What accident rate fails the new-entrant audit?

Above 1.7 recordable accidents per million miles for a carrier operating entirely within a 100-air-mile radius, or above 1.5 for all other carriers — used only when the carrier has two or more recordable accidents in the prior 12 months. Stated in 49 CFR Appendix A to Part 385.

What counts as a recordable accident?

An accident involving a commercial motor vehicle on a public road that results in a fatality, a bodily injury requiring immediate medical treatment away from the scene, or disabling damage requiring a vehicle to be towed. Defined in 49 CFR 390.5.

§ Factor 6 — Accident

The Accident factor: what auditors check

The Accident factor is your recordable accident rate over the prior 12 months. It is used only when a carrier has two or more recordable accidents in that period. A carrier operating entirely within a 100-air-mile radius is deemed to have inadequate controls above a recordable rate of 1.7 per million miles; all other carriers, above 1.5 per million miles (49 CFR Appendix A to Part 385).

What records does the auditor check for this factor?

An accident register per 49 CFR 390.15
Copies of the accident reports the register references
Mileage records to compute the recordable rate per million miles

Common failures on the Accident factor

A recordable accident rate above 1.7 per million miles for a carrier operating entirely within a 100-air-mile radius
A recordable accident rate above 1.5 per million miles for all other carriers
Not maintaining an accident register that supports the rate calculation

How is the Accident factor scored?

The recordable accident rate is used only when a carrier has two or more recordable accidents in the 12 months before the audit. A 'recordable accident' is defined in 49 CFR 390.5. FMCSA will consider preventability when a new entrant contests the evaluation (49 CFR Appendix A to Part 385).

Common questions

What accident rate fails the new-entrant audit?: Above 1.7 recordable accidents per million miles for a carrier operating entirely within a 100-air-mile radius, or above 1.5 for all other carriers — used only when the carrier has two or more recordable accidents in the prior 12 months. Stated in 49 CFR Appendix A to Part 385.
What counts as a recordable accident?: An accident involving a commercial motor vehicle on a public road that results in a fatality, a bodily injury requiring immediate medical treatment away from the scene, or disabling damage requiring a vehicle to be towed. Defined in 49 CFR 390.5.

Prep your own new-entrant audit

The CarrierReady Audit-Prep Kit gives you fillable templates mapped to all six factors — driver qualification files, a written maintenance program, a drug-and-alcohol testing policy, an accident register, and a document-by-document checklist.

See the kit

Primary sources

49 CFR Appendix A to Part 385 — verified as of 2026-07-04
49 CFR 390.5 (definition of recordable accident) — verified as of 2026-07-04

CarrierReady is an independent audit-preparation tool — not legal advice, and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the FMCSA or any government agency; always verify against the official regulations at ecfr.gov.