Witness Prep to Win: Tough Questions and Good

AnswersRobert MooreChris Nelson

NBISAtlanta, Georgia

C. Fredric MarcinakSmith Moore Leatherwood, LLPNorth Carolina & South Carolina

Tough Questions and Good Answers

• Q. How do you audit your driver logs?

– A. We use a third party service that notifies us of violations.

– Q. Can you show me reports of log violations?

• Q. How do you audit your driver logs?

– A. We review/audit all our logs per all the required FMCSR’s. Are there any driver logs you would like to see?

Tough Questions and Good AnswersTough Questions and Good Answers

Tough Questions and Good Answers• Q. Do you want to make any statement on the

Compliance Review/Audit?

– A. Sure, I don’t think we have any violations or did anything wrong.

• Q. Do you want to make any statement on the Compliance Review/Audit?

– A. No, we think we run a good company but will certainly work to address any violations that are identified.

• FMCSA’s Safety Management Cycle

• http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMC_Overview.aspx

Tough Questions and Good Answers

• Q. How are you implementing the Safety Management Cycle?

– A. What’s that?

• Q. How are you implementing the Safety Management Cycle?

– A. Here are our written policies and procedures implementing management controls at every stage.

Tough Questions and Good Answers

• Q. Will you sign this statement we’ve written confirming the violations we discovered during the CR/audit?– A. Sure, it looks accurate [and I just want you to leave

after spending 3 days in my office].

• Q. Will you sign this statement we’ve written confirming the violations we discovered during the CR/audit?– A. No, I will wait and review the written CR/audit.

Tough Questions and Good Answers

• Q. How do you track roadside inspections?

– A. We have this great third party service that shows us our habitual offenders.

– Q. Can I see those reports?

• Q. How do you track roadside inspections?

– A. We review all the roadside inspections and have them on file. You are welcome to review.

Tough Questions and Good Answers

• Q. What do your CSA BASICs look like?

– A. I haven’t checked for eight months. I’m sure they’re pretty good.

• Q. What do your CSA BASICs look like?

– A. We don’t have 3 alerts OR 1 alert plus over 85 in one of HOS, unsafe driving, or crash