Closing a trucking company: what records must stay, and what is left?
A carrier that stops running trucks still owes records. Driver qualification files and hours-of-service records have federal retention periods, and the equipment history that supports a safety audit does not vanish with the authority. What is left to license is the operating layer: dispatch notes, load history, exception emails and the way a dispatcher resolved a late or damaged load.
Rules to read first
Both rules are in the federal motor carrier safety regulations: driver qualification files and records of duty status. The driver file holds personal details, so it does not go into a data deal.
| Rule | What it requires |
|---|---|
| 49 CFR 391.51(c) | A driver qualification file is kept for as long as the driver works for the carrier and for three years afterward. |
| 49 CFR 395.8(k) | A carrier keeps records of duty status and supporting documents for each driver for at least six months from the date it receives them. |
| Insurance and claims | Policies and cargo claims usually set their own notice and record periods. A closing carrier tells its insurer before the records go anywhere. |
What a carrier holds that a lab could use
The dispatcher’s own words are the valuable part. A rate confirmation says what was agreed; the thread leading to it shows how.
- Dispatch notes: why a load was reassigned, how a late pickup was handled, what the customer was told.
- Load history with lane, equipment type, accessorials and the exceptions logged against each load.
- Detention and claims correspondence, with the shipper and consignee names removed.
- Rate confirmation emails and how a rate was agreed across several messages.
- Telematics summaries at the fleet level, such as idle time and route variance, with driver identifiers removed.
Where it sits
Most carriers run a transportation management system, an electronic logging device portal, a telematics dashboard, a load board account and email. The logging portal is the one with a deadline: the six-month duty status period starts again with every new record, so a carrier that cancels the portal on closing day may have less than six months of the most recent records to retrieve. Ask the vendor how long a closed account stays accessible and export the duty status records before you cancel.
A freight broker faces a different set of rules, and its load and carrier history is held differently. This page covers a motor carrier.
What stays out
| Record | Why it stays out |
|---|---|
| Driver qualification files | Personal details, medical certificates and driving records, with a three year tail. |
| Drug and alcohol testing results | Confidential by federal rule, and a separate retention set applies. |
| Driver-level telematics | It identifies a person and where that person was. |
| Customer contracts with confidentiality clauses | Many shippers forbid sharing rate terms. |
Read next
- Closing or bankrupt companies. Who signs and what to keep.
- Records to keep before you close. A checker by industry.
- Liability. Who answers for what in a deal.
- Trucking and freight while open. What a running carrier can license.
Questions about closing a trucking company: what records must stay, and what is left?
Do we keep driver files after the last driver leaves?
The federal rule sets the file period at employment plus three years. Closing the company does not shorten it.
Can dispatch emails be licensed?
Yes, once customer, driver and load identifiers are removed and the shipper contracts are checked for confidentiality terms.
What happens to our logging data if we cancel?
It depends on the vendor. Ask in writing, and export the records of duty status first, since the six-month period applies to the carrier and not to the vendor.
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