Building a DOT compliance workspace for the smallest trucking fleets (1–10 trucks)

Most new trucking companies meet the FMCSA the hard way: a new-entrant safety audit letter shows up, the clock starts, and the "system" is a filing cabinet and a shoebox of medical cards. I'm building Roadworthy HQ for exactly that operator — a carrier running one to ten trucks, too small for the enterprise compliance suites, too regulated to wing it.

The idea is narrow on purpose. It keeps the records an auditor actually asks for: driver qualification files against 49 CFR §391.51, the §382 drug and alcohol program (random-pool math at the current rates, a Clearinghouse query log, consent forms), and DVIR/inspection/maintenance records under §396. The part I'm proudest of is unglamorous — document retention is enforced by the database, not by anyone's memory, so records live for exactly the period each regulation requires and an append-only log keeps the history. When the audit letter comes, one click exports a binder named the way the NEWS portal wants it.

A few decisions I've committed to: flat public pricing ($39/$89/$149 a month by fleet size, no per-driver fees, no sales calls), self-serve signup with a 14-day trial and no card, and every alert or checklist item citing the CFR section it comes from so you always know why. It's a solo, bootstrapped build under Elite Tech Global LLC — no ad budget, no team.

If you've run a small fleet, been through a new-entrant audit, or just have opinions on compliance UX, I'd genuinely like to hear where this is wrong. That's most of why I'm posting here.