The motor carrier whose authority the load runs under is responsible for the driver’s qualification file for that work. An owner-operator with their own USDOT or Canadian NSC number keeps a file on themselves. A leased-on owner-operator also appears in the motor carrier’s files. Write down who collects medicals, MVRs or abstracts, and Clearinghouse queries so the lease does not become a gap the auditor walks through.
Three common setups
- Own authority: you are the carrier and the driver. The file still has to exist. “It’s just me” is not an exemption.
- Leased onto a motor carrier: that carrier’s Part 391 or provincial NSC file is the one an auditor of that authority will sample.
- Dual authority / trip lease: each authority that uses you needs qualification evidence for the days it used you. This is where documents get lost between companies.
What the lease should name
Who pulls the MVR or abstract, who pays for medicals, who holds Clearinghouse query access, who stores the road test, and how the owner-operator gets a copy when they leave. If the carrier “takes care of compliance” in conversation but the lease is silent, the file will be silent too.
Canada: incorporated drivers and the carrier file
A Canadian “Driver Inc” arrangement does not delete NSC driver-file duties for the carrier that holds the safety fitness certificate. Classification for tax is a CRA question; qualification for the road is a carrier-safety question. Keep the employment or contractor history, abstract, licence, and training the provincial program expects, regardless of how invoices are made out.
Self-employed US operators
If you operate CMVs in interstate commerce under your own authority, you are the motor carrier. Build the 391 packet as if you were hiring a stranger, including the annual review of your own driving record. Inspectors are not moved by the fact that the signature block is the same person twice.
FAQ
Can I keep my own file and just show it to the carrier?
The carrier still has to be able to produce the file for drivers it uses. A personal Dropbox the safety officer cannot open during an audit is not the carrier’s qualification file. Share copies on a schedule, or let the carrier hold the system of record.
Who runs the Clearinghouse query on a leased CDL owner-operator?
The employer in the Clearinghouse sense is the motor carrier using the driver. Confirm the current FMCSA employer-query rules for owner-operators and write the answer into the lease.
Related guides
When you are ready for software
Editorial links to the TruckerPro product site (separate intent from these guides):
- Owner-operator and company-driver files in one roster (truckerpro.ca)
- Driver Inc vs T4 records (Canada) (truckerpro.ca)
Related reading on truckerpro.ca
Deeper regulatory articles and the software side of the same job, on our product site:
- Canadian TMS overview (truckerpro.ca)
Dispatch, compliance and driver records in one system. - Driver file management in a TMS (truckerpro.ca)
Expiry tracking, audit packets and version history without the binder. - Driver Inc vs T4 employee: CRA rules (truckerpro.ca)
How classification changes which records a Canadian carrier has to keep. - Driver retention strategies (truckerpro.ca)
Why onboarding paperwork is a retention problem, not just a compliance one.
Ready to digitize driver files?
TruckerPro tracks licences, medicals, abstracts/MVRs, and expiries for US and Canadian fleets — free company signup, free demo on request.