Guides · New entrant audit

When will FMCSA actually contact you about your audit?

Updated July 7, 2026 · 7 min read

You got your authority months ago. You know the New Entrant Safety Audit is coming. And every week that goes by without a word from the FMCSA, the question gets louder: when are they going to call? Did they forget about me? Is no news good news?

Here's the honest answer: the rules set a deadline for the FMCSA, not a start date. They must audit you within your first 12 months of operation (within 120 days if you haul passengers). Inside that window, the timing is up to them — and in practice it varies a lot. Some carriers hear within a few months. Many hear in the back half of the first year. Waiting eight months and hearing nothing is completely normal.

One thing to settle right away: the audit itself is free. The FMCSA never charges you to be audited, and you never have to pay anyone to “handle” it for you.

How they'll actually reach you

The FMCSA (or your state's partner agency — many audits are done by state staff) contacts you by letter, email, or phone, using the contact information on your registration. Most new entrant audits today are offsite: instead of an auditor visiting your kitchen table, you get a notice telling you to upload documents to the FMCSA's NEWS portal, which you sign into with Login.gov. We wrote a full walkthrough of exactly what to upload when that notice arrives.

The notice gives you a specific deadline to submit everything — commonly around two weeks. That's not a lot of time to build a compliance program from scratch, which is the real reason to have your paperwork together before the letter shows up.

Keep your contact info current. The audit notice goes to the address, email, and phone number on file from your registration. If you've moved or changed numbers, update your record (it's free in Motus). A notice you never saw still counts as a notice — and ignoring one can end with your registration revoked.

What can make them show up early

The FMCSA doesn't pick audit timing purely at random. Under 49 CFR 385.308, certain violations — usually caught at roadside inspections — can trigger an expedited audit or a demand for a written corrective-action response. The list includes: a driver without a valid CDL, operating a vehicle that was placed out of service before fixing it, a reportable hazmat incident, using a driver who tested positive or refused a drug test, operating without the required insurance, and an out-of-service rate of 50% or more across at least three inspections in 90 days.

In plain terms: clean roadside inspections keep you on the normal schedule. A bad inspection early on can move you to the front of the line — and if they demand a written corrective-action response, you have 30 days to answer or your registration gets revoked.

“What if I just don't respond?”

Don't. Refusing or ignoring the audit is the one guaranteed way to lose. If a carrier refuses to submit to a safety audit, the FMCSA sends written notice that the registration will be revoked and operations placed out of service — unless the carrier agrees in writing, within 10 days, to cooperate (49 CFR 385.337). Missing the document deadline on an offsite audit is treated the same way. There's no upside to going quiet; the audit doesn't go away, but your authority can.

After the audit: the 45-day answer

Once the audit is done, the FMCSA notifies you in writing whether you passed or failed within 45 days. A failure isn't the end of the road — you get a window to submit a corrective action plan — but the best outcome is not needing one. Most failures come from a short list of automatic-fail violations, and most of those are drug-and-alcohol program basics you can fix today.

And when does “new entrant” status end?

The audit sits inside a longer 18-month safety monitoring period. If you've had your audit, passed (or completed corrective action), and you're not under any out-of-service order at the end of those 18 months, the FMCSA removes the new entrant designation and your registration becomes permanent — they notify you in writing, and there's nothing to file and nothing to pay.

One warning while you wait

The waiting period is prime season for the scam mail. Companies send letters and make calls implying your audit has been scheduled and you must pay them to prepare — some dress it up with official-looking seals and deadlines. The real notice comes from the FMCSA or your state agency, tells you exactly what to submit and where, and never asks for payment. If a letter wants your credit card, it's a vendor, not the government. We covered how to tell them apart in our guide to compliance letters.

So: use the quiet months. Everything the audit checks is on the checklist, and it all traces back to the nine things due before your first load. If those are handled, the day the notice arrives is a good day — you upload what you already have and get on with your week.

EntrantReady is an independent compliance-readiness service, not affiliated with the FMCSA or any government agency. Anything the government provides for free, we tell you it's free. This guide is general information, not legal advice — requirements can vary by state and operation type.