What FMCSR 392.2 actually covers
The written rule is narrow: a driver may not begin or continue to operate a commercial motor vehicle when fatigue, illness, or any other impairment makes it unsafe. In practice, inspectors use 392.2 as the parent heading for a broad family of “unsafe operation” sub-citations — speeding sub-codes, seat-belt sub-codes, and state-law-rooted violations all roll up under this section.
392.2 falls under CSA’s Unsafe Driving BASIC (BASIC 1) and carries a severity weight of 8. The bare code is out-of-service eligible.
What our enforcement data actually shows
Across 1,208,164 all-time citations in our database, 392.2 is ranked #1 of 3,036 FMCSR codes by volume. It is the most frequently cited rule in the federal motor carrier catalog.
The out-of-service rate, however, tells a different story:
- 9,691 placements out of service
- 1,198,473 citations that did not result in OOS
- 0.8% OOS rate — a small fraction of the all-code national average of 31.4%
In other words: 392.2 gets written a lot, but it rarely grounds the truck. The bulk of citations are paper-only compliance notes. The real out-of-service risk comes from specific sub-variants, not the parent code.
Who gets cited most
The top five carriers by 392.2 citation count in our records are all large long-haul fleets:
- WESTERN EXPRESS INC — 3,826 citations
- J B HUNT TRANSPORT INC — 3,796 citations
- SWIFT TRANSPORTATION CO OF ARIZONA LLC — 3,637 citations
- UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC — 3,021 citations
- SCHNEIDER NATIONAL CARRIERS INC — 2,493 citations
This pattern is a function of exposure, not negligence — the largest fleets put the most road-miles under DOT scrutiny, so the largest absolute counts land on their records. None of these carriers is an OOS outlier on this code.
Recent enforcement has been regionally concentrated. In the last 180 days our data shows 348 citations in North Carolina, 332 in New Mexico, and 271 in Iowa — all at 0% OOS, reinforcing the paper-only pattern.
The monthly trend confirms a steady decline: 392.2 peaked at 949 citations in May 2025 and has settled to the 171–237 per-month range through early 2026.
How it compares to similar codes
Inside the same “Unsafe Driving” BASIC, the sub-variants carry the real enforcement weight:
- 392.2-SLLSR (state law / speeding related) — 191,232 events, 0.1% OOS
- 392.2RG — 96,652 events, 0.1% OOS
- 392.2-SLLTCD — 85,391 events, 0% OOS
- 392.2-SLLS2 (“Speeding 6–10 mph over limit”) — 72,337 events, 0% OOS
- 392.16(a) (seat belt) — 64,794 events, 0% OOS
So when an inspector writes “392.2” they are almost always writing one of its specific children. A bare 392.2 on a roadside ticket is the rarer form — and the one most often used when a driver admits to fatigue or illness rather than a specific speeding observation.
How to avoid a 392.2 citation
The co-occurrence pattern in our last-90-day data points to three operational controls:
- Hours-of-service discipline. 392.2 co-occurs with 395.8E (false record of duty status) and 395.8A-ELD (failing to keep RODS) 48 times combined. When an inspector opens a 392.2 conversation with a fatigued driver, ELD evidence often follows.
- Periodic inspection paperwork. 396.17C (no proof of periodic inspection) is the third-most-common co-occurrence (44 in the last 90 days). Present the annual inspection sticker before fatigue questions come up.
- Licensing. 383.23A2 (operating without a CDL) co-occurs 29 times — a driver without proper endorsement in a regulated vehicle is the fastest path to an enforceable 392.2.
The defensive posture is straightforward: don’t dispatch impaired drivers, and don’t give an inspector a reason to open a broader conversation. The ELD audit trail is the single piece of evidence that most often turns a 392.2 warning into a documented violation.