Disclaimer: This article provides general information, not legal advice. Confirm requirements for your operation with FMCSA or the current eCFR.
Quick answer
If you run under your own USDOT number, you're both the motor carrier and the driver, so you keep a driver qualification file on yourself. 49 CFR 391.51 requires one for each driver a carrier employs, and under the definitions in 49 CFR 390.5, an owner-operator with their own authority is both employer and employee. If you're leased onto another carrier and run under its authority, that carrier keeps your file.
What goes in your file
Swipe the table sideways if more columns are off-screen.
| Record | Rule | When |
|---|---|---|
| Your employment application | 391.21 | Once, before you drive |
| MVR from each state that licensed you in the past three years | 391.23 | Once, before you drive |
| Road test certificate, or a copy of your CDL in its place | 391.31, 391.33 | Once |
| Medical examiner's certificate | 391.43 | Each time you renew it |
| Annual MVR from each state that licenses you | 391.25 | Every 12 months |
| Dated note that you reviewed that MVR | 391.25 | Every 12 months |
With a CDL, the medical record is the CDLIS MVR that shows your medical status. Without one, add a note that you checked your examiner is on FMCSA's National Registry. A medical variance or skill performance evaluation certificate goes in the file too, if you have one.
If you drove for other carriers in the past three years, ask them for your safety performance history. That goes in a separate investigation file under 391.53, not the DQ file.
What renews
Two things come due on a schedule: the annual MVR with your signed review note, and your medical card, usually every two years. Miss either and the file is out of date, even if nothing else changed.
How long to keep it
Keep the whole file while you drive under your authority and for three years after. Annual MVRs, review notes and old medical certificates can come out three years after their date.
Frequently asked questions
Does a non-CDL owner-operator need a DQ file?
Yes, if the truck is a commercial motor vehicle: rated 10,001 pounds or more in interstate commerce. Part 391 covers those drivers whether or not they hold a CDL.
Where do drug testing and the Clearinghouse fit?
They're Part 382 rules for CDL drivers, kept outside the DQ file. A CDL owner-operator needs a consortium for random testing and a Clearinghouse query each year. See our drug and alcohol consortium.
Next step: hand off your file
We build your file, order your MVRs and remind you before anything expires, for $9 a month, MVRs extra. Start free onboarding