What Is a DataQ and When Should a Motor Carrier File One?

What DataQs does

DataQs lets motor carriers, drivers, and other stakeholders request review of Federal or State crash and inspection data they believe is incomplete or incorrect. The system routes the RDR to the responsible Federal or State office for review.

DataQs is not a general request to lower an SMS percentile, and it does not replace a court proceeding. A focused request identifies a particular record, explains the correction or determination sought, and supports it with facts or law.

When a motor carrier should consider filing

• A crash or inspection is assigned to the wrong carrier, driver, or vehicle.
• A report contains an incorrect date, location, violation, or other material data element.
• A qualifying inspection or crash record is missing or duplicated.
• A citation connected to an inspection was dismissed, resulted in a not-guilty finding, or was adjudicated as a different charge, and certified disposition records are available.
• A crash appears eligible for FMCSA’s Crash Preventability Determination Program.
• The reviewing agency requested additional documentation on an existing RDR.

When DataQs is usually not the right tool

• The carrier dislikes the effect of accurate data but cannot identify an error or omission.
• The request only states that the inspector was wrong without addressing the cited facts or regulation.
• The carrier wants DataQs to decide a pending traffic citation instead of the proper court or administrative body.
• The crash does not fit a current preventability category and there is no separate factual error in the record.

What to assemble before submitting

1. Identify the report number, event date, State, carrier, driver, and vehicle.
2. State the exact field, violation, or determination being disputed.
3. Describe the precise correction or review requested.
4. Provide a concise factual or legal explanation.
5. Attach relevant inspection reports, crash reports, certified court records, photographs, video, shipping papers, leases, repair records, or other event-specific evidence.
6. Label each attachment so its connection to the request is clear.

Crash correction and crash preventability are different

An ordinary crash-data RDR asks for inaccurate or incomplete information to be corrected. A Crash Preventability Determination Program request asks FMCSA to determine whether an eligible crash was preventable.

FMCSA currently reviews specified crash types under the program. A police accident report is required, and relevant photographs, video, and court records may be important. Fatal-crash requests also require the specified post-accident testing information or documentation explaining why testing did not occur within the required period.

State-review changes effective September 13, 2026

FMCSA published revised requirements for State MCSAP agencies with a stated effective date of September 13, 2026. They direct State agencies to accept inspection RDRs filed within three years and crash RDRs filed within five years, use Initial Review, Reconsideration, and Final Review stages, and require requests for the next stage within 30 days of the prior decision.

Those requirements concern State MCSAP handling of crash and inspection RDRs; they should not be treated as universal deadlines for every DataQs program. Confirm the procedure that applies to the specific request before relying on a deadline.