As the owner of a trucking company, you wouldn’t want somebody reminding you of your due dates and all the requirements that you need to fulfill to stay DOT-compliant throughout the year. Or would you?
If you do receive a letter or warning notification of sorts from somebody out there, do consider it a blessing in disguise.
Compliance scam letters being sent out to trucking companies and several other enterprises involved directly or indirectly in the transport sector are actually working to their benefit.
Remember that compliance can be a very time-consuming process. It is also very burdensome and frustrating at times. So if you receive such a letter, take it as a hint to have a closer look at your DOT compliance requirements and whether you are meeting them on time or not.
Connect with your third-party administrator to understand where you stand in terms of road safety, vehicle inspection, and driver qualification files among other things. It is better to know about your status than to go through any unexpected audits and then fill out those penalty forms that everyone dreads so much.
You do not have to request a DOT compliance notification letter or any such correspondence from any department whatsoever. These DOT compliance groups that are actively marketing their services are doing the job just right.
Luckily, they work as an alarm for your trucking company which works in your favor.
Now, that you’ve been reminded about it, it is time to connect with your third-party administrator. Why? Because your DOT compliance facilitator can help you do the following:
1. Avoid The Cost Of Non-Compliance
Remember that there is a big cost of non-compliance. If the US department of transportation or the federal motor carrier safety administration finds out that you have violated any of their rules and regulations, you could be fined up to $10,000 in penalties.
This amount can increase as per the intensity and frequency of your violations.
This is why it is advised to have someone manage your compliance for you throughout the year.
2. Remove All Your Compliance-Related Complications
Who can get rid of all the compliance-related complications for your company? Your third-party administrator. This is a professional who understands the difficult language used (more often than you would like) by federal bodies.
These rules and regulations can be very confusing and generally mind-numbing. The legal terminology is very challenging to understand and most motor carriers and owner-operators just end up doing quite the opposite of what is required of them.
But remember, a dependable and experienced TPA can help you overcome these complications by explaining every bit to you in the simplest language.
3. Streamlined And Organized Compliance
This same DOT Compliance letter also reminds you to be more streamlined and organized in your DOT compliance. When you are doing it on your own, your in-house managers and associates are more prone to making mistakes because they are not specialized in this process.
However, a professional who is trained in this sector knows exactly which information to file and what forms to fill out on your behalf. They know very well what records are to be retrieved from the archive and what due dates are pending in the coming months. I
t is very easy to make sure that no incorrect information is put on those forms and that no outdated records are submitted to keep you compliant and your business functions throughout the year.
4. Impossible To Lose Vital Information
It happens at times that during the course of normal business functioning, you might lose your important documents and paperwork.
For example, if you decide to relocate your office to a new commercial area, you might end up misplacing several of your documents and papers as well. Your third-party administrator on the other hand will have all the records on him whether it is the hard copy or the soft copy.
None of your documents are going to wind up in the wrong file or folder.
This ensures that you don’t end up losing any of your critical business data.
Your third-party administrator has a fully organized storage system and a streamlined database to make sure that information retrieval, management, modification, and updating are carried out seamlessly and on time.
5. Avoid Any Unnecessary Costs
Do you know that even making a slight mistake in your compliance-related documents and forms could invite several fines and penalties? This is not going to look good on your reputation. Of course, you can have a team specifically dedicated to performing these tasks.
But even this is going to cost you tremendously in the long haul.
Most of these updates and requirements that you need to comply with are annual or biannual. Setting up a completely different department or division just to manage your compliance is only going to add to your overall expenses.
The right thing to do is to either handle it all by yourself or go with a highly skilled professional and dependable DOT compliance facilitator.
The help and guidance of a professional are going to eliminate the need for any notifications or even asking for any letters or reminders from anyone whether it is the authorities or any third-party administrator you don’t know of.
Your managers can focus on their business functions and core responsibilities instead of filling out forms and maintaining compliance with the department of transportation and the federal motor carrier safety administration.
6. Saves You Precious Time
The one thing that these DOT compliance scam letters have done successfully is that they have made everyone conscious of their compliance needs and requirements. Earlier, it used to be that many players in the industry missed their due dates.
That used to invite a lot of scrutiny and audit from the authorities. Also, it resulted in various violations and penalties as well. This has been reduced thanks to these uninvited interventions in the form of scam letters.
Conclusion
What’s worth mentioning is that we should not hesitate in pointing out that it has happened in the best interest of trucking companies at large working in the transport sector. Let’s just take it as an alarm system that came to your rescue without you even asking for it.
But this does not mean that you should not hire the services of a TPA.