DOT emergency equipment violations: what 49 CFR 393.95 says, what changed in 2026, and how it counts on your CSA score

A missing fire extinguisher, an unsecured one, missing warning triangles or a missing spare fuse is cited under 49 CFR 393.95, the rule for emergency equipment on power units. FMCSA’s current SMS input data holds 316,580 rows for the 393.95 codes, all in the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC of your CSA record. Two parts of the rule changed in 2026: the spare fuse requirement is gone, and liquid-burning flares no longer count as warning devices. This guide quotes the rule as it stands, shows what each code weighs, and sets out what a DataQs challenge can and cannot fix.

The rule, word for word

49 CFR 393.95 opens: “Each truck, truck tractor, and bus (except those towed in driveaway-towaway operations) must be equipped as follows.” The parts that roadside cites come from:

• Fire extinguisher rating, (a)(1). A power unit not used for placarded hazardous materials “must be equipped with either: (A) A fire extinguisher having an Underwriters’ Laboratories rating of 5 B:C or more; or (B) Two fire extinguishers, each of which has an Underwriters’ Laboratories rating of 4 B:C or more.” A placarded hazmat load needs 10 B:C or more.
• Label, (a)(2), and gauge, (a)(3). The extinguisher must be “labeled or marked by the manufacturer with its Underwriters’ Laboratories rating” and built “to permit visual determination of whether it is fully charged.”
• Charged, reachable, mounted, (a)(4). “The fire extinguisher(s) must be filled and located so that it is readily accessible for use. The extinguisher(s) must be securely mounted to prevent sliding, rolling, or vertical movement relative to the motor vehicle.”
• Warning devices, (f). One of two options: “(1) Three bidirectional emergency reflective triangles that conform to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 125” or “(2) At least 6 fusees.” Other devices may be carried “in addition to, but not in lieu of” these.
• No flame devices on some loads, (g). Fusees or any other flame signal “shall not be carried” on a vehicle hauling Division 1.1, 1.2 or 1.3 explosives, a cargo tank used for Division 2.1 or Class 3 materials, loaded or empty, or a vehicle using compressed gas as a motor fuel.

What changed in 2026

• Spare fuses, removed from 20 April 2026. Paragraph (b) used to require “at least one spare fuse for each type/size of fuse needed” for required parts and accessories. FMCSA’s final rule of 19 February 2026 (91 FR 7877) removed it, effective 20 April 2026; the rule notes about 9,000 roadside violations a year had been written for it. Paragraph (b) now reads “[Reserved]”.
• Liquid-burning flares, removed from 23 March 2026. Warning devices used to include “3 liquid-burning flares” as an alternative to fusees. A final rule of the same day (91 FR 7867) removed them, effective 23 March 2026. Since then the only options are the three triangles or at least six fusees.

What this means for your record: the rule that applies is the one in force on the inspection date. A spare fuse violation (code 39395B) from an inspection before 20 April 2026 was written under a rule that existed then, and it keeps counting until it ages off. One from an inspection on or after 20 April 2026 cites a paragraph that was no longer in the regulations that day. FMCSA’s SMS input data (published 13 October 2026) still lists 700 rows coded 39395B with inspection dates on or after 20 April 2026, across 568 carriers. If one of them is yours, the report’s own date and the Federal Register are the evidence; the reviewing state decides.

How much each emergency equipment code weighs

From FMCSA’s SMS input data (read 7 November 2026), every 393.95 code is in the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC, group “Emergency Equipment”, at severity 2:

• 39395F, stopped vehicle warning devices missing or improper (87,115 rows).
• 39395A1, no fire extinguisher present or not properly rated (72,600 rows).
• 39395A4EEUS, fire extinguisher unsecured (71,247 rows).
• 39395A, no, discharged or unsecured fire extinguisher (54,202 rows).
• 39395B, missing a spare fuse (12,989 rows; see above).
• 39395A4EENA, fire extinguisher not readily accessible or not filled (10,770 rows).
• Smaller codes: 39395A3 no visual indicator, 39395KEE flag size, 39395A1I hazmat extinguisher under 10 B:C, 39395A2 no label or marking, 39395G improper warning devices for a hazmat load.

Because every code carries 2, changing one 393.95 code for another does not change the points. These violations are almost never out of service: 24 of the 316,580 rows are marked out of service. When one is, it adds 2.

How an emergency equipment violation counts

• Which inspections. The Vehicle Maintenance BASIC uses violations from vehicle inspections (Levels 1, 2, 5 and 6) in the past 24 months.
• Same code, one count. “In cases of multiple counts of the same violation, the SMS uses each violation cite only once per inspection.” Different codes count separately, so a missing extinguisher and missing triangles on one inspection are two violations. The total severity on one inspection in one BASIC is capped at 30.
• Time weight. The severity is multiplied by 3 for a violation in the last 6 months, 2 from 6 to 12 months, and 1 from 12 to 24 months. After 24 months it no longer counts.

Worked example (a hypothetical inspection, arithmetic on the rules above). Five months ago, after 20 April 2026, an officer cites 39395B (no spare fuse) and 39395F (no triangles), neither out of service. Each is 2 × a time weight of 3 = 6, so 12 toward your Vehicle Maintenance measure. If the spare fuse cite comes off because the rule was gone on the inspection date, 6 remains. The measure divides these points by the time weight of all your relevant vehicle inspections, clean ones included; see what is a CSA score?

Before you challenge: what a reviewer can act on

1. Check the inspection date against the rule. A 39395B spare fuse cite dated on or after 20 April 2026 cites a paragraph that was gone that day. The reverse holds for flares: before 23 March 2026, three liquid-burning flares met the warning device rule, so a warning device cite from before that date on a truck that carried them is checked against the rule as it read then.
2. Check the unit. 393.95 covers trucks, truck tractors and buses, and not the driven unit in a driveaway-towaway operation. In FMCSA’s data, 1,414 of the 393.95 rows are recorded against unit 2 of the inspection, which is usually, though not always, a trailer. If the cite is on a trailer, the report itself shows the rule was applied to a unit it does not cover.
3. Check the driver, the unit and the carrier are yours. Match the VIN, plate and unit number on the report against your registrations and leases. If the vehicle belongs to another carrier, that is a different request: an inspection on your record that isn’t yours.
4. Do not argue from what the report leaves out. A report that does not say where the extinguisher was or what its gauge read is not by itself a reason to remove the violation: the reviewing agency can ask the officer. A challenge works when a document contradicts the report, not when the report is brief.
5. Buying the equipment afterwards does not undo the cite. A receipt for a new extinguisher dated after the inspection shows the problem was fixed, not that it was not there.
6. File it properly. One request, its proof attached on the first submission: how to dispute a DOT violation and file a DataQ.

If none of these applies and the report is accurate, a challenge will not remove the violation. It loses weight at 6 and 12 months and stops counting at 24.

Sources

• 49 CFR 393.95, Emergency equipment on all power units (eCFR, current to 5 November 2026), quoted above; earlier versions from the eCFR point-in-time record.
• FMCSA, Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Spare Fuses, final rule, 91 FR 7877 (19 February 2026), effective 20 April 2026.
• FMCSA, Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Liquid-Burning Flares, final rule, 91 FR 7867 (19 February 2026), effective 23 March 2026.
• FMCSA, Safety Measurement System (SMS) Methodology, Version 3.21 (methodology revised May 2026): Vehicle Maintenance BASIC, pp. 3-13 to 3-15 (vehicle inspection Levels 1, 2, 5 and 6, one cite per inspection, OOS weight of 2, cap of 30, time weights).
• FMCSA, “SMS Input – Violation” dataset, data.transportation.gov: the codes beginning 39395, their descriptions, BASIC, violation group, severity weight, out-of-service flag, unit and inspection date, read 7 November 2026 (dataset updated 13 October 2026).