DOT Record Retention Requirements

Every FMCSA record has a retention period, and they are all different. Six months for logs. Three months for a DVIR. Three years for the accident register. Five years for some drug and alcohol records and one year for others.

This is the full table for a small carrier, with the citation for every line. Two of the underlying sections were amended in 2026, so if you are working from a printed chart or an older blog post, check it against this.

Maintenance records now specify a 30-day control threshold. The requirement is to maintain records for each motor vehicle you control for 30 consecutive days. 49 CFR 396.3(b), amended July 21, 2026. Short-term rentals and vehicles you hold briefly fall outside it.

The DVIR section was amended in February 2026. 49 CFR 396.11. The retention period did not change, but the section structure did, and older charts cite paragraphs that no longer match. If a reference tells you DVIR retention is at 396.11(c)(2), it is out of date. It is 396.11(a)(4).

If you operate only one commercial motor vehicle, the driver vehicle inspection report rules in 49 CFR 396.11(a) do not apply to you at all.

The exceptions in 49 CFR 396.11(a)(5) cover a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), a driveaway-towaway operation, and any motor carrier operating only one commercial motor vehicle.

That is a real carve-out for single-truck owner-operators, and almost no compliance guide says so.

Two cautions before you act on it. First, it is the DVIR requirement specifically. Your maintenance records under 396.3 and your annual periodic inspection under 396.17 still apply, and the periodic inspection is on the automatic failure list. Second, the moment you add a second truck, the exception is gone.

There is also a smaller exception that applies to everyone: a driver is not required to prepare a report if no defect or deficiency is discovered by or reported to them. 49 CFR 396.11(a)(2)(i). The no-defect DVIR is not a federal requirement.

Six months on logs is shorter than people expect. Records of duty status and supporting documents run from the date of receipt, not the date of the trip. 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1). Purging on a rolling six-month schedule is compliant. Purging early because you assumed it was three months is not.

Maintenance records have two clocks. One year while you have the vehicle, and six months after it leaves your control. 49 CFR 396.3(c). Selling a truck does not let you throw out its file.

The accident register runs three years per accident, not three years total. 49 CFR 390.15(b). And the register has required contents: date, city or town and State, driver name, number of injuries, number of fatalities, and whether hazardous materials other than fuel from the vehicle's own tanks were released. Plus copies of all accident reports required by State or other governmental entities or insurers.

A register with no accidents in it is still a register. Having nothing at all is the finding.

Drug and alcohol records split three ways. Five years, two years, one year, depending on the record. 49 CFR 382.401(b). The most common mistake is treating negative test results like positives and keeping everything for five years, which is harmless, or treating positives like negatives and purging at one year, which is not.

Five items can leave the DQ file early. The annual MVR, the annual review note, the medical certificate or CDLIS MVR, any medical variance, and the National Registry verification note may all be removed three years after the date of execution. 49 CFR 391.51(d). Everything else in the file stays for the full retention period.

Retention is not the only obligation. Two record sets carry access requirements.

The driver investigation history file must be maintained in a secure location with controlled access, limited to people involved in the hiring decision or who control access to the data, and used only for the hiring decision. Your insurer may have access except to the alcohol and controlled substances data. 49 CFR 391.53(a).

Drug and alcohol program records must also be maintained in a secure location with controlled access. 49 CFR 382.401(a).

A shared folder that everyone in the office can open does not satisfy either one, no matter how long you keep the records.

Different rules set different clocks, and the drug and alcohol one is the tightest.

Part 382 records must be made available for inspection at your principal place of business within two business days after a request from an authorized FMCSA representative. 49 CFR 382.401(d).

Accident records must be made available within such time as the request or investigation may specify. 49 CFR 390.15(a)(1).

Driver investigation history records must be made available on request or as part of any inquiry within the time period specified by the requesting representative. 49 CFR 391.53(d).

For a new entrant safety audit, all records and documents required for the audit must be made available for inspection on request by a certified auditor. 49 CFR 385.307(c).

Note what none of those say. There is no general 48-hour production rule for a US-domiciled carrier. That number comes from the pre-authorization audit criteria for non-North America-domiciled carriers and gets repeated as if it applies to everyone.

Retention gaps are quiet. Nothing breaks, nothing warns you, and the problem only appears when someone asks for a record you already threw away. The readiness check on this site covers the record types an auditor asks for first and tells you which gaps would fail an audit outright. About four minutes, no signup to see your score.