Safety Scientist Services
CDL 360
Your outsourced
safety office.
Real safety and compliance support for carriers. CSA score management, DOT audit prep, New Entrant audits, rating upgrades, safety management plans — built and run by certified safety directors.
Outsourced safety department
C.D.S.-level expertise without the six-figure salary.
CSA, audits, ratings
Score management, audit prep, and rating recovery.
Certified Directors of Safety
C.D.S. professionals assigned to your account.
Rating recovery
Conditional and Unsatisfactory back to Satisfactory.
What It Is
A compliance program is
not optional.
Most carriers don't get in trouble because they're bad at trucking. They get in trouble because they don't have a safety and compliance function running in the background. The result is familiar: a New Entrant audit you didn't see coming, CSA scores that locked you out of broker loads, a Conditional rating that spiked your insurance overnight.
Why CDL 360
Why carriers outsource this to us.
Certified Directors of Safety on your team
You get actual C.D.S. professionals advising your operation, not a call-center compliance checklist.
Audit-grade preparation
We prep you the way we prep a carrier going into a real FMCSA review — because that's exactly what we're doing.
Rating recovery that works
We've taken carriers from Conditional and Unsatisfactory back to Satisfactory. We know the corrective actions, the upgrade request process, and the FMCSA relationships that make it move.
What We Do
The full platform.
CSA Watch
Real-time CSA score monitoring, inspection alerts, DataQ filings, file reviews, and trend reporting across all seven BASICs.
Pre-audit preparation
We find what the auditor would find — first. Policy review, DQ and maintenance files, log audits, drug & alcohol procedure checks. By the time the investigator shows up, there's nothing left to find.
New Entrant audits
Every new USDOT number gets audited inside 18 months. Fail it and your authority is revoked. We take New Entrants through it from day one — policies, files, procedures, and the auditor walkthrough — so the result is a pass, not a shutdown.
Safety Management Plans
The corrective action plan for upgrading from Conditional or Unsatisfactory back to Satisfactory.
Driver training & policy
FMCSA-compliant programs, HOS, drug & alcohol, duty-status records, and custom safety policies that fit your operation.
Compliance file storage
Cloud-based, DOT-compliant, audit-ready, accessible anywhere — with a Certified Director of Safety on call.
What You Actually Get
Where this shows up on your P&L.
Lower CSA scores across the BASICs that matter most
The scores brokers and insurers actually look at. Unsafe Driving, HOS, Vehicle Maintenance — cleaned up and trending the right direction.
Satisfactory Safety Fitness Determination, or recovery
Get it. Keep it. Or claw it back from Conditional or Unsatisfactory.
Fewer violations, fewer out-of-service orders
Trucks moving instead of sitting on the shoulder waiting for the call you don't want.
Lower insurance premiums tied to better safety data
CSA and SFD are inputs to your renewal. We move both in the right direction.
Broker access restored when your rating clears
Conditional locks you out of loads. Satisfactory opens the gate.
The Process
We take a good look. We build the plan. We execute.
Initial review
We look at your SMS profile, CSA scores, recent inspections, crashes, file status, and rating.
Gap assessment
Where your exposure is, in order of what'll hurt first.
Program build
Custom policies, training, monitoring, and documentation that fit your operation.
Ongoing support
We stay on, because compliance is not a one-time project.
Let's Talk
Request a consultation.
First call is free.
Tell us your DOT number and what's keeping you up at night — New Entrant audit, CSA score climbing, Conditional rating, broker rejection. We'll pull your SMS profile before the call and come ready.
Frequently Asked
Common questions about safety and compliance support.
What is CDL 360?
CDL 360 is a safety and compliance firm for motor carriers. It functions as your outsourced safety department — CSA score management, DOT audit preparation, New Entrant audits, rating recovery, safety management plans, and access to Certified Directors of Safety. Use it when you don't have the headcount or expertise in-house.
What is a CSA score and why should I care?
CSA stands for Compliance, Safety, Accountability — FMCSA's program for tracking carrier safety performance. Your score is calculated across seven BASIC categories (Unsafe Driving, HOS, Vehicle Maintenance, Controlled Substances, Hazmat, Driver Fitness, Crash). A bad score raises insurance costs, blocks broker loads, triggers DOT interventions, and can lock you out of contracts. Monitoring and improving CSA is the core of what CDL 360 does.
What happens in a DOT audit?
An auditor reviews your compliance across driver qualification files, drug and alcohol programs, hours of service, vehicle maintenance, accident records, and more. Fail it and you can get a Conditional or Unsatisfactory rating or lose operating authority. Pre-audit preparation — the kind CDL 360 runs — finds what the auditor would find, first.
What is a New Entrant audit?
Every carrier with a new USDOT number is subject to a New Entrant Safety Audit, usually within the first 18 months of operation. Failing it can terminate your authority. We take new carriers through the audit from day one.
We got a Conditional safety rating — can you help us fix it?
Yes. The corrective action process is a Safety Management Plan (SMP) submitted to FMCSA, followed by an upgrade request. We've taken carriers from Conditional and Unsatisfactory back to Satisfactory. The SMP is the part most carriers underestimate — it needs to show real, operational change, not boilerplate.
Do you handle Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse compliance?
Yes. Clearinghouse queries, consortium participation, policy documentation, and random-testing program management are all covered inside CDL 360 and the CDL Manager platform.
How is CDL 360 different from hiring an in-house safety director?
Cost and expertise. A full-time safety director with C.D.S.-level credentials runs six figures plus benefits. CDL 360 gives you that expertise on a scoped engagement, plus continuity across audits, rating recoveries, and CSA monitoring. For most carriers under 200 trucks, it's the smarter structure.