For the purposes of a New Entrant Safety Audit and/or a MCSAP Safety Investigation here is a listing of the time periods. Keep in mind that these time frames are for records retained under the Federal Motor Carrier Regulations. Time frames for the International Registration Plan (IRP), International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are different. Please contact the NDDOT Motor Carrier Services for specific questions on IRP and IFTA. Contact the Internal Revenue Service or the ND Tax Department for questions on income tax related record retention.
Federal Motor Carrier Regulation retention period for New Entrant Audits and MCSAP Safety Investigations:
Accidents - must maintain an accident register for 3 years and all copies of crash reports/investigations for 3 years.
DQ file- entire time the driver is employed and for 3 additional years. The annual DMV check, annual list of violations, annual review, and medical certification info must be maintained for 3 years from the date it was done.
Logs and supporting documents - 6 months
Vehicle Maintenance files - 1 year's info and retain for 6 months after vehicle leaves carrier's control
Annual periodic inspections - 14 months
Driver/Vehicle inspection report - 90 days, only required if defect is found by driver or somebody else that day.
Drug and Alcohol Testing- this is testing done by the company
Positive alcohol or drug tests, refusals, Driver evaluations and referrals, Calibration documentation, records related to the administering of tests, copy of annual summary- 5 years
Records related to drug and alcohol collection process- 2 years
Records of negative or cancelled tests-1 year
Records of education and training (includes drivers, managers, everyone). Maintained entire time that person is involved with that activity and for 2 years after ceasing that duty.- Indefinite
IRP-3 year retention period
IFTA-4 year retention period
http://www.dot.nd.gov/manuals/mv/ifta-manual.pdf