Motor Carriers: Have You Completed Your Accident Register for 2012?

Have you recorded your accidents during 2012 on a register? If you are a motor carrier operating commercial vehicles that are over 10,000lbs MGVWR, transport hazardous materials in quantities requiring placards, or transport passengers, you will be required to present an accident register during a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) compliance review. Even if your operation experienced no accidents for the year, this register is mandatory.

The FMCSA requires that the following information be included on the accident register:

1. Date of accident
2. City or town, or most near, where the accident occurred and the state where the accident occurred
3. Driver name
4. Number of injuries
5. Number of fatalities.
6. Whether hazardous materials, other than fuel spilled from the fuel tanks of motor vehicle

Registers for a given calendar year should be retained for 3 years and must be accompanied by any accident reports required by local, state, or federal government entities as well as insurance companies. This documentation may be kept electronically, but should be available to print upon an auditor’s request.

The FMCSA recommends that two records be maintained to expedite the compliance review process: one for DOT recordable accidents and another for non-DOT recordable accidents. This allows motor carriers to present only the required accident register to an auditor during a review.

Motor carriers should review the FMCSA’s definition of a commercial vehicle-related accident when compiling their register:

An occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle (>10,000 lbs MGVWR, HM or Passengers) operating on a highway in interstate or intrastate commerce which results in:

1. A fatality.
2. Bodily injury to a person who, as a result of the injury, immediately receives medical treatment away from the scene of the accident.
3. One or more motor vehicles incurring disabling damage as a result of the accident, requiring the motor vehicle(s) to be transported away from the scene by a tow truck or other motor vehicle.

The term “accident” does not include:

1. An occurrence involving only boarding and alighting from a stationary motor vehicle.
2. An occurrence involving only the loading or unloading of cargo.