49 CFR §391.51 (Driver Qualification File Contents)
49 CFR §391.51 is the FMCSA regulation that lists the documents every motor carrier must include in each driver's Driver Qualification File and the retention period for each item.
What it is
The contents list at §391.51(b) includes: the driver's application (§391.21), the MVR from every state where the driver held a license in the prior three years (§391.23(a)(1)), road test or equivalent (§391.31 or §391.33), the medical examiner's certificate (§391.43), the annual list of violations (§391.27), the annual MVR review (§391.25), and any documentation of disqualification or restoration. Previous-employer safety-performance-history records belong in the separate §391.53 driver investigation history file, not the DQ File. Retention periods range from three years from termination for most items down to one year for the annual list of violations.
How it applies
Every carrier subject to FMCSA jurisdiction must keep a §391.51 file on each driver, period. The file can be paper or electronic, but it must be producible on demand to a federal or state inspector. The carrier's designated FMCSA representative is responsible for the file's completeness; mis-assignment of that responsibility - for example, leaving DQ File maintenance to a part-time office manager who departed two years ago - is one of the most common root causes of audit findings.
Why it matters
§391.51 is the regulatory checklist auditors print out and walk through. Each missing or expired document is a separate citable violation. A carrier with twenty drivers and three missing medical certificates is looking at three §391.51 findings before the auditor has even opened the next driver's folder.
Related terms
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