Home / Resources24 documents · updated 15 Aug 2026
Driver resource library
Every rule you run under, from the agency that wrote it.
CFR, FMCSA, PHMSA, FHWA and the IRS — with the date we last checked it printed on every entry.
Compliance deadlines
4 trackedRequirementDueIn
Revoked ELDs — replace byAction needed8 Sep 202617 dForm 2290 dueAction needed31 Aug 20269 dUCR 2027 opensOpen1 Oct 202640 dPaper medical-card waiverOpen11 Oct 202650 dThe revoked-ELD list and the paper medical-card waiver are re-checked monthly; the regulation sections quarterly.
Start here
Four things worth having before your next load.
GuidePre-trip, in the order you walk itThe regulation lists eleven parts and accessories. It does not list them in the order you walk around the truck. Here is the text, and then the walking order.Verified 15 Aug 2026Includes a downloadHours of service, without the folkloreEleven driving hours inside a fourteen-hour window, a thirty-minute break counted off driving time, and a restart that resets less than most drivers think. Here is the rule as FMCSA publishes it.Verified 15 Aug 2026Includes a downloadMedical card questions we get every weekElectronic transmission changed how your certificate reaches your state, and a waiver is holding the paper card open until 11 October 2026. Eight questions, answered from FMCSA's own material.Verified 15 Aug 2026GuideThe 2026–27 figures every owner-operator needsFees, tax deadlines and federal limits for the year, each one traced to the agency that sets it. No estimates and no market rates — only numbers somebody official published.Verified 15 Aug 2026
The library
Sorted the way the day runsABefore every tripPre-trip, the DVIR, emergency equipment, what rides in the cab.5 posts
Pre-trip, in the order you walk itThe regulation lists eleven parts and accessories. It does not list them in the order you walk around the truck. Here is the text, and then the walking order.49 CFR § 392.7 · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026Your state's CDL manual, section 2.1The seven-step vehicle inspection method every CDL holder was tested on — published by your state licensing agency, and the one document here we will never host.Relay Dispatch Desk · 1 min · verified 15 Aug 2026What has to be in the cabNine things, and for most of them the regulation names the exact document. Here is the list, with the section that requires each one.49 CFR § 395.22(h) · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026The annual inspection, and the proof that rides with itEvery vehicle needs a periodic inspection once a year against a published list of defects — and evidence of it has to be on the vehicle.49 CFR § 396.17 · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026FMCSA's Motor Carrier Safety PlannerThe agency's own plain-English guide to complying with Parts 393 and 396. The best single starting point for a one-truck carrier, and we link it rather than rewrite it.Relay Dispatch Desk · 1 min · verified 15 Aug 2026
BOn the roadHours of service, the ELD packet, breakdowns, the roadside.5 posts
Hours of service, without the folkloreEleven driving hours inside a fourteen-hour window, a thirty-minute break counted off driving time, and a restart that resets less than most drivers think. Here is the rule as FMCSA publishes it.49 CFR Part 395 · 3 min · verified 15 Aug 2026Roadside breakdown: the first ten minutesThe regulation gives you ten minutes to get warning devices out. Here is the order to do things in, and the section behind each step.49 CFR § 392.22 · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026The ELD packet, and what to do the minute it failsThree documents have to be in the cab, and the rule for a failed device is specific: notify in writing within 24 hours and reconstruct on paper.49 CFR § 395.22(h) · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026FMCSA's Interstate Truck Driver's Guide to Hours of ServiceTwenty-seven illustrated pages with worked log examples, published by the agency that writes the rule. The best downloadable primer on hours that exists.Relay Dispatch Desk · 1 min · verified 15 Aug 2026The sleeper-berth split, and why it is underusedTwo periods instead of one, and neither counts against the fourteen-hour window. It is the most useful flexibility in Part 395 and the least used.49 CFR § 395.1(g) · 1 min · verified 15 Aug 2026
CCargo, hazmat, size & weightSecurement, the response guidebook, bridge formula and limits.5 posts
The Emergency Response Guidebook, and why it rides in every truckPHMSA publishes the orange book free, in three languages, with a mobile app. It is written for the first minutes of a hazmat incident — including one that is not yours.Relay Dispatch Desk · 1 min · verified 15 Aug 2026Securing a flatbed load, paragraph by paragraphAggregate working load limit, tiedown count, and the commodity rules that override both — with the section printed beside each one.49 CFR Part 393 Subpart I · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026DOT Chart 17 — markings, labels and placardsOne sheet that decodes every hazard class placard you will see on a trailer or a shipping paper. Worth carrying whether or not you hold a hazmat endorsement.Relay Dispatch Desk · 1 min · verified 15 Aug 2026Federal size and weight limits, and the one there isn'tGross, single and tandem weights, the bridge formula, width and length on the National Network — and the dimension the federal government does not regulate at all.Relay Dispatch Desk · 1 min · verified 15 Aug 2026Securing a van load: blocking, bracing and the rules people forgetEnclosed does not mean secured. The general rules in Subpart I apply inside a dry van or a reefer exactly as they do on a flatbed.49 CFR Part 393 Subpart I · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026
DQualification & healthMedical certification, the Clearinghouse, staying qualified.2 posts
Medical card questions we get every weekElectronic transmission changed how your certificate reaches your state, and a waiver is holding the paper card open until 11 October 2026. Eight questions, answered from FMCSA's own material.Relay Dispatch Desk · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026The Clearinghouse when you are your own employerRunning under your own authority makes you both the driver and the employer. That means two registrations, a consortium, a query plan, and an annual query on yourself.49 CFR Part 382 · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026
EOwner-operator businessTruth-in-Leasing, UCR, IRP, IFTA, Form 2290, your own records.4 posts
The 2026–27 figures every owner-operator needsFees, tax deadlines and federal limits for the year, each one traced to the agency that sets it. No estimates and no market rates — only numbers somebody official published.Relay Dispatch Desk · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026Lease-on or your own authorityThe obligations do not change with the arrangement — only who discharges them does. Both columns, including the parts that do not favour us.49 CFR Part 376 · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026Your Truth-in-Leasing rights, in the words of the rulePart 376 says what any lease between you and a carrier must contain. Four clauses are worth finding before you sign anything, and here they are quoted.49 CFR Part 376 · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026Filing Form 2290, step by stepThe heavy vehicle use tax, in the order you actually do it — from working out first use to getting the stamped Schedule 1 you need for registration.Relay Dispatch Desk · 2 min · verified 15 Aug 2026
FWhat changedDated notices, each one linked to the agency that issued it.3 posts
FMCSA revoked another batch of ELDsIf your device is on the revoked list you are on paper logs today, and you have until 8 September 2026 to replace it.Relay Dispatch Desk · 1 min · verified 15 Aug 2026English language proficiency is an out-of-service violationEnforcement changed in June 2025, FMCSA published roadside guidance in April 2026, and a rulemaking to codify it is open for comment until 9 October 2026.49 CFR § 391.11(b)(2) · 1 min · verified 15 Aug 2026The non-domiciled CDL rule took effect in MarchEligibility narrowed to three visa categories, credentials are limited to one year, and states are auditing what they have already issued.Relay Dispatch Desk · 1 min · verified 15 Aug 2026
Recent from the blog
All posts →Opinion and operating notes, not part of the sourced library above.
How this is maintained
Report a broken linkWe re-check this library on a schedule, and we print the date.
Monthly for the revoked-ELD list and the paper medical-card waiver, quarterly for the regulation sections, annually for the rest. Federal publications are public domain; the AAMVA CDL manual and other copyrighted material we link and never mirror. Educational summary — the regulation controls. Not legal advice.