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Legal Issues in Parking Area Sweeping |
One Man's DOT Audit ExperienceThe names have been changed to protect the embarrassed...'Bob,' owner of a sweeping company we'll call 'Acme Sweeping,' learned the hard way about what can happen when DOT guidelines aren't followed. Only a few of the sweepers in his company's fleet were large enough to require a CDL driver, so Bob was lax in his compliance with all the DOT statutes. Sometimes, non-CDL drivers were allowed to operate the company's larger sweepers. This all came to a head when a disgruntled employee became a whistle-blower to the state DOT, filing a broad-based complaint that triggered a DOT audit. "It was an unhappy reminder to maintain better procedures and record-keeping," Bob told us. "Take it from me: You want to make sure all your CDL processes are correct, up-to-date and easy to go back and verify. Although I understand there is some variation from state-to-state, in this particular state there are a number of very specific actions that must be taken, in regard to employee tracking, and a number of records that must be kept. For example, you have to check with their previous employers and find out if they ever failed a drug or alcohol test. "You might fool yourself into thinking that you don't have to comply, that no one will ever find out you're not in compliance, etc. However, all it takes is one person to file a complaint and the DOT will conduct a thorough audit to determine the facts. The audit they performed on us took a full week. Not only were we out of compliance in a number of areas, but it also became clear that with our standard operating procedures we couldn't easily come up with the paperwork needed to confirm what we'd been doing correctly. In several instances, the best we could do was use the calendar to take a wild guess at which operator was on which job. This did not please the auditor. "We're now very organized in this regard. We keep drivers' files separate from our regular employment files. When employees go out for a random drug or alcohol test, the results go into the driver's file. When it comes time to renew our insurance, I have our insurance company send me the employee's driving record for the previous year, so we have them on file. I no longer count on simply asking the questions and noting the answers. We now have a great paper trail to fall back on, not to mention detailed maintenance records and pre-trip inspections. "When the DOT comes in, audits you, and finds out that you've been doing things that aren't according to the book, it doesn't matter to them whether or not you were aware you were breaking the law. Ignorance of the law is not considered to be an excuse. For violations, the fines are thousands of dollars, and some infractions are counted in more than one area. For example, if you're caught letting a driver without a CDL operate a big sweeper, you'll be fined for that, plus not having a drug test file, plus not having a log book record, etc. This means that just one item may trigger several fines, typically from $500 to $1000 or more each. In addition, you are responsible to monitor and stay compliant with all DOT regs, which change constantly. "Fortunately, since we were first-time offenders, they allowed us to pay about half of our fine and left the rest contingent upon the outcome of a re-audit to be held a year later. I'm glad to say we came through our re-audit with flying colors. Still, it cost us thousands of dollars, and that's money we could have put to good use elsewhere." For a comprehensive look at DOT requirements for sweepers, take a look at our legal section for general sweeping. This article is reprinted from American Sweeper magazine, Volume 9 Number 2, 2004. |
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Parking Area Sweeping Contents
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