Car-Hauling Safety Procedures: An FMCSA Review Checklist for Fleets

A car-hauling operation needs more than a general safety manual. The company must translate federal requirements into dispatch decisions, loading steps, driver training, inspection routines, recordkeeping, and clear ownership of compliance tasks. This checklist provides a review framework for car-hauling safety procedures, with emphasis on hours of service, vehicle cargo securement, and Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse responsibilities.

1. Start with an operating-model review

Before writing or revising a policy, document how the company actually operates. Identify whether loads move in interstate commerce, whether the equipment is a cargo-carrying commercial motor vehicle, whether drivers hold commercial driver’s licenses or commercial learner’s permits, and whether the company uses employees, leased drivers, owner-operators, or third-party carriers.

The FMCSA cargo-securement page states that its federal cargo-securement rules cover cargo-carrying commercial motor vehicles operated in interstate commerce, subject to the stated exceptions. It also identifies automobiles, light trucks, and vans as a commodity with specific securement requirements. A company should therefore avoid applying a generic freight policy to every vehicle move without confirming which cargo and equipment rules fit the load.

• Which routes, customers, and delivery points involve interstate commerce?
• What vehicle combinations and trailer types are used?
• Which loads contain automobiles, light trucks, vans, damaged vehicles, or heavier equipment?
• Who loads, secures, inspects, and releases each vehicle?
• Who dispatches drivers and monitors available hours?
• Which drivers are employees, leased personnel, or independent contractors?
• Who is responsible for driver qualification, drug-and-alcohol compliance, and record retention?

2. Build an hours-of-service review for actual dispatch work

For property-carrying drivers, the FMCSA summary identifies an 11-hour driving limit after 10 consecutive hours off duty, a 14-hour limit on the consecutive on-duty window, a 30-minute interruption requirement after 8 cumulative hours of driving, and a 60/70-hour limit based on the applicable 7- or 8-day period. The same page also describes sleeper-berth, adverse-driving-conditions, and short-haul provisions. These rules should be reviewed against the company’s actual driver schedules rather than copied into a policy without operational examples. (fmcsa.dot.gov)

Car-hauling dispatch creates several points where a schedule can become unrealistic. A driver may spend substantial time waiting at a pickup location, inspecting vehicles, repositioning cars on the trailer, completing paperwork, or dealing with a delivery appointment. The policy should explain how dispatchers account for those duties before assigning another load. Driving time is only one part of the driver’s available workday.

• Define who checks available driving and on-duty time before accepting or assigning a load.
• Require dispatchers to consider loading, unloading, inspections, fueling, securement checks, waiting time, and delays.
• Document the process for handling a route that can no longer be completed within the available hours.
• Explain when a driver must stop and contact dispatch instead of continuing toward an appointment.
• Train drivers and dispatchers on the company’s process for recording duty status and correcting identified errors.
• Review whether any short-haul or other exception is being used only when the operation meets the applicable conditions.
• Assign a person to review HOS exceptions, repeated violations, and schedule patterns.

3. Make vehicle cargo securement specific to car hauling

The cargo-securement rules require cargo to be firmly immobilized or secured by appropriate structures, dunnage, shoring bars, tiedowns, or a combination of methods. The FMCSA material also states that securement devices and vehicle components used for securement must be in proper working order, and that tiedowns must be attached so they do not loosen, open, release, or become unfastened during transit. (fmcsa.dot.gov)

For automobiles, light trucks, and vans that fall within the commodity-specific section, the policy should direct personnel to the applicable requirements rather than relying on a vague instruction to “tie down the vehicle.” The cargo-securement page identifies automobiles, light trucks, and vans weighing individually 10,000 pounds or less as covered by that section; heavier vehicles are addressed under the heavy-vehicle, equipment, and machinery provisions. (fmcsa.dot.gov)

• Confirm the vehicle is positioned correctly for the trailer design and loading plan.
• Inspect straps, chains, hooks, winches, anchor points, wheel restraints, ramps, and related equipment before use.
• Remove damaged, weakened, or otherwise unsuitable securement components from service.
• Use edge protection where a tiedown could be cut, crushed, or abraded by contact with cargo.
• Confirm tiedowns are attached and secured against loosening or release during transit.
• Check that each loaded vehicle is restrained against movement in the required directions.
• Verify that the securement arrangement matches the cargo type, vehicle weight, trailer configuration, and applicable commodity-specific requirements.
• Require a documented recheck after the vehicle begins the trip and whenever conditions or loading arrangements warrant another inspection.
• Record who performed the loading and final securement inspection.

