DOT Must Abide

Report or Challenge an Inspection

Document a roadside inspection — especially one you're challenging. Attach the official report as evidence. This builds a transparency dataset of where and how enforcement happens. Submissions are private to you; we surface only aggregate, volume-normalized patterns, anchored on DataQ challenges actually overturned. Not an accusation against any officer or agency.

See the aggregate enforcement patterns this feeds →
File a DataQ — challenge a violation or a crash

Choose what you're challenging and confirm the basis — we check eligibility against the FMCSA rules, then prepare the request and the DataQs autofill. Drop the citation or police report and we'll auto-read it to fill the fields when that's enabled. You file it at dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov (nothing is sent to FMCSA from here); record your confirmation number below to start the deadline clock.

1DataQ filing · Step 1 of 5
20%
1 · What are you challenging?
2 · Drop the citation or roadside inspection report

We read the report # / date / state / cited codes and fill the request.

3 · Review the request
✓ DataQ-able — Wrong carrier / mistaken identity (chameleon)

Record attributed to a carrier whose vehicle/driver wasn't involved. This is a strong, verifiable basis.

Attach as proof: Lease/title showing the VIN/plate isn't in the fleet · Driver employment records · ELD/IFTA location data
Deterministic pre-qualification from the selected basis — verify before filing.
4 · Add your proof

The high-success-rate packet. Hits 18 of 20 reviewer grading dimensions vs. v1's 2. Required for the Tamana-class case where v1 fails on "which unit is the insured." Opt-in until verified.

Unit Role Check

Which unit is OUR insured? The §B "Our Unit Identification" line of the packet asserts this under 28 USC §1746. Pick the STRUCK party (the non-fault side) — picking the at-fault striker is sworn perjury.

Driver classification (required — kills the employee/contractor disjunction)

The §I attestation will assert this classification verbatim under 28 USC §1746. Pick the ONE that applies. Asserting the wrong classification destroys the carrier's contractor defense in subsequent civil litigation.

⛔ §I attestation will render ‘DRIVER CLASSIFICATION REQUIRED’ until a classification is picked. Carriers who don’t pick cannot lawfully swear to either classification under §1746.

Driver attestation (28 USC §1746)
Safety Director attestation (carrier-of-record per §390.5)
Enter a valid USDOT number.

Drafting and pre-qualification assistance from CarrierCrusher — advisory, not legal advice. Review everything and attach your evidence before filing. FMCSA has no submission API; you file the Request for Data Review yourself at dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov.

Inspection details

A DataQ is FMCSA's official process to challenge a violation you believe is wrong.

Drag & drop the inspection report (photo or PDF), or click to choose — we'll attach it and auto-fill the form.

PDF or image, up to 10 MB. Evidence is required — it's what makes the record defensible.

Provide a USDOT # or report #, and attach at least one evidence file, to submit.

Your submissions & DataQ tracking
See where this data goes → DOT Must Abide enforcement analytics
How enforcement is funded
Why inspections cluster where they do — the money behind the map.
Federal funding (MCSAP)
  • DocumentedFederal CMV-enforcement money flows through MCSAP, an exposure-based FORMULA grant — allocated by road miles, vehicle-miles-traveled, population and special-fuel use (25% each), not by how many inspections a state writes. source ↗
  • DocumentedCrash outcomes were explicitly considered and REJECTED as a formula factor (too unstable year-to-year). There is no federal per-inspection or per-citation bounty. source ↗
  • DocumentedFederal share is ≥85% with a ~15% state match, plus a Maintenance-of-Effort rule that bars states from using federal money to supplant their own enforcement spending (49 CFR Part 350). source ↗
  • DocumentedFederal dollars reach county sheriffs and small towns mainly as salary/overtime COST reimbursement via state sub-grants — conditioned on CVSA certification and data reporting. State plans do set inspection-activity expectations, which can pressure volume. source ↗
The real incentive is local
  • DocumentedThe clearer incentive to write more citations is LOCAL: fine and court revenue retained by the town or county — separate from any federal grant.
  • DocumentedPolicing-for-revenue is federally documented: DOJ's 2015 Ferguson investigation found the city ran its police and court to generate revenue and evaluated staff by revenue produced. source ↗
  • ReportedSmall-town examples: New Rome OH made ~$362k/yr off a 1,000-ft strip (later dissolved); Waldo FL disbanded its police force in 2014 over alleged ticket quotas. source ↗
  • AnecdotalTrucking-specific 'ticket traps' are credible but under-documented in primary federal sources — a gap DOTAP's own geospatial data can become the first rigorous evidence base for.
What a valid inspection requires
  • DocumentedOnly CVSA-certified inspectors may conduct North American Standard Level I–V inspections, affix decals, or issue an Out-of-Service order (CVSA Operational Policy 4, adopted federally via the FAST Act). source ↗
  • ReportedCertification = two ~5-day NAS courses (driver + vehicle, ~80 hrs combined), a ≥80% exam, supervised field inspections, and ≥32 inspections/year to stay certified. source ↗
  • DocumentedAn uncertified local officer can still do ordinary traffic enforcement, but a traffic stop is NOT a North American Standard inspection — useful to know when deciding whether to challenge a record via DataQs. source ↗
Transparency from public sources; claims are weight-labeled. Not an accusation against any agency or officer, and not legal advice. © T3C, LLC.