383.93 — CDL - operating without proper restriction
FMCSA violation code under Driver Fitness. Severity weight: 6. Out-of-service eligible.
Violation code 383.93 is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations citation issued under 49 CFR 383.93. It tracks a specific compliance failure recorded against motor carriers and drivers during FMCSA roadside inspections. The code rolls up into the FMCSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) Driver Fitness BASIC, which feeds the carrier's percentile ranking and prioritization for FMCSA interventions. It applies to interstate motor carriers, drivers, and the commercial motor vehicles they operate; intrastate operators are subject when their state has adopted Part 350 of the FMCSR by reference. It carries a severity weight of 6, an inspection citing it can trigger an Out-of-Service order at the roadside.
- Code:
- 383.93
- Code System:
- FMCSR
- BASIC Category:
- Driver Fitness
- OOS Eligible:
- Yes
- Severity Weight:
- 6
- Violation Group:
- BASIC 3
Ranks #3,037 of 3,146 FMCSR codes by citation frequency.
What 383.93 means
Operating a CMV in violation of a restriction on the CDL (air brakes, manual transmission, etc.).
CSA/SMS severity weight 6 on FMCSA's 1–10 scale in the Driver Fitness BASIC.
Out-of-service eligible — an inspector can place the driver or vehicle out of service until the condition is corrected. Observed OOS rate in our mirror: 0.0% (0 of 0 citations).
Ranks #3,037 of 3,146 FMCSR codes by citation frequency.
How to use this code
CSA weight, OOS trigger, inspector focus, fix path, and DataQs — from published FMCSA fields and citation counts on this page
CSA / SMS weight
Severity weight 6 (1–10). Higher weights correlate more strongly with crash risk in FMCSA's published table. Rolls into the Driver Fitness BASIC. SMS applies time weights (3× / 2× / 1×) over a 24-month window before ranking carriers by percentile.
OOS trigger
This code is OOS-eligible under CVSA Out-of-Service Criteria. A roadside finding can stop the trip until the defect or condition is corrected.
What inspectors typically check
FMCSR violations for operating without a valid CDL, missing medical certificates, lacking endorsements, or failing physical qualifications.
- Valid CDL class and required endorsements for the load
- Current medical certificate and physical qualification
- Driver qualification file items the carrier must maintain
Fix and prevent
- Correct the underlying condition before the next trip — an OOS-eligible finding can park the truck or driver immediately.
- Re-check CDL, medical card, and endorsements against the load before the driver leaves the yard.
- Keep the correction in the compliance file — undocumented fixes look the same as non-compliance in a review.
DataQs challenge grounds
Carriers and drivers can file a Request for Data Review within 24 months when the record itself looks wrong. Common accepted grounds:
- Wrong violation code for the condition the inspector described
- Citation attributed to the wrong USDOT, driver, or unit
- Condition was already corrected / not present when the report was finalized
- Supporting evidence (photos, receipts, calibration, ELD extract) contradicts the citation
For brokers and shippers
Severity 6/10 — weigh frequency and recency on the carrier's inspection history, not a single old citation. OOS-eligible: a fresh citation can mean the load was interrupted at roadside until repaired.
Violation Description
Operating a CMV in violation of a restriction on the CDL (air brakes, manual transmission, etc.).
Regulatory Reference
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
This violation references 49 CFR 383.93 in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
How to comply with violation code 383.93
- Locate the regulation in the eCFR. Open https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/section-383.93 on eCFR.gov to read the legal text the citation is written against. The eCFR is the National Archives' continuously updated electronic Code of Federal Regulations and is the canonical reference for any FMCSR section.
- Determine if your operation is subject. Confirm whether your operation is interstate (always subject to the FMCSR) or intrastate (subject when your state has adopted 49 CFR Part 350 by reference; most have). Intrastate operators in non-adopting states may be subject to a state analog instead of the federal rule.
- Identify the documented requirement. Read the requirement carefully: "Operating a CMV in violation of a restriction on the CDL (air brakes, manual transmission, etc.)." Map it to the specific equipment, driver document, or operational practice it covers.
- Inspect or maintain to standard. Build a recurring inspection or training routine that catches this defect before a roadside inspector does. Because 383.93 is OOS-eligible, a single citation can park the truck or driver until the condition is corrected — pre-trip checks, scheduled PMs, and supervisor reviews are the cheap places to find it.
- Document compliance to demonstrate it on review. Keep a dated, signed record of each inspection, repair, training session, or filing tied to 383.93. During an FMCSA compliance review or a customer onboarding audit, the documentation is what proves the program runs — undocumented compliance is indistinguishable from non-compliance to the auditor.
Frequently asked questions about 383.93
What is FMCSA violation code 383.93? ▾
Is 383.93 an out-of-service violation? ▾
What's the severity weight of 383.93? ▾
How many inspections have cited 383.93? ▾
Which BASIC category is 383.93 in? ▾
What does a carrier do to fix 383.93? ▾
Where can I find related violation codes? ▾
Where can I find the full text of 383.93? ▾
About FMCSA violation codes
Every violation found during an FMCSA roadside inspection is recorded under a code drawn from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations — the codified safety rules motor carriers, drivers, and commercial motor vehicles must comply with in interstate commerce. Codes roll up into one of seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs): Unsafe Driving, Hours-of-Service, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Hazardous Materials Compliance, and Crash Indicator. Each code carries a published severity weight (1–10) and an Out-of-Service eligibility flag.
Citations counted in the FMCSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) feed a 24-month rolling percentile rank for every motor carrier. Recent citations weigh more heavily than older ones — FMCSA applies a 3× multiplier to events 0–6 months old, 2× for 6–12 months, and 1× for 12–24 months. Carriers above the published intervention threshold for a given BASIC are prioritized for warning letters, focused investigations, and full compliance reviews.
TruckCodex mirrors the FMCSA Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) and the published violation dictionary on a daily refresh cycle. We do not author or modify violation records — every count, severity weight, and OOS flag on this page reflects what the FMCSA has on file. For real-time confirmation immediately before an enforcement decision, click through to the FMCSA Violations Search link above. Carriers who believe a citation was recorded in error can file a Request for Data Review through the FMCSA DataQs system.
Related Records
Data sources & freshness
TruckCodex aggregates official public-sector datasets. See the Source registry for dataset-level coverage and the Freshness log for last-import timestamps.
Census, SAFER, SMS, Licensing & Insurance (L&I), roadside inspections, crashes, and authority history.
Vehicle recall campaigns, defect investigations, and consumer safety complaints (SCRS).
Cross-border carrier registry and Canadian recall campaigns where applicable.
TruckCodex is an independent aggregator; it is not affiliated with FMCSA, NHTSA, EIA, or Transport Canada. Always verify compliance-critical information directly with the originating agency.