DOT Accident Register: What Motor Carriers Must Record and How Long to Keep It
Under 49 CFR §390.15, every motor carrier must maintain an accident register — a running log of qualifying accidents involving commercial motor vehicles in the carrier's fleet. The register must be retained for 3 years and produced on request by any authorized federal, state, or local official. A missing or incomplete accident register is a critical violation that FMCSA investigators look for in every compliance review.
What Is the DOT Accident Register?
The accident register is a company-level record (not a driver-level document) that provides a structured account of all qualifying accidents occurring in the carrier's operations over the previous 3 years. It is not the same as the state police accident report, insurance claim file, or post-accident drug test documentation — it is a separate federal recordkeeping obligation that exists regardless of what other records exist about a given accident.
FMCSA does not prescribe a specific form for the accident register. Carriers may maintain it as a spreadsheet, logbook, database record, or within a compliance management software system — as long as all required fields are present and the record is accessible on request.
Which Accidents Must Be Recorded?
A qualifying accident under 49 CFR §390.5 is one involving a CMV on a public road in interstate or intrastate commerce that results in:
- A fatality (any person)
- Bodily injury to any person who, as a result of the injury, immediately receives medical treatment away from the scene of the accident
- Disabling damage to any vehicle involved requiring the vehicle to be transported away from the scene by a tow truck or other vehicle
Accidents that do not meet any of these three criteria — where no one is injured, all vehicles drive away, and no one seeks off-site medical care — are not required to be recorded in the accident register. However, many carriers record all accidents as a best practice for risk management and insurance purposes.
Required Information for Each Register Entry
Under §390.15(b), each accident register entry must include:
| Required Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Date of accident | Must be specific — month, day, year |
| City and state where accident occurred | Location of the accident scene |
| Driver's name | The CDL driver operating the CMV at the time |
| Number of injuries | All injured persons — not just fatalities |
| Number of fatalities | Any persons who died as a result of the accident |
| Whether hazardous materials were released | Specifically excludes fuel spilled from the vehicle's own fuel tank |
Carriers are free to include additional information — vehicle unit numbers, damage descriptions, post-accident test outcomes, investigation notes, witness names, and insurance claim numbers — but the six fields above are the federal minimum required by regulation.
The 3-Year Retention Requirement
The accident register must be retained for 3 years from the date of each accident. This means the register at any given time should contain a rolling 3-year history. Accidents older than 3 years may be removed from the active register (but carriers should consult with legal counsel before destroying any records related to accidents that may still be subject to litigation).
The register must be kept at the carrier's principal place of business. It must be made available to any federal, state, or local official authorized to examine motor carrier records, upon request during a compliance review or investigation.
Accident Register vs. Post-Accident Drug Testing — Key Differences
These two obligations are triggered by similar — but not identical — criteria, and carriers often confuse them:
| Feature | Accident Register (§390.15) | Post-Accident Testing (§382.303) |
|---|---|---|
| Fatal accident | Record required | Testing required (no citation needed) |
| Injury accident | Record required if any off-site medical treatment | Testing required only if driver received a traffic citation |
| Property damage only | Record required if vehicle towed | Testing required only if vehicle towed AND driver received a citation |
| Citation required? | No | Yes (for injury and property damage triggers) |
| Timeframe | Keep 3 years | Alcohol: test within 8 hours; Drug: within 32 hours |
What FMCSA Investigators Look For
During a compliance review involving any accidents in the carrier's history:
- Register entries for all qualifying accidents based on the carrier's operating history and accident-related SMS data
- All six required fields present for each entry
- Post-accident drug and alcohol test records for accidents that met the testing triggers
- Consistency between the accident register and the carrier's CSA crash profile in FMCSA's SMS data
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the DOT accident register?
Which accidents must be recorded in the DOT accident register?
What information must be in each accident register entry?
Is the accident register the same as the post-accident drug test record?
Maintain a Complete, Audit-Ready Accident Register
CarrierLens's accident register records every qualifying accident — date, location, driver, injuries, fatalities, hazmat release status, and post-accident test completion — in a structured, searchable format. When FMCSA requests the accident register during a compliance review or post-accident investigation, the complete 3-year record is ready to produce immediately.
See Compliance Dashboard →A Complete, Audit-Ready Accident Register for Every Vehicle and Driver
CarrierLens's accident register records every qualifying accident with all required fields — date, location, driver, injuries, fatalities, hazmat release, and post-accident test status — in a searchable, exportable format. When FMCSA requests the register, it's ready in seconds.
Start Your 7-Day Free Trial