DataQs Now Has an Independent Review. Use It.
FMCSA’s improved DataQs system went live September 18, J.J. Keller reports. Challenges to crash and inspection data now follow a three-step review: an initial review within 21 days, reconsideration within 21 days by independent subject-matter experts, and a final review within 45 days by a senior decision-maker or independent panel.
States must also review requests filed within three years of an inspection or five years of a crash, and explain their decisions. Their implementation plans are public in the DataQs Help Center.
Why it matters: inspection data feeds the safety records that underwriters, brokers, and shippers review. A fairer appeal path is a real chance to correct records that don’t match what happened at roadside.
What we’d do now
- Revisit weak or stale challenges and refile where the record supports it.
- Track each review deadline internally.
- Keep photos and documents from every roadside inspection.
Captives: ask insureds who owns their DataQs process.
This post is general information, not legal advice. Sources are linked in the text.
