Sample audit walkthrough · Synthetic carrier

47 trucks. One audit. Six days.

We don't have customer case studies yet — we're pre-revenue. But the product is real, and the work it does is concrete. Below is exactly what an FMCSA audit looks like inside Compass for "Hawthorn Logistics LLC," a synthetic carrier we built to walk prospects through the system.

All CFR citations are real. The DataQ template is the template we use. The placards are the same real DOT placards from /hazmat. The numbers are representative of a 47-truck small fleet running mixed dry-van + occasional Class 3 hazmat.

The carrier (synthetic)

Name

Hawthorn Logistics LLC

USDOT

3,547,219 (synthetic)

Power units

Drivers

Operation

Interstate, regional

Commodity

Dry van + ad-hoc Class 3

Audit type

Compliance Review

Trigger

SMS Driver Fitness BASIC > 80%

What happened, day by day

1
Day 1
FMCSA opens the inquiry
Email arrives Monday 7:14am: "Compliance Review scheduled, on-site Friday." The morning Compass digest already showed Driver Fitness BASIC at 82% (high alert). Triggers don't surprise carriers that have a daily digest reading the CSA score.
Compass action: Daily Digest Brain auto-surfaces the Driver Fitness BASIC trend a week before this email. 49 CFR § 385 (Safety Fitness Procedures) is the underlying authority. SMS percentiles from CarrierOk feed.
2
Day 2
DQ file sweep across 52 drivers
Compass DQ Files Brain shows 7 drivers with at least one missing § 391.51 artifact. Six of them are simply missing the prior-employer inquiry response within the 30-day window. One driver is missing an MVR from a state they held a license in 14 months ago.
Compass action: auto-generated request letters to the 6 prior employers under 49 CFR § 391.23; auto-pulled the missing MVR via the MVR Brain (state-specific lookup). Cost so far: $14 in MVR fees.
3
Day 3
D&A + Clearinghouse reconciliation
Random-rate progress for the year is at 22% controlled-substances and 8% alcohol — both below the FMCSA-set minimums for 2026. The Drug & Alcohol Brain auto-suggests pulling 6 additional CS tests in the remaining 3 weeks to hit the 50% threshold by year-end.
Clearinghouse: all 52 drivers queried within the last 12 months ✓. 3 drivers had a positive return-to-duty test completed under SAP supervision; their follow-up plans tracked on the calendar.
Compass action: Random rate progress bar vs. 49 CFR § 382.305. Clearinghouse queries logged with response codes. Auto-creates 6 tasks for the C/TPA to schedule.
4
Day 4
DataQ — the most valuable hour
The Inspections Brain shows 11 OOS violations in the last 24 months. Compass flags 3 as contestable using the 21 pattern-matched dispute templates. Carrier opens the DataQ Dispute Drafter for each one — a tire-tread-depth violation that the photo evidence shows was below the OOS threshold but officer mis-coded it, and two missing-paperwork citations where Compass has the timestamped record.
Compass action: DataQ Dispute Drafter generates the formal challenge letter, cites FMCSA DataQ Methodology v3.0.5 and the specific § 393 standard. Average win on a contested OOS: $300 fine reduction + percentile lift. Filed via dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov.
5
Day 5
Hazmat preparation (just in case)
Hawthorn occasionally hauls Class 3 flammable liquids. The Hazmat Brain shows H-endorsements current on 4 drivers, training within 3-year window for all, placards in stock and segregation rules cached on driver phones.
Compass auto-generates the audit-ready Hazmat Security Plan per 49 CFR § 172.800 — Hawthorn would have failed this without the plan because they handled UN1203 above the placard threshold 14 times in the trailing 24 months.
Compass action: Real placards from the /hazmat library auto-attached to the audit packet. TSA H-endorsement clock per driver. Segregation table for Class 3 + Class 8 cached.
6
Day 6
The audit packet ships
One-click export from /app/audit-export: 10 zipped sub-folders matching the FMCSA inspector's likely request list (DQ files, D&A records, Clearinghouse, MVR log, training records, accident register, inspection history, vehicle records, hours-of-service, financial responsibility). Plus the README that maps each file to the CFR section it satisfies.
Compass action: ZIP includes all compass_* table dumps for Hawthorn's carrier_id, with a generated README + manifest. Inspector arrives Friday with the packet pre-read.

Synthetic outcome

Conditional rating — held.

In violations from the 3 contested DataQ items (was: $900 if unfought)

6.2 days

Total operator time spent across the week (vs. typical 3-4 weeks pre-Compass)

22%

Driver Fitness BASIC drop after disputes were accepted (82% → 60%)

This is a representative outcome built from the patterns we see in our parent carrier (X3 Fleet Safety LLC) and from public DataQ win-rate data. Real customer case studies — with names, USDOTs, and on-record results — will replace this page when the first carriers cross 90 days.