DOT Compliance Group Biennial Update, Everything you need to know
For motor carriers in the United States, biennial updates should not be new to you. If you are into the transportation business, there are several rules and regulations you need to stick with to keep your business afloat. Of all the things you need to do, the biennial update is one of the most vital.
In this article, we will be revealing to you what the biennial update entails and how we help motor carriers handle this issue professionally.
Before we jump into biennial updates, it is important to talk about who we are and what services we offer.
What you need to know about DOT Compliance Group
The transportation industry in the US is a big one that has a lot of potential for those operating in the sector. However, there are rules you need to follow if you want to keep your operating license. Many trucking companies have shut down due to failure to follow all the rules and regulations set out by the Department Of Transportation and FMCSA.
The rules may look easy to follow but in reality, they are not. If you decide to handle everything by yourself, it can be time-consuming and frustrating in most cases. Due to the complex nature of the registrations involved, FMCSA has made it easier for motor carriers by approving third-party consortia to assist in the registration process. DOT Compliance Group is one of the Companies that is recognized and legally approved by FMCSA to carry out its services to employers and owner-operators in the transportation industry.
We have been operating for years now and our services cut across the whole of the United States. We serve thousands of clients by helping them to stay compliant with the USDOT rules. Why do we have to do this for businesses? The transportation business is a stressful one already, adding all the stress that comes with one registration to another can leave business owners frustrated. To make it easy for motor carriers, we decided to handle all DOT registration for them while they focus on how to move their businesses forward.
What services do we offer to the trucking industry?
DOT Compliance Group covers everything that has to do with DOT registration. For a clearer picture, below are the major services you can get from us:
- Drug and alcohol testing consortium
- Unified Carrier Registration (UCR)
- Drug and alcohol supervisor training
- Biennial update status
For this article, we will be focusing on biennial updates and show you everything you need to know about this registration.
What is the biennial update?
As an employer or owner-operator in the trucking sector, having operating authority is not enough to keep your vehicles on the road. There are other things you need to fix to stay updated and one of these things is the biennial updates.
If you have your USDOT number and have been operating for a while, one of the requirements set out by FMCSA is for you to participate in the biennial update.
The biennial update is an update that has to do with your MCS-150 Form and is carried out every two years. The case is even different in some States in the United States where you need to carry out the exercise every year. It doesn’t matter whether you change your business information or not, you have to participate in the exercise.
Is there any consequence if you don’t update your MCS-150 Form?
Of course, there is! The first consequence of failing to update your MCS-150 form is that your USDOT numbers will be deactivated. What does this mean? It means you won’t be able to operate and your trucks won’t be on the road. This is as bad as being out of business.
Also, on rare occasions, you may have to pay huge fines of up to $1,000 per day up to $10,000. This is something every trucking company will want to avoid by all means.
Remember these penalties apply regardless of whether you changed your business information or not. As long as you are operating, the biennial updates need to be done.
How can you do the biennial update without stress?
As it was earlier stated in this article, there are many things to worry about already in the trucking industry. Adding other registrations such as the biennial update will only make it more worrisome for any operator. However, there are professional services you can use to take care of biennial updates and other necessary registrations. This is where DOT Compliance Group comes to assist.
At DOT Compliance Group, we help businesses handle all their DOT registration to stay compliant always. Of course, you don’t want to be fined or get your trucks taken off the road just because you are not compliant. We are dedicated to helping trucking companies across the United States to stay compliant with the daunting rules of FMCSA.
To begin the biennial update process, you may want to check your biennial update status to know if you are compliant or not. To do this, you can use our free biennial update checker to check your current status. If for any reason your MCS-150 form has not been updated, we will gladly handle everything for you.
All you have to do if your form is not updated is to put a call through to us via 855-368-7233 and we will handle the rest for you. Once we are done with the update, we will send you a copy for future reference.
Get in touch with us today and we will be glad to render professional services that will keep you compliant all the time. With DOT Compliance Group, rest assured of ever staying compliant with FMCSA because our aim is to see your trucks on the road always.