Trailer inspection Pennsylvania/ Federal

Do you live in PA?

 

It's my understanding that if your State (PA) requires a yearly safety inspection on your tractor & trailer, that there's no need for an additional federal inspection. If your State doesn't require vehicle inspections, then under FMCSA rules, you need to have them done on both units if you travel interstate.

Don't worry though, the DOT will be more than happy to inspect you anyway, even if you have a state inspection done...

 

I would recommend always having an up to date federal inspection if you leave your home state. When I had just started my authority I found this out thanks to ohio DOT. My home state MD requires a thorough inspection just to get tags, but ohio DOT didn't care.

 

49 CFR § 396.17

"(f) Vehicles passing periodic inspections performed under the auspices of any State government or equivalent jurisdiction in the Canadian Provinces, the Yukon Territory, and Mexico, meeting the minimum standards contained in appendix G of this subchapter, will be considered to have met the requirements of an annual inspection for a period of 12 months commencing from the last day of the month in which the inspection was performed."

If you have a PA plate, you'll likely want a PA sticker from a PA inspection station.

 

I live in Pa and all my equipment is registered in Pa. You are required to have the Pa sticker but not the federal. I have been running this way since 2015 without any problems