New Entrant Press
Your first safety audit does not have to be a guessing game.
If you run one, two or three trucks and your USDOT number is new, an audit is on its way. This book tells you which federal rules actually reach an operation your size, what record each one expects you to have on hand, and where small carriers most often come up short. Nothing more, and nothing you do not need.
Delivered as a PDF and an EPUB by email and on screen the moment you pay. Payment handled by Stripe. Read it on your phone in the cab or print it for the office.
- Formats
- PDF and EPUB
- Edition
- Version 1.0
- Checked against
- ecfr.gov, 15 September 2026
- License
- One carrier, print allowed
- Price
- $49 USD, one time
The situation
You registered, the number came through, and now there is a clock running.
New carriers enter a monitoring period, and somewhere inside it an auditor will ask to see your records. The problem is not that the rules are secret. They are public. The problem is that they are written for every carrier in the country, from a single pickup to a fleet of thousands, and nobody hands you the short list that applies to you.
So most small carriers do one of two things. They buy a binder of forms and hope it covers them, or they put it off and hope the audit is kind. This book is the third option: know exactly what is expected of an operation your size, and build only that.
What you get
A map of the rules, sized to your operation
Thirteen chapters that follow the same order an audit does, so you can prepare in the order that helps.
Find out what reaches you first
A large share of the rules that can fail a new entrant audit apply only to certain operations. The book has you settle that question, in writing, before you read anything else, so you never build a program you do not owe.
Understand how an audit is actually failed
There are two separate ways it happens and they work differently. The book takes them one at a time, so you prepare for the right thing.
Know what each record must contain
Carrier records, the driver file, testing, hours of service, maintenance and inspection, the accident register, and how long to keep each one. Every requirement names the section it comes from.
Check any statement yourself
Every requirement was read at ecfr.gov on 15 September 2026. A build log at the back lists each section opened and the date, so you can confirm anything rather than take the author's word for it.
Inside
Plain prose and tables, laid out to be read in a cab
Short sections, one idea each. Requirements carry their citation in square brackets. Where a rule does not apply to you, the book says so instead of leaving you to wonder.
How it was written
Built from the source, and it shows its work
Every substantive statement in the book carries a marker that tells you whether a regulation requires it, whether it is common practice with no rule behind it, whether the decision is yours as the owner, or whether it is a figure the agency resets on its own schedule that you must look up. A statement without a marker is treated by the author as a mistake.
The book paraphrases the regulations rather than quoting them, and explains why: a paraphrase that is honest about being a paraphrase is safer for you than a quotation that might be off by a word. When wording matters, it sends you to the section.
It was checked against the official text at ecfr.gov on 15 September 2026. The build log lists every section opened, with the date, and names what was not opened. It is not affiliated with FMCSA, the Department of Transportation or any state agency, it is not legal advice, and it does not promise an outcome. An auditor decides whether your records pass; the book’s job is to make sure you know what they will be looking at.
Who it is for
Read this before you buy
If this does not describe you, the record keeping chapters will be incomplete for your operation, and we would rather you kept your money.
Written for
A US based motor carrier hauling property across state lines, holding a USDOT number under the new entrant program, typically one to three trucks, whose safety audit has not yet happened.
Not written for
Hazardous materials carriers, passenger carriers, carriers already out of the new entrant program, and intrastate only carriers in states that have not adopted the federal new entrant rule.
This book contains no forms, templates or checklists.
It is prose, with tables. It tells you what each record must contain and where the requirement comes from. It does not supply the record. If you are looking for a folder of fillable documents, this is not that, and you should stop here.
Fair questions
You might be thinking
- The regulations are free online. Why pay for this?
- They are, and the book sends you to them constantly. What you are paying for is the sorting: which of the hundreds of sections reach a carrier your size, what record each one expects, and in what order to build them. That is the part the free text does not do.
- I already bought a compliance binder.
- Keep it. Forms are only useful once you know which ones you owe. This book is the layer underneath: it tells you what a record has to contain and why, so you can tell whether the form you have actually does the job.
- I will just deal with it when the audit comes.
- Some of the records an auditor looks for have to exist before the day, and some cover months of history that cannot be created afterwards. The book is short enough to read in an evening. The cost of finding out late is a lot higher than the price of the book.
- Will it be out of date by the time I read it?
- Regulations change, which is why the book prints its verification date on the front, tells you where each figure lives, and asks you to confirm a section before you rely on it. A rule that has changed is easy to spot when you know where to look.
One purchase, one carrier
The New Entrant Safety Audit
A record keeping guide for very small interstate motor carriers.
$49
USD, one time
- Both PDF and EPUB included, version 1.0
- Checked against ecfr.gov on 15 September 2026
- Print it and share it with your own drivers and staff
- Download link by email and on screen, immediately
- Build log listing every section opened
- Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay through Stripe
Secure payment handled by Stripe. Have a discount code? You can enter it on the checkout page.
Delivery
What happens after you pay
Step 1
Checkout
Stripe takes your card and email on its own secure page. We never see your card details.
Step 2
Confirmation
You land on a page where you select PDF or EPUB, then download it. Links for both formats also arrive by email within a minute.
Step 3
Download
Select the format you want, then download it. Links work for 7 days and up to 10 downloads each. Lost them? Write to us.
Who is this book for?
Who is it not for?
Does it include forms, templates or checklists?
Is this affiliated with FMCSA or the DOT?
Will this guarantee I pass the audit?
How current is it?
What do I get after paying?
Can I share it with my drivers?
Free one-page guide
Does the new entrant rule reach me?
Answer six questions and know whether the federal new entrant rule applies to your operation.