Making a Successful Data Q challenge

  Since I retired from doing DOT Enforcement and moved on to work for a Motor Carrier, I have been assigned to review all of the inspections we get. Needless to say, I am quite familiar with the violations and the requirements of the various 49CFR violations that are out there because I use to write them up !

  I can skim through an inspection report pretty quick and look at the section charged , the description of the violation and make a reasonable judgment if it sounds proper. If not, a call to the driver can usually help me decide what I am going to do.  I do not challenge " no win" violations.  If a non-cdl driver of a CMV does not have his medical card, that is a violation plain and simple.  Sure, in the world of traffic citations for the same violation, you can bring proof that the driver actually had a good medical card and most judges would toss the cite...but not in the world of Data Q.

  If you don't know, a DataQ ( otherwise known as an RDR or Request for Data Review), the challenge is sent to the State Police in the state where the inspection was done.  So, you are asking the Police to judge the Police.  Not commonly viewed as the best way to do this but that's how it is done. I have had various experiences in this, some good and some not so good.

  In Maryland, the typical response has been " We contacted the officer who wrote the violation and he says the violation stands as is)".  Not much of a review when the officer that wrote the violation is judge , jury and executioner.  I have also found that when an officer makes a mistake and lists the wrong violation section, Maryland will not accept that as a valid challenge. They simply state " thank you for bringing this to our attention, we will amend the report to include the correct section "  They have gotten better on my last two challenges after I had to file a complaint on the officer. I won but that should be a last resort.

  I have had much better success in PA as it appears that their really is a more independent review made by a reviewer who can and will overturn a violation if they believe it to be a mistake.

  A couple of years ago when the whole DataQ challenge process was revamped which forced the states to remove a violation if you get a not guilty verdict.  However, the verdict alone isn't enough. You STILL have to DataQ the violation and submit proof of the dismissal to get it removed.  If you get the charge reduced, you will find the CSA points reduced and the violation shown as a different charge.  DOT Officers in PA were advised to write fewer tickets because of how many were mandatorily removed after they were thrown out in court.

DOT Officers in PA were advised to write fewer tickets because of this. 

 With my record of 16 filed and 11 won, I would advise this.

DO not challenge everything just because.  You will get to be known as " that company".

DO NOT  challenge " losers".  If you had a headlight out , you can't say you didn't.  The key to losing a challenge is going to be " was there a violation at the time of the inspection ?"   Fixing it 2 hours later doesn't matter.

DO NOT simply base a challenge on " I was right and the officer was wrong." 

DO NOT use an attitude or demean anybody in the challenge. It will not help you.

Challenge violations you believe were in error or the officer made an obvious mistake. Look up the FMCSA section used in the inspection report.  Tires for instance are found at 393.75.  But the Out of Service Criteria is not found in the green FMCSA book. So it would be a goof idea to get a copy of the North American Out of Service Criteria from CVSA.org.  Use the language of the regulation to your advantage if you can.  Don't just state it, cut and paste it into your challenge so it is plainly not your words.

  Use pictures if at all possible. If the item was repaired and the repair shows that what the officer wrote up was not the problem, use the repair receipt to prove this point.

Be factual, Be polite, be thorough and most of all, be able to back up your claim with proof.  It is not always easy to read through and understand the regulations and the OOS criteria.  I can help with that. As a Police Officer for over 25 years and during that time I was a DOT Officer and  weigh master enforcement officer...I have a pretty good grasp of the whole picture.  I now have my class A license and am a DMV Certified CDL Driver Examiner. 

I can be reached at [email protected]