Tony Vasquez

Tony walks new motor carriers through their first FMCSA new-entrant safety audit. The audit happens within 12 months of activating USDOT, and most owner-operators reach the window without realizing the FMCSA investigator will literally sit at a table and walk through their driver qualification file, drug-testing program, hours-of-service logs, insurance, accident register, and (if applicable) hazmat documentation.

Tony spent 12 years prior at a multi-state trucking firm running the compliance program through three FMCSA Compliance Reviews and one DOT Audit Plus. He knows what the investigator actually looks at, in what order, and which gaps signal “deficient” vs which signal “unsatisfactory.”

Tony authored the DQ File Checklist template and the New-Entrant Safety Audit guide. Both are written from the auditor's perspective rather than the carrier's - which is the perspective that actually matters when you're the one being audited.