In FMCSA's Safety Measurement System (SMS), roadside HOS violations generally count toward your CSA BASIC percentiles for 24 months. More recent violations are weighted more heavily, and their weight drops as they age, until they fall off after 24 months. A conviction on the driver's motor vehicle record (MVR) is a separate matter and can follow the driver longer under state law.
This question has a short answer and a longer, more useful one. The short answer is 24 months for CSA. The longer answer is that "your record" is not one thing, and the timing works differently depending on which record you mean. Let me walk through it.
How CSA and SMS count violations over time
FMCSA's Safety Measurement System uses roughly 24 months of roadside inspection data to calculate your CSA BASIC percentiles. An HOS violation from a roadside inspection generally counts during that 24-month window and then drops off. That is the number most carriers are asking about when they ask how long a violation "stays."
Why recent violations hurt more
SMS weights violations by both severity and time. Generally, more recent violations carry more weight, and that weight decreases as the violation ages, until it drops out of the calculation after 24 months. This is why a clean stretch of inspections gradually pulls a score down: your older violations are losing weight while your recent record stays clean. The exact time-weighting is spelled out in the FMCSA SMS methodology, linked at the end.
When violations drop off
Generally, once a roadside violation passes the 24-month mark, it no longer counts toward your SMS BASIC percentiles. It does not get "removed" in the sense of being erased from history, but it stops driving your current score. If you believe a violation was recorded incorrectly, you do not have to wait it out. You can challenge it through the FMCSA DataQs process, and a successful challenge can correct or remove it sooner.
CSA is not the same as your driver's MVR
This is the part that trips carriers up. CSA/SMS is the carrier-level safety measurement. A driver's motor vehicle record (MVR) is separate and governed by state law, and a conviction on the MVR can stay for a period that varies by state and offense, often longer than the CSA window. Insurance underwriters and some brokers may look at both. So a violation can age off your CSA long before it ages off a driver's MVR. Do not assume the two clear at the same time.
What you can do while violations age off
Waiting is not a strategy on its own. The two things that actually help are challenging incorrect violations through DataQs and accumulating clean inspections, because clean inspections are what dilute your percentile over time. A daily log audit is how you stop new violations from landing while the old ones age out. For the broader score picture, see CSA score improvement.
How Fleet Regulators helps
We audit logs daily to stop new HOS violations from entering your record, file DataQs challenges on violations recorded in error, and document corrective action that holds up in a DOT audit. We do not promise a specific score change. We help you stop adding to the problem and give the clock a clean record to work with.
Carriers ask me this hoping for a date they can circle on the calendar. Here is the honest version: the CSA clock is 24 months, but the driver's MVR runs on its own state timeline, and your insurer may look at both. So do not wait it out. Challenge what is wrong, keep the inspections clean, and let time do the rest while you stop adding new problems.
Common Mistakes Carriers Make
(1) Assuming a CSA violation and an MVR conviction clear at the same time. (2) Waiting out a violation you could have challenged through DataQs. (3) Letting new violations land while old ones age off, so the score never moves. (4) Expecting a violation to be "erased" rather than time-weighted down. (5) Ignoring the driver-level record because you only watched the carrier score.
Stop Adding to the Problem
Book a free compliance review. We will show you your recent HOS patterns, what is challengeable, and how to keep new violations off your record while the old ones age out.
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Get HOS Support →Frequently Asked Questions
Generally, roadside HOS violations count toward your CSA BASIC percentiles for 24 months in FMCSA's SMS. More recent violations weigh more heavily, and the weight decreases as they age until they drop off after 24 months.
For SMS purposes, a violation stops counting toward your current percentiles after about 24 months. It is not erased from inspection history, but it no longer drives your score. A successful DataQs challenge can correct or remove an incorrectly recorded violation sooner.
No. CSA/SMS is the carrier-level safety measurement. A driver's motor vehicle record (MVR) is separate and governed by state law, and a conviction can stay on the MVR for a period that varies by state and offense, often longer than the CSA window.
You can challenge a violation you believe was recorded incorrectly through the FMCSA DataQs process, and a successful challenge can correct or remove it. Legitimate violations cannot be removed on request, but their SMS weight decreases over time until they age off.