What 392.6-MC means in plain language
FMCSR 392.6-MC is a carrier-level violation, not a driver violation. It means a motor carrier scheduled you—the driver—to operate a commercial motor vehicle at speeds that exceed the legal limit for the road you were on. The violation is technically against your employer, not you personally, but you were the one operating the vehicle when the inspector cited it.
This is different from a driver speeding violation. Here, the citation records that your carrier either created a schedule or dispatch instruction that pressured you to drive faster than allowed, or failed to establish safe routing and speed management practices. The inspector is documenting that the company put you in a position to exceed speed limits.
Understand: you can still be cited for actual speeding (other codes), and your carrier can be cited for scheduling you to speed (this code). Both can appear on the same inspection record.
What our enforcement data actually shows
Across our 13 million+ inspection records, 392.6-MC is rare. We have logged only 8 citations all-time, with 3 in the last 12 months and 2 in the last 90 days. This code ranks #2269 of 3,036 FMCSR codes by citation volume.
None of the 8 citations resulted in an out-of-service order. The 0.0% out-of-service rate for 392.6-MC is significantly lower than the all-FMCSR average of 31.4%, which means inspectors have consistently deemed this violation a recordable defect but not an immediate safety threat warranting vehicle or driver removal from service.
The rarity of this citation suggests either that carriers are generally compliant with speed-management practices, or that inspectors rarely have sufficient evidence during a roadside stop to prove that a carrier scheduled the excess speed (as opposed to a driver simply choosing to speed). The distinction matters: proving carrier intent or negligence in scheduling requires more than catching one driver speeding once.
Who gets cited most
Our inspection records show that in the last 180 days, Mississippi accounted for 2 citations of 392.6-MC, both of which resulted in no out-of-service orders (0.0% OOS rate). This is the only state in our data with multiple citations for this code in the recent period.
Across all-time citations, our data shows fleets such as Dunlap & Kyle Tire Company Inc, Harmony Hill Trucking Co Inc, Gosal Trucking Ltd, D G Logistics LLC, Bunzl Distribution Leasing Inc, Cargo Truck Express Inc, BB Logistics & Delivery LLC, and RRR Trans Inc, each with 1 citation. The low citation count per carrier reflects how uncommon this violation is across the entire trucking industry.
How severe is this compared to similar codes
In the Unsafe Driving category, 392.6-MC sits in the shadow of much more frequently cited violations. For example, 392.2 (Operating a CMV while ill or fatigued) has accumulated 1,208,164 citations all-time with a 0.8% OOS rate. Even 392.2-SLLS2 (Speeding 6–10 mph over limit) has 72,337 citations, also with a 0.0% OOS rate.
The dramatic difference in citation frequency—thousands or millions for peer codes versus only 8 for 392.6-MC—indicates that this particular violation is either much harder to substantiate at roadside or less commonly enforced as a carrier-scheduling violation. Most speed-related citations are written against individual drivers for actual violations at the moment of inspection, not against carriers for systemic scheduling practices.
How to avoid it
Since this is a carrier-level citation, the primary responsibility rests with your employer's dispatch and safety practices. However, you as a driver have a role:
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Report unrealistic dispatch schedules to your carrier's safety or compliance manager. If you are being assigned routes with tight time windows that require speeding to meet them, document this and raise it. Carriers that face 392.6-MC citations may have inadvertently created schedules that force speed violations.
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Use your vehicle's onboard systems and GPS to confirm speed limits before acceleration. Our data shows that when 392.6-MC appears, it sometimes co-occurs with ELD (electronic logging device) violations, such as drivers failing to manually input or verify shipping document numbers. Staying organized with your ELD and route documentation helps ensure you are aware of all speed-limit changes and can defend your compliance.
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Communicate with dispatch if a route seems impossible to complete within speed limits and legal hours. Carriers that understand driver feedback are less likely to create scheduling pressure that leads to violations. You are not required to exceed speed limits to meet a schedule.
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Pre-trip inspection matters for speed-limiting devices. Inspectors have cited a variety of vehicle makes under 392.6-MC (Chevrolet, Fona, Frht, Kw, Peterbilt, and others), suggesting no single truck type is immune. Confirm that your vehicle's speed-limiting equipment (if equipped) is functional and calibrated, and that your employer's fleet policies are clearly posted in the cab.
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Know the speed limits for each state and highway class on your route. Different states and road types have different legal limits. Your carrier should provide these; if it does not, ask. Ignorance of the limit is not a defense, but it can help you recognize if a schedule is genuinely unsafe.