4. Train drivers and loaders on decisions, not just equipment

A useful training program should show personnel how to recognize a problem and what to do next. Training should cover equipment inspection, loading sequence, tiedown selection, edge protection, wheel restraint, damaged vehicles, trailer-specific procedures, weather or road-condition concerns, and the escalation process when a load cannot be secured as planned.

Use photographs, supervised demonstrations, and sign-offs for hands-on tasks. A short written quiz may confirm terminology, but it does not show whether a driver or loader can identify a worn strap, choose an appropriate attachment point, or stop a release process when the securement system is not ready.

• The employee or contractor trained.
• The subject covered and the equipment involved.
• The trainer or qualified evaluator.
• The date of instruction and any required refresher date.
• Whether the training included hands-on demonstration.
• Any corrective coaching, failed evaluation, or restriction on performing the task independently.

5. Assign responsibility for records and inspections

Policies become difficult to enforce when they say that “management” or “the driver” is responsible for everything. Assign each recurring task to a named role, such as safety manager, dispatcher, driver manager, maintenance lead, loader, or company owner. The responsible person should also have authority to delay a load, remove equipment from service, or require corrective action.

1. Dispatch confirms the operating model, route, cargo, equipment, and driver assignment.
2. The HOS reviewer confirms that the planned work can be completed within the driver’s available time.
3. The loader verifies the trailer and securement equipment before loading.
4. The driver and loader complete the loading and securement inspection.
5. The driver confirms the load is ready before leaving the facility.
6. Dispatch records any change that affects the route, appointment, cargo, or trailer.
7. Safety or management reviews exceptions, incidents, roadside findings, and repeated defects.

6. Include Clearinghouse responsibilities when the operation is covered

The FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is an online database that provides employers and government agencies access to information about CDL driver drug-and-alcohol program violations. The site states that it contains information about CDL and CLP holders covered by FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Testing Program. A carrier should first determine whether its drivers and operation fall within that coverage before writing the policy. (clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov)

For a covered FMCSA Clearinghouse carrier, the written procedure should identify who handles registration, driver records, required consent, queries, status reviews, and follow-up actions. It should also explain how a prohibited status is handled before the driver is assigned safety-sensitive commercial driving work. The Clearinghouse site states that CDL and CLP holders with a prohibited status lose commercial driving privileges until the return-to-duty process is completed. (clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov)

• Identify the person responsible for the company’s Clearinghouse account and records.
• Confirm which drivers are covered by the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Testing Program.
• Define the process for obtaining and documenting required consent.
• Set a pre-assignment review step before a covered driver operates in a safety-sensitive role.
• Explain how the company handles a driver status that requires follow-up or prevents assignment.
• Restrict access to authorized personnel and protect driver information.
• Review the official Clearinghouse site for current registration, identity-verification, query, and return-to-duty instructions.

7. Audit the policy with real records

A policy review should compare written procedures with a sample of actual loads. Select recent dispatches and trace each one from assignment through delivery. Check whether the file shows the driver, equipment, route, HOS review, loading documentation, securement inspection, defect resolution, and any change made after dispatch.

• Could a new dispatcher follow the procedure without relying on informal instructions?
• Can the company identify who authorized the load to move?
• Does the record show what happened when loading took longer than expected?
• Are securement inspections documented consistently across drivers and locations?
• Are damaged straps, chains, winches, or trailer components tracked through repair or replacement?
• Do training records match the tasks each person performs?
• Can management identify repeated HOS, securement, or driver-status issues by person, route, trailer, or location?

Frequently asked questions

Do all car haulers follow the same FMCSA safety procedures?

No. The correct procedure depends on the company’s operating model, including the type of commerce, equipment, cargo, and drivers involved. Use the checklist to identify the applicable requirements, then have the final policy reviewed against current FMCSA materials.

What should a car-hauling HOS policy address?

It should address dispatch planning, available driving and on-duty time, loading and waiting time, route changes, required interruptions, exception handling, record review, and escalation when a driver cannot safely or lawfully complete the planned work.

What is the most important vehicle cargo-securement control?

Use a documented, load-specific inspection that confirms the cargo, trailer, tiedowns, attachment points, and securement arrangement are suitable before release. The procedure should also make clear who can stop the load when the arrangement is not ready.

Strong car-hauling safety procedures are practical, assigned, and tested against real dispatches. Review the operating model first, connect HOS planning to actual loading work, make securement instructions specific to the vehicles being transported, and assign responsible personnel for every record and inspection. Have the safety procedures reviewed against current FMCSA requirements before dispatching loads.