Daily Vehicle Inspections And You
Posted on May 5, 2009
Filed Under HORROR STORIES, VEHICLE MAINTENANCE
Here is the latest column which I wrote for the Outdoor Amusement Business Association. Lately, it seems like I have been running into numerous horror stories caused by not doing written post-trip inspections. Or at least not doing them they way the DOT wants.
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On of the items DOT inspectors always review during an audit are the driver’s daily vehicle inspection reports. According to 49 CFR 396.11(a), a driver is required to complete a written inspection at the conclusion of each day’s work and submit it to the motor carrier. Often, these inspections are found on the reverse side of the logsheets.
A driver should be completing two inspections daily. A pre-trip inspection, done prior to the day’s work, is required, so the driver may satisfy himself that the truck is in proper working condition. The pre-trip inspection is not required to be in writing. At the conclusion of the day, the driver must conduct another inspection, known as the post-trip inspection. The pre-trip and post-trip inspections, are generally the same inspection. The post-trip must be recorded on a daily vehicle inspection form, which may be a separate sheet of paper, but often is found on the reverse side of the logsheets.
For example, let’s assume a driver is conducting pre-trip inspections, but not post-trip inspections. At the conclusion of his day’s work, he parks the truck, and heads to the motel. Unbeknownst to him, during the day, his brake lights stopped working. The next morning, when he does his inspection, he finds the brake lights won’t work. The driver is now in a dilemma. He should call a mechanic, and get the brake lights working before he moves the truck, as driving without brake lights is dangerous. On the other hand, he needs to be somewhere, and if he is late, his boss is going to be mad. What to do?
In the real world, the driver usually drives the truck with the broken brake lights, and hopes DOT doesn’t catch him, or no one rear-ends him that day. If this driver was doing a post-trip inspection, he would have known his brake lights didn’t work the night before, and could have made some phone calls to get the truck fixed well before he needed to be on the road the next day.
Many drivers complete a logsheet showing their hours of service, but neglect to complete the daily vehicle inspection report on the back. More commonly, are the drivers who do complete the daily vehicle inspection report, but always report the vehicle has no defects, without fail, regardless of the condition of the truck. Often these drivers are not, in fact, doing the post-trip inspection, but are just “pencil-whipping” the piece of paper to keep DOT happy. This is not correct either. If a driver is doing a correct post-trip inspection, he will occasionally find things wrong with the truck, and write them on the inspection.
As a motor carrier, if a driver notes a defect on the inspection report, it is your responsibility to review the report, and the defect prior to operating the truck again. You do not always have to repair an item reported by the driver immediately, but you do need to determine if it will affect the safe operation of the vehicle. For example, a driver reports one of his tires is low on tread. You check the tire, and while it’s not new, it has enough tread to be legal. You must note this on the daily vehicle inspection report and sign it. On the other hand, if a driver notes his low-air warning light isn’t working, you must fix it before the truck is used again, and note that on the inspection report.
DOT looks for daily vehicle inspection reports with defects noted repeatedly, day after day, with no action taken by management with respect to that defect. In a true horror story, a motor carrier recently had a driver who identified on multiple days that his low air warning light was defective. The motor carrier was not reading the inspection reports; they were just filing them. DOT did an audit, and levied a $40,000 fine on the motor carrier for failing to fix the low air warning light. While it is true that $40,000 is a ridiculous and totally unreasonable penalty for this type of violation, this situation could have been avoided had the motor carrier simply been reviewing the inspection reports.
In conclusion, make sure your drivers are turning in daily vehicle inspection reports for each day your trucks are driven. Make sure they are complete, and make sure that any defects identified are fixed. This could save you some major headaches in a DOT audit.
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