Part 390 requires carriers to maintain a register listing each accident meeting the regulatory definition, with the date, location, driver, number of injuries and fatalities, and whether hazardous materials were released.
Registers must be retained for three years.
Alternative Names:
Accident Log, DOT Accident Register
Why it Matters?
The register is the fastest route to a carrier's crash history and is requested in the first discovery round of every trucking case. A pattern of similar crashes preceding the one at issue supports notice, direct negligence, and punitive theories, and the register is far easier to obtain than reconstructing history from other sources. Incomplete registers are themselves a regulatory violation and suggest broader recordkeeping problems.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What must the accident register contain?
How long must it be retained?
