Once I first got here to the stress washing business, I used to be leaving over twenty years as a business driver. I used to be considering how good it might be to be freed from all these motor provider rules that had been such a grinding a part of my profession.
I couldn’t have been extra flawed. Not lengthy after beginning, I used to be doing a residential cleansing for a regulation enforcement officer. As I used to be rolling hose after ending, he requested me how a lot my truck and trailer weighed.
“I do not know, I licensed for further tonnage so I’d not be chubby,” was my simple reply. I used to be absurdly happy with having taken the time and made the trouble to not cheat on my licensing and anticipated weight limits.
“The place is your DOT quantity?” was his subsequent simple query.
I, like so many different stress washing service suppliers in my space, had not even given a thought to this fundamental requirement for working business automobiles. After a $100 advantageous, I made positive to rectify the state of affairs. I received my DOT quantity.
Making an attempt to determine whether or not or not you require a DOT quantity could be a troublesome query, and there are some state particular necessities of which to remember, however my buyer mentioned it’s fairly fundamental, “When you have a truck or trailer with firm indicators, and/or a trailer with a couple of axle, I might be writing you a ticket should you do not need a USDOT quantity.”
The precise necessities may be discovered on the US Division of Transportation web site. There’s a giant physique of data there, and sources to assist perceive all of it. There’s even an internet questionnaire to help you as you attempt to decide whether or not or not you might be required to have the DOT quantity within the first place.
The necessities are fairly fundamental, and are as follows. You want a USDOT quantity should you:
o Function automobiles which might be over 10,000 lbs,
o Transport between 9 and 15 passengers (together with the driving force) for compensation,
o Transport 16 or extra passengers, or
o Haul hazardous supplies in interstate commerce.
You need to be conscious that after you have a USDOT quantity, there are some record-keeping necessities that go together with it. For example, should you carry hazmat, comparable to sodium hypochlorite in giant quantities, or flammable liquids like your machine’s gas and a spare gas tank or two, you will have to notice that. Additionally, you will should register as a HAZMAT provider and keep information of supplies and quantities carried. You’ll have to implement a security program and a driver qualification file, in addition to information of your driver’s hours of service information.
This feels like an excessive amount of pink tape, however it’s what’s required to be a respectable stress washing enterprise that operates equipment that falls below the Division of Transportation’s regulated tips. It’s a value of doing enterprise, and must be a part of your marketing strategy. It’s useful to keep in mind that these information are comparatively easy, and may be primarily based on information you already hold.
In my expertise, motor provider security rules are open to varied interpretations, so it’s most likely a good suggestion to verify together with your state DOT in addition to with the native Provider Enforcement division in your state. They’re alleged to have the present info essential to help you in remaining compliant. The USDOT website has hyperlinks to all of the state DOT websites.
Once more, the knowledge may be contradictory, so discover probably the most educated folks you possibly can, the fines ramp up steeply from my paltry hundred {dollars}. Do not guess the corporate on the phrase of some functionary, ask the questions you’ll want to, so as to get the clearest solutions doable.