1. Getting started

You can start with a 14-day free trial, or with a client code if we gave you one. Either way, no card is charged on day one.

Choose a plan

Sign up for a free trial

1. Go to dotcompliancewatch.com and click Start Basic or Start Full Managed.
2. Enter your name, email, company, phone, USDOT number, number of trucks and state.
3. Finish on the secure Stripe payment page. Your trial lasts 14 days.
4. Check your email for Welcome to DOT Compliance Watch. It has your login email, a temporary password and the login link.

Use a client code instead

If we gave you a client code, you skip payment entirely.

1. On the homepage, find Have a client code? under the sign-up buttons.
2. Type your code and click Enter. If you used a link we sent, the code is already filled in.
3. Enter your name, email, company and (optionally) phone, then click Open my account.
4. You land straight in your dashboard. We also email your login details so you can come back.

Your access lasts the number of days attached to the code, usually 30.

Log in

1. Go to dotcompliancewatch.com and click My Dashboard, or open the login link from your welcome email.
2. Enter your email and password.
3. After your first login, change your temporary password under your profile (see section 10).

Forgot your password? Click Lost your password? on the login page and we'll email you a reset link.

2. Your dashboard

Your Welcome page opens right after you log in and shows what needs attention first: anything expiring in the next 30 and 60 days across all modules, each with a View → link.

The top navigation bar

Every compliance page has the same bar across the top:

On the right side of the bar you'll find the DOT Report button (section 7), your plan name and Sign out. On a phone, the bar scrolls sideways and shows icons only.

Working in any module

• Each module opens on its own dashboard with counts and what's expiring.
• Use the + Add buttons to create a record, fill in the form and click Save.
• Attach PDFs or photos of the paperwork to any record that has an upload field. Keep the original document in every file; that's what an auditor will ask for.
• Changes are logged, so you can see who changed what and when.

3. Drivers (Driver Qualification Files)

Every CDL driver needs a complete Driver Qualification File under 49 CFR Part 391. The Drivers tab is where you build and keep each one.

Add a driver

1. Click Drivers → Add Driver.
2. Fill in each section of the form and click Save. You can come back and finish later.

Keep files current

• The dates you enter drive your expiration alerts. Enter the real expiration date for every CDL, medical card and MVR.
• When a driver renews something, open their file, update the date and upload the new document.
• When a driver leaves, set their status and termination date. Don't delete them: DOT requires you to keep their file for 3 years after they leave.
• Drivers → Audit Log shows every change made to driver files.

You can print a driver's file from their record when an auditor asks for it.

4. Drug & Alcohol

This tab covers your DOT testing program under 49 CFR Parts 382 and 40. Its dashboard shows year-to-date random tests against the required rates: 50% of drivers for drugs and 10% for alcohol in 2026.

Run a random selection

If you manage your own random program, run a selection each quarter.

1. Go to Drug & Alcohol → Random Testing.
2. Choose Both (separate drug & alcohol draws), Drug or Alcohol, and the quarter.
3. Leave Number to Select blank. The system picks the required number for the quarter: active drivers × 50% ÷ 4 for drug, × 10% ÷ 4 for alcohol, rounded up.
4. Click Run Random Selection. Every active driver has an equal chance, and drug and alcohol are drawn separately.
5. Send each selected driver for testing right away, then log the result under Test Records.

The selection is saved with the date, so you can show an auditor when and how it was made.

If you're in our consortium instead, we run the selections for you each quarter and you see them on the Random Consortium tab (section 5). Don't run your own as well.

Alerts

You'll get an email 30 and 10 days before your consortium enrollment expires. In October, you'll also get a warning if your random testing is behind the annual rate.

5. Random Consortium

If you're enrolled in our random testing consortium, the Random Consortium tab is where you see who's selected, keep your roster and print your certificate. We run the random selections every quarter at the FMCSA rates (50% drug, 10% alcohol) and email you when someone from your company is selected.

Who needs a test now

1. Open Random Consortium. The Selections tab lists each selected employee, the test (drug or alcohol) and the date they must be tested by.
2. Keep it confidential. Tell each person only when they can go straight to the collection site; they must go immediately.
3. Click Order this test. The Order Screening form opens with the employee, Random, DOT, the test and the test-by date already filled in. Check it and submit (section 8).
4. After the test, click Report → Mark tested and enter the date.
5. If someone can't be tested (for example, they no longer work for you or are on long-term leave), click Report → Can't be tested and tell us why. We'll review it and let you know if another employee needs to be tested instead.

You can print the selection notice for each period from the Selections or History tab.

Your roster

Your drivers come in automatically from your Drivers list. Add a driver there and they're added to the pool; mark a driver as no longer employed and they come out of it. Only employees in DOT safety-sensitive jobs (for trucking, drivers who need a CDL) belong in the pool.

Certificate and history

• Certificate of Enrollment: the button at the top of the page prints your certificate, with its certificate number, whenever an auditor or customer asks for proof of enrollment.
• History: every past selection, its status and test date, and the selection notices.
• The top of the page shows how many people are in your pool and how many drug and alcohol tests you've completed this year.

Not enrolled yet?

Open Random Consortium and fill in Ask to join. We'll contact you to finish your enrollment. Carriers with only a few drivers usually meet the FMCSA random testing rule by joining a consortium.

6. Vehicles, Insurance, HOS, Safety and Training

The other five tabs work the same way: open the tab, use its pages to add records, enter every expiration date and attach the document.

Vehicles (49 CFR Part 396)

Insurance & Authority (49 CFR Part 387)

HOS & ELD (49 CFR Part 395)

Safety & Accidents (49 CFR Part 385)

Training

7. DOT Officer Report and expiration alerts

DOT Officer Report

When an auditor or DOT officer asks for your records, the DOT Report puts everything in one PDF.

1. Click DOT Report at the top right of any compliance page.
2. Download the PDF. It covers driver files, drug and alcohol testing, vehicles, insurance, accidents, roadside inspections, training, HOS violations, out-of-service history, Clearinghouse queries, random testing, MVRs, policy acknowledgments and safety meetings.
3. Review it before you hand it over. Anything missing from your records will be missing from the report.

Expiration alerts

We email you 60, 30 and 10 days before any item expires: CDLs, medical cards, MVRs, insurance, permits, inspections, certifications and more. The alerts go to the email on your account.

• An alert only works if the expiration date is in the system. Enter dates for every document you upload.
• After you renew something, update the date in its record so the alerts stop.
• Not getting alerts? Check your spam folder and add support@dotcompliancewatch.com to your contacts.

8. Order Screening: drug screens, background checks and MVRs

Order screenings for an applicant or employee from the Order Screening tab. For background checks and MVRs, the employee enters their own Social Security number and license details on a secure page, so you never handle them.

Place an order

1. Click Order Screening.
2. Enter the employee's first and last name, date of birth and cell phone. Add their email too: until text messages are switched on, the secure link goes out by email.
3. Tick what you need: Drug screen, Background check, MVR, or any combination.
4. For a drug screen, choose DOT or non-DOT, the reason, the test, whether it's observed, where they should be collected and when you need it.
5. For a background check or MVR, add the position and any notes, then tick the certification box. It confirms you'll use the report only for employment, legally, and that you'll follow the adverse-action steps (below).
6. Click Submit order. You'll see an order number for each part, for example DCW-3EUX8H.

What happens next

Drug screen

1. We create the collection order.
2. We send the employee their instructions by email (and text, once texting is switched on): where to go, by when, and to bring photo ID.
3. When the result is in, the order shows Completed and you can download the result.

Background check / MVR

1. The employee gets a secure link.
2. They confirm their date of birth, then enter their legal name, address history, SSN (background check) and driver's license (MVR).
3. They read the disclosure and sign the authorization electronically. You get an email when they're done.
4. We run the report. When it's ready, the order shows Completed and you can download it.

Order statuses

Managing orders

• Resend link: if the employee lost or never got their link. The old link stops working.
• Cancel: available until we start working on the order.
• The secure link works once and expires after 14 days.

If a report could lead you not to hire or to let someone go

The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires these steps before you act on a background check or MVR:

1. Send the person a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and "A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act."
2. Give them a reasonable time to dispute it (commonly 5 business days).
3. If you still decide against them, send a final adverse action notice.

Some states add their own rules. Ask us or your attorney if you're unsure.

9. Full Managed plan: submitting documents

On the Full Managed plan, you send us documents and our team keeps your records. You log in to Submit Docs instead of filling in the modules yourself.

1. Click Submit Docs (it's your home page after login).
2. Choose the document type, add a note if it helps (for example "John Smith's new medical card"), and upload the file. PDFs and clear phone photos both work.
3. Click submit. We organize it into the right record within 1 business day.

Good things to send when you start: each driver's CDL (front and back), medical card, MVR and employment application; vehicle annual inspections; your insurance certificates; and any recent roadside inspection reports.

After that, send new documents whenever something is renewed or changes. You can also email them to support@dotcompliancewatch.com.

10. Your account, billing and getting help

Profile and password

Click your name or Edit profile to change your password, email and company details (company name, phone, USDOT number, number of trucks, state).

Trial and billing

• Three days before your trial or client-code access ends, we email you a reminder with a Subscribe link.
• If it ends without a subscription, your account is paused and you'll see a Subscribe Now screen when you log in. Your records are kept for 30 days, so subscribing brings everything back exactly as you left it.
• Payments are handled securely by Stripe. If a payment fails, Stripe retries it; after 3 failed attempts your account is paused until it's paid.

Cancelling

Email support@dotcompliancewatch.com to cancel. You keep access until the end of the period you've paid for, and your records are kept for 30 days after that.

Learn more

The public website also has English, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian buttons at the top.

Get help

• Email: support@dotcompliancewatch.com
• Hours: Monday to Friday 8am–6pm CT, Saturday 9am–2pm CT
• We reply within 1 business day.