Driver Vehicle Inspections
Commercial Motor Vehicles, particularly tractor-trailers, have hundreds of moving parts. Like anything mechanical, they require constant maintenance to remain in safe operating condition. Daily inspections conducted by the driver are large part of any maintenance program.
The safety regulations require that both a pre-trip and post-trip inspection be done on commercial motor vehicles each day they are driven. The pre-trip inspection is done before the work shift, and takes less time than the post-trip inspection. A driver must assure himself that the vehicle is in proper working condition. To do this, he should make a complete trip around the vehicle, including looking under the hood, checking fluid levels, tires, lights, etc.
The post-trip inspection is to be done at the conclusion of the shift. This inspection should take no less than 15 minutes, and include all areas covered by the pre-trip inspection, plus crawling under the vehicle, checking the brakes and suspension. A driver should look for cracks and leaks. Many drivers do not conduct two inspections, but instead combine them into one inspection before the shift. For example, a driver does his inspection in the morning, concludes his shift, parks the truck and goes home. The next morning, he does another inspection. This is not correct. For one thing, what if the driver finds something wrong with the truck during his morning inspection? He has places to be, customers to service, and a boss to keep happy. All that will have to wait, as the driver now has to fix the truck. Of course, more commonly, the driver drives the defective truck, and worries about getting it fixed later. If he had done the inspection the previous evening, he could have gotten the truck fixed the night before. Make sure your drivers are doing both pre and post trip inspections.
