Vehicle Inspection Reports

the DOT requires only one,but that does not mean your company cant require more than one. they are just trying to cover all repairs needed before a problem comes up.it's not a bad thing. refussing to this could end up in lossing your job for isubordination. it is not illeagal to ask you to do 2 a day.by all rights as a driver you should be checking your equipment multiple times a day,only takes a few minutes to write down what you find less headaches down the line.

 

I inspected the truck on every stop but did not log it. My company also required 2 reports and it really made it much easier. They just printed up a booklet with all the items we were to check, you initialed next to the items and in remarks you wrote up any problems. When the next driver or even if you came on you would have to verify who it was that repaired or fixed the problem then you signed it off.

 

and last time a read the dot regs it was a post trip not a pre trip required. hense why alot of drivers on paper started logging them all as PTI it can mean either lol. but yea they can require you to do them it is their truck after all. they are not doing anything illegal and if the law is still a post trip than i if i had drivers still require them to do a pre trip and post trip. why would you check your truck after you just worked it but not before. what if you where out of oil and the guy driving it before you didnt write it up or top it off. now you just wiped out a motor

 

The pre-trip is required.
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.aspx?reg=392.7

To wit: "(b) Drivers preparing to transport intermodal equipment must make an inspection of the following components, and must be satisfied they are in good working order before the equipment is operated over the road."

 

So one does not have to do a pretrip if only one type of carrier is utilized?

 

CYA...pre trip and post trip, regardless. Always protect your HOS and CSA. I document the &*$# out of everthing.

 

the only "requirement" is a DVIR REPORT. And even that is only required at the end of the shift.

Ensuring it is safe to operate can be as easy as someone being intimate to that specific vehicle they know what's wrong with it.

Spend enough time driving a single truck/trailer, you pick things up as well as miss some things. But a full VI is gonna take you an hour or better IF you do it by the book EACH MORNING and EACH EVENING.

 

My company requires both pre and post trips. We are on electronic logs so we only fill the report out once
The pretrip is essentially a walk around and I usually log 3 - 4 minutes. It doesn't take long. The post trip is the extensive one and the theory behind it is if a problem is found it can be repaired while we are on our break and we can keep rolling the next day.