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49 CFR 390.15: The accident register

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49 CFR 390.15: The accident register
Law read on2026-11-06[1]

49 CFR 390.15 addresses a narrow recordkeeping question: what accident information motor carriers must retain, and what assistance carriers and intermodal equipment providers must give authorized investigators. Section 390.15(b) requires motor carriers to maintain an accident register for 3 years after the date of each accident. Section 390.15(a) separately requires both motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers to make accident records and information available and provide reasonable investigative assistance.[1][2][3][4]

Section 390.15(b)(1) identifies the information required for each listed accident, while section 390.15(b)(2) adds copies of required accident reports. Sections 390.3(h)(3) and 390.3T(h)(3) expressly exclude intermodal equipment providers from the accident-register requirement. Section 390.3T(a)(1) supplies the saved general applicability language, and section 390.5T supplies the saved definitions discussed here. The distinction between the duties in section 390.15(a) and section 390.15(b) matters because those subsections identify different regulated parties.[1][2][3][4]

Contents

What the cited provisions say

Section 390.15(b)(1) requires the register to identify the accident date, the city or town where the accident occurred or the nearest city or town, the State, the driver name, the number of injuries, and the number of fatalities. Section 390.15(b)(1)(vi) also requires recording whether hazardous materials were released, excluding fuel spilled from the fuel tanks of a motor vehicle involved in the accident. Section 390.15(b)(2) requires copies of all accident reports required by State or other governmental entities or insurers.[1][2][3][4]

Section 390.15(a)(1) requires access to all accident-related records and information for an authorized FMCSA representative or special agent, authorized State or local enforcement representative, or authorized third-party representative, within the time specified by the request or investigation. Section 390.15(a)(2) requires motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers to give an authorized representative all reasonable assistance in investigating any accident, including a full, true, and correct response to any inquiry question.[1][2][3][4]

Who and what the provisions cover

Section 390.3T(a)(1) applies the subchapter generally to employers, employees, and commercial motor vehicles transporting passengers or property in interstate commerce. Section 390.5T defines motor carrier to include for-hire and private carriers, their agents, officers, representatives, and employees with the listed driver-management or equipment responsibilities; the definition also includes employer and exempt motor carrier.[1][2][3][4]

Section 390.5T defines commercial motor vehicle as a self-propelled or towed highway vehicle used in interstate passenger or property transportation that meets a stated criterion. Under section 390.5T, the weight criterion is a gross vehicle weight rating, gross combination weight rating, gross vehicle weight, or gross combination weight of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more, whichever is greater. Section 390.5T also includes vehicles designed or used for more than 8 passengers, including the driver, for compensation; more than 15 passengers, including the driver, without compensation; or transportation of hazardous material designated under 49 U.S.C. 5103 in a quantity requiring placarding under the referenced regulations.[1][2][3][4]

Conditions and exceptions

Sections 390.3(f) and 390.3T(f) qualify their exclusions with unless otherwise specifically provided. Their paragraphs (2) through (5) exclude transportation by the listed governmental bodies, including congressionally approved interstate compact agencies; occasional personal-property transportation by individuals without compensation or commercial furtherance; transportation of corpses or sick and injured persons; and fire trucks and rescue vehicles during emergency and related operations. Unless otherwise specifically provided, sections 390.3(f)(1) and 390.3T(f)(1) exclude school bus operations as defined in sections 390.5 and 390.5T, respectively, but retain sections 391.15(e) and (f), 392.15, 392.80, and 392.82.[1][2][3][4]

For commercial motor vehicles designed or used to transport 9 to 15 passengers, including the driver, not for direct compensation, and provided the vehicle does not otherwise meet the commercial motor vehicle definition, section 390.3(f)(6) expressly requires motor carriers to comply with section 390.15, while section 390.3T(f)(6) expressly requires motor carriers and drivers to comply with that section. Unless otherwise specifically provided, sections 390.3(f)(7) and 390.3T(f)(7) exclude a driver of a commercial motor vehicle used primarily to transport propane winter heating fuel or a driver of a motor vehicle used to respond to a pipeline emergency if the regulations would prevent that driver from responding to an emergency condition requiring immediate response, as defined in sections 390.5 and 390.5T, respectively.[1][2][3][4]

Section 390.15(b)(1) references the accident definition in section 390.5; the definition supplied here is from section 390.5T. Section 390.5T defines accident as an occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle operating on a highway in interstate or intrastate commerce that produces a fatality, bodily injury resulting in immediate medical treatment away from the scene, or disabling vehicle damage requiring transport from the scene by another motor vehicle. Section 390.5T excludes occurrences involving only boarding or alighting from a stationary vehicle or only loading or unloading cargo.[1][2][3][4]

Section 390.5T defines driver as a person operating a commercial motor vehicle. Section 390.5T defines an intermodal equipment provider as any person that interchanges intermodal equipment with a motor carrier pursuant to a written interchange agreement or has contractual responsibility for maintaining the intermodal equipment. Section 390.5T defines intermodal equipment as trailing equipment used in the intermodal transportation of containers over public highways in interstate commerce, including trailers and chassis.[1][2][3][4]

Source date and limits

This entry uses eCFR source material saved on 2026-11-06 from the National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register. That is the saved-source date, not a representation that today's law was checked. The statute-only scope here is limited to the supplied primary regulatory text and source note. Judicial interpretation, enforcement outcomes, and materials beyond those saved units are outside this entry.[1][2][3][4]

The cross-reference in section 390.15(b)(1) to section 390.5 is not treated here as supplied text of that definition. Likewise, references in sections 390.3(f) and 390.3T(f) to other provisions do not establish the contents of those unsaved provisions. The supplied section 390.15 source note records amendment citations, without supplying an effective-date analysis. This accident-register discussion provides general reference information, not legal advice, and does not resolve the application of the saved provisions to any particular accident, carrier, driver, or equipment arrangement.[1][2][3][4]

On related publications

Law checked on against the primary sources cited below. Statutes and rules change; read the current official text before relying on a deadline or rule.

References

  1. abcdefghijklm "49 CFR 390.15, Assistance in investigations and special studies". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  2. abcdefghijkl "49 CFR 390.3, General applicability". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  3. abcdefghijkl "49 CFR 390.3T, General applicability". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  4. abcdefghijkl "49 CFR 390.5T, Definitions". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record