Tenstreet wins the hire. FileFlo wins the years after.
Different tools for different stages. Tenstreet owns the hiring funnel: applications, PSP/MVR ordering, drug-test scheduling. FileFlo owns the post-hire compliance lifecycle. The right answer depends on whether your bottleneck is recruiting drivers or keeping their files audit-ready.
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Who wins for whom.
- ·Hire 10+ drivers per month (high turnover or rapid growth)
- ·Need integrated PSP/MVR ordering + drug test collection scheduling
- ·Want a full driver application + onboarding workflow
- ·Have a recruiter or HR person dedicated to driver pipeline
- ·Insurance/safety requires integrated MVR re-checks mid-cycle
- ·Hire 1-3 drivers per quarter (stable fleet, low turnover)
- ·Want flat $89-$299/month regardless of headcount
- ·Want AI document classification (no manual data entry)
- ·Need multi-regulation (FMCSA + OSHA + EPA + state)
- ·Want one-click audit binders for §391.51 and §391.25
- ·Want a 5-day free trial, no card, no sales call
16 capabilities, side by side.
Tenstreet's strength is rows 1-3 (the hiring funnel). FileFlo's strength is rows 4-11 (the post-hire compliance lifecycle). Pricing (rows 12-16) usually decides it for owner-operators and small carriers.
| Capability | FileFlo | Tenstreet |
|---|---|---|
| Driver application + hiring workflow | No | Yes (core product) |
| PSP / MVR ordering integration | No | Yes |
| Drug testing collection-site network | No | Yes |
| Tracks all 13 §391.51 DQF documents | Yes (ongoing) | Yes (primarily at hire) |
| AI document classification (auto-tag 600+ types) | Yes (auto on upload) | No (manual tagging) |
| §391.25 annual MVR review tracking | Yes (90/60/30/7-day alerts) | Partial (MVR ordering, not review tracking) |
| Medical certificate expiration tracking | Yes | Partial |
| Clearinghouse query support | Yes | Yes |
| One-click FMCSA audit binder export | Yes (60-180 second export) | Partial (report exports, not audit-ready binder) |
| Equipment maintenance / Part 396 vehicle records | Yes | No |
| OSHA / EPA / CMS / FAA / state cannabis coverage | Yes (5 federal + state) | No (FMCSA + driver-mgmt only) |
| Pricing model | Yes ($89 / $299 flat) | No (per-driver, quote-only) |
| Pricing published on site | Yes | No |
| Self-serve free trial | Yes (5 days, no card) | No (demo + sales call) |
| Setup time | Yes (30-60 min self-serve) | Partial (weeks for full hiring workflow) |
| Contract required | Yes (month-to-month) | No (annual contract typical) |
| Annual cost (30-driver fleet) | $2,990 / yr flat | ~$9,000 / yr (30 drivers × $25/mo est.) |
Platform definition.
FileFlo is a compliance document intelligence platform for the ongoing lifecycle of a Driver Qualification File. It classifies each document a carrier uploads against its governing regulation (FMCSA 49 CFR Part 391 first, plus OSHA 29 CFR 1910/1926, EPA 40 CFR, CMS 42 CFR, FAA 14 CFR, and state cannabis programs), extracts expiration dates, tracks renewal cycles, and exports inspector-format audit binders on demand. Its pricing is flat ($89 Starter, $299 Professional) and published, with a self-serve 5-day trial. It does not run a hiring funnel.
Tenstreet is a driver recruiting and onboarding platform. Its strength is the front end of the employment relationship: driver applications, PSP and MVR ordering, drug-test collection scheduling, and onboarding paperwork, typically priced per driver on an annual contract, quote-only. The two products meet at the moment of hire and then diverge. Tenstreet assembles the §391.51 file at intake; FileFlo maintains it for the years the driver stays on, where the §391.25 annual review, the §391.43 medical certificate, and the §382.701 Clearinghouse query all come due again and again. For a stable fleet that hires a few drivers a year, the ongoing side is where the audit risk actually lives.
Why the §391 file is a maintenance problem, not a hiring one.
A hiring platform's job ends when the driver is onboarded. The regulation's demands do not. Under 49 CFR §391.51, the Driver Qualification File must hold thirteen specific documents: the §391.21 employment application, the §391.23 background investigation and PSP, the §391.25 annual review of driving record, the §391.43 medical examiner's certificate, the road test certificate, and the rest. An auditor opening that file three years into a driver's tenure is not checking whether it was assembled correctly at hire; they are checking whether it has been kept current ever since.
