Fleet Vehicle Inspection DVIR Insights

Maintaining a fleet of motorcoaches is about more than just protecting the company's assets. It's essential to the safety and well-being of drivers and others on the road. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) sets strict standards for the way that carriers carry out and report the results of inspections. In the past, paper reports were required to be completed at the end of each day. These days, electronic driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIR) help motorcoach companies improve the safety of their fleets and to stay compliant with federal safety regulations and rules.

Since their business is based on operating a fleet of commercial vehicles, towing companies are faced with multiple challenges. Not only do their fleet, drivers, and internal operations have to comply with DOT regulations, they also have to be experts at asset management. That's a huge expectation, especially when the responsibility falls on just a few key decision makers.

Section § 396.11: Driver vehicle inspection report(s).

The trucking industry is heavily regulated at the state, federal, and international level. There are numerous rules and regulations that carriers must obey in order to legally operate, and achieve DOT compliance. The most complex federal rules and regulations pertain to vehicle licensing, trip permits, and the IFTA fuel tax. Navigating these rules can be a challenge, even for companies that have been in business for years. Despite this, it is imperative that carriers follow the letter of the law, otherwise they face stiff fines and penalties and may even risk losing their authority altogether.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) sets strict guidelines for the way that transport companies operate. Among the requirements is accurate record keeping. Fleet owners and drivers are expected to comply with the rules and regulations imposed by the DOT, or face stiff fines and penalties. Rules and regulations are continually updated and revised and it's imperative that fleet owners keep up with the changes to ensure compliance.

The United States economy depends on trucks to deliver nearly 70 percent of all freight transported annually in the U.S., accounting for $671 billion worth of manufactured and retail goods transported by truck in the U.S. alone.
- U.S. Special Delivery

Commercial motor vehicles deliver billions of dollars of freight to United States destinations every year. Many of these loads include heavy items such as vehicles, containers, lumber, and concrete pipes. Transportation companies are responsible for