(a) Reports.--The commission is hereby authorized to require annual, periodical, or special reports from all contract carriers by motor vehicle and brokers; to prescribe the manner and form in which such reports shall be made; and to require from such carriers and brokers, specific answers to all questions upon which the commission may deem information to be necessary. Such reports shall be under oath or affirmation whenever the commission so requires.
(b) Form of accounts and records.--The commission may prescribe the forms of any and all accounts, records, and memoranda, including the accounts, records, and memoranda of the movement of traffic, as well as of the receipts and expenditures of money, to be kept by contract carriers by motor vehicle, and brokers, and the length of time such accounts, records, and memoranda shall be preserved; and whenever the commission shall so prescribe, it shall be the duty of every contract carrier by motor vehicle, and broker, affected to comply therewith. In every case of a contract carrier by motor vehicle, or broker, subject to the jurisdiction of any Federal regulatory body, the systems of accounts, records, and memoranda prescribed by the commission shall conform, so far as practicable, to those prescribed by such regulatory body.