That maintenance burden is relentless. The §391.25 annual review of the driver's motor vehicle record must be re-performed every twelve months and signed by the carrier. The §391.43 medical certificate expires on an examiner-set date (often two years, sometimes far less), and a lapsed card disqualifies the driver instantly. The §382.701 FMCSA Clearinghouse limited query must be run annually for every CDL driver, separate from the pre-employment full query. None of these is a one-time onboarding task; each is a recurring deadline that a per-driver hiring tool is not built to track.
This is the seam FileFlo is designed for. It classifies each document to its CFR section, monitors every renewal at 90/60/30/7-day intervals, surfaces the §396 vehicle maintenance records a driver-only system ignores, and exports an audit-ready binder in under three minutes. For carriers that also run shop or yard operations, the same platform extends to OSHA's 29 CFR 1910 and 1926 obligations, coverage a recruiting-focused product does not attempt. Many carriers therefore run both: Tenstreet for the hire, FileFlo for everything the regulation asks for afterward.
Built by an operator, against the rules themselves.
Chad Griffith, Founder & CEO of FileFlo, runs the FMCSA rule pack as documents-first software because most small-fleet audit failures come from the ongoing-compliance side, not the hiring side. Tenstreet's hiring workflow is excellent, but a stable 25-truck fleet hiring 4 drivers a year shouldn't be paying for that workflow when their actual risk is the §391.25 annual MVR review. FileFlo's rule packs map every document to the exact CFR section that demands it, which is why it can speak the language an auditor uses.
Quick answers.
Last reviewed June 4, 2026.
Is FileFlo a Tenstreet alternative?
Partially, but they solve different problems. Tenstreet's strength is the front-end driver hiring workflow: applications, PSP/MVR ordering, drug test scheduling, onboarding paperwork. FileFlo's strength is what happens AFTER hire: ongoing §391 document management, expiration tracking, audit binder generation, and multi-regulation coverage. Carriers with high driver turnover (10+ hires/month) often need both. Carriers with stable rosters (1-100 drivers, low turnover) usually only need FileFlo.
Does FileFlo handle driver hiring + onboarding?
No. FileFlo is documents-first software for ongoing compliance, not a driver-recruiting platform. If your top pain is processing driver applications, ordering MVRs/PSPs, or running drug test collection workflows, Tenstreet is the right tool. FileFlo picks up after the driver is hired: §391.51 file storage, §391.25 annual reviews, medical certificate renewal alerts, Clearinghouse annual queries, and audit-ready exports.
Tenstreet's per-driver pricing vs FileFlo's flat pricing: what's the math?
Tenstreet pricing is quote-only, but per-driver/month is the typical industry model. For a 30-driver fleet at ~$25/driver/month, that's ~$9,000/year. For a 100-driver fleet, ~$30,000/year. FileFlo Professional is $299/month flat = $2,990/year regardless of fleet size. The flat-pricing advantage compounds as you grow. The trade-off: Tenstreet's hiring workflow is genuinely valuable IF you hire frequently. If you hire 1-2 drivers a quarter, you're paying a per-driver premium for a workflow you barely use.
Can FileFlo replace Tenstreet for a small carrier (1-25 trucks)?
For most small carriers, yes. Small carriers typically don't have a high-frequency hiring workflow that justifies Tenstreet's complexity. They hire 1-3 drivers a year, and the application + MVR ordering can be done manually through state DMV portals or quick third-party services like Driver Reach, Idelic, or DataQs. FileFlo then handles the ongoing §391 compliance, which is where the audit risk actually lives.
Does FileFlo offer a free trial like Tenstreet?
Yes. 5-day free trial, no credit card, no sales call. Tenstreet's standard motion is a demo + sales conversation before getting access, which is appropriate for their workflow complexity but slow if you just want to evaluate compliance software. The trial difference matters most for small fleets evaluating without a procurement cycle.
What if I already use Tenstreet, should I add FileFlo?
Often yes. Tenstreet covers the hiring funnel beautifully. But once the driver is hired, your §391 file has to live somewhere, and Tenstreet's ongoing management surface is less mature than FileFlo's. Many carriers run both: Tenstreet for the recruiting front-end, FileFlo for ongoing document management + audit prep + multi-regulation coverage (OSHA, EPA, etc.). At $299/month for unlimited drivers, the added cost is small relative to the audit risk reduction.
Keep the files audit-ready long after the hire.
FileFlo handles ongoing §391 compliance (annual MVR reviews, medical-card renewals, Clearinghouse queries, and one-click audit binders) at flat $89/$299. Try it free for 5 days.
$89 / $299 flat · No card · Cancel anytime