The large numbers of bolt holes cut into truck frame side members act as joineries and points of attachments for various sub systems of the truck. While these bolt holes are unavoidable due to their primary functional importance, the near hole residual stress resulting from the type of hole cutting operation plays a significant role in deciding the fatigue performance of frame rail structures. If the residual stress is tensile in nature, this along with the surface roughness at the hole surface can lead to early initiation of fatigue cracks around bolt hole surface. In order to assess the extent of plastic deformation and resulting residual stresses in near hole areas of frame bolt holes cut using drilling, punching, laser cutting and water jet cutting processes, experimental investigation was carried out through microstructure analysis and X-ray diffraction measurements. Apart from this, an assessment of shot-peened hole surface was taken up to understand the effect of shotpeening on fatigue behavior of frame rail section with bolt holes. Also the test specimens extracted from frame rail sections were tested for comparing the fatigue life of specimens having bolt holes cut using different hole cutting operations. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.