evaluation certificate (if applicable), and status in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (in the U.S.). Inspectors also look for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment. If an inspector identifies driver out-of-service violations, they will place the driver out of service, restricting that driver from operating their vehicle.
For the vehicle portion of the inspection, inspectors assess the vehicle’s brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, driveline/driveshaft components, driver’s seat, fuel and exhaust systems, frames, lighting devices, steering mechanisms, suspensions, tires, wheels, rims, hubs, and windshield wipers. Inspections of motorcoaches/buses and other passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles also include examination of emergency exits, seating, and electrical cables and systems in the engine and battery compartments. If out-of-service violations are found during an inspection, the vehicle will be placed out of service and restricted from movement until all out-of-service violations have been properly addressed.
A vehicle that successfully passes a Level I or V Inspection without any critical vehicle inspection item violations may receive a CVSA decal, which is valid for up to three months. A valid decal signals to commercial motor vehicle enforcement personnel that the vehicle was recently inspected and did not have out-of-service violations.
Each year, International Roadcheck places special emphasis on a driver violation category and a vehicle violation category to highlight those aspects of an inspection.
The driver focus for this year’s International Roadcheck is on electronic logging device (ELD) tampering, falsification or manipulation. During an inspection, the inspector will review the driver’s record of duty status as usual and check for false or manipulated entries, with a focus on ELD tampering.
Inaccurate ELD entries may result from a driver’s lack of understanding of the federal regulations and exemptions. However, in some cases, inaccurate entries are purposefully used to conceal hours-of-service violations, and some records are manipulated to conceal driving time (with no indication the record was edited as required by federal regulations).
Last year, falsification of record of duty status was the second most-cited driver violation, at 58,382 violations. And five out of the top 10 driver violations were related to hours of service or ELDs.
This year’s International Roadcheck vehicle focus is cargo securement. Improper or inadequate cargo securement poses a serious risk to the driver and other motorists by adversely affecting the vehicle’s maneuverability and/or causing unsecured loads to fall or become dislodged, resulting in roadway hazards and/or crashes.
In 2025, 18,108 violations were issued because cargo was not secured to prevent leaking/spilling/blowing/falling and 16,054 violations were issued for vehicle components or dunnage not being secured.
During the 72 hours of International Roadcheck, data will be collected, and the results will be released later this year.
Mark Murrell
The human toll of a collision should never be underestimated – even if there are no physical injuries, the mental stress can be enormous. However, during that experience, drivers still have responsibilities and need to follow some best practices when it comes to accident scene reporting. One of the ways you can help is by making sure they’re clear on what they need to do after you’ve established that they are safe.
Some of those driver responsibilities include stopping and securing the cargo and reporting the incident to the authorities. However, one of the things that sometimes gets missed is how much a driver should document for the company’s own files (and the insurer’s) so that the event can be understood by everyone who gets involved later. With that in mind, here is a documentation cheat sheet you can use when developing a response plan for your drivers to follow.
Note: This covers a small (but extremely important) requirement when a crash occurs, but it shouldn’t take priority over other obligations the safety manager or crash response team has – including finding out if the driver is okay, notifying loved ones, and so on. Consult with your executive team or legal counsel for a fuller view of these responsibilities.
Reinforce with your drivers that they should record:
Basic information
This may seem too basic to be needed, but remember that the event will be pieced together later on by people who were not there, so having your driver get even the most basic information down can be crucial:
- Driver information should include their name, address, phone number, date of birth and license number, expiration date, and state or province of issue.
- Carrier information should include their DOT or CVOR number, insurance policy details, company name, address, and phone number.
- Vehicle info includes the year, make and model, color, unit numbers for the tractor and the trailer, and plate numbers.
- And don’t forget to include the time and location of the event!
Incident details
A standard accident report will ask for information like the make, model, and color of the other vehicles involved, as well as personal information about the other drivers and any passengers. It will also help if your driver can write down, while the memory is still fresh, an account of vehicle movements during the incident, including direction, points of impact, traffic signals, and vehicle movements such as making a turn, backing up, skidding or weaving, and more. Note: it will also be important to detail your driver’s own status, including on-duty status and driving hours, distance traveled on the current trip, speed at the time of the incident, and any warning signals they gave or witnessed, such as brakes, indicator lights, horn, etc.
External factors
People looking at the incident much later on (especially insurers) will be keen to know about the road conditions at the time of the incident. Be sure your drivers take note of its physical condition, like how wet or slippery it is, the presence of debris or other obstacles, its grade, curve, and whether the road has potholes or cracks. They should also take note of the traffic conditions – were people trying to merge, was there a railway crossing, was traffic heavy or light, and what was the posted speed limit? Make sure they describe the weather conditions, including how sunny or dark it was, whether there was fog, sleet, or other precipitation, and, in case of darkness, what the road lighting was like.
Legal and other players
While the police may be busy collecting information themselves, it’s important for the driver to take down details about the authorities involved—including badge numbers, who contacted them, the agency the police belong to, whether anyone was charged, and what the charge was (as well as arrests, if any). There will also likely be towing and cleanup vehicles present – make sure to keep detailed notes on these! Unscrupulous towing companies will sometimes exaggerate the number of vehicles present or the time spent, so making clear notes about this can help later on if there is a dispute about exaggerated fees.
Photograph…everything?
The point of all of this is that more information is better when it comes to figuring out what happened. But even if everything else is written down in great detail, there may be some critical scene information that’s not on this list. Encourage your drivers to take photos of the scene (respectfully, of course). Even just a panoramic shot of everything can sometimes reveal details that might have otherwise been missed or forgotten.
Again, this is not to suggest that worrying about documenting the scene of a crash should take precedence over looking out for your driver’s well-being. But navigating a crash incident is a bit of a long game—you’ll be dealing with stakeholders sometimes for years after the fact, so if you can help your drivers remember everything they need to do once they are safe, you’ll be able to deploy resources more effectively when you’ve got the information you need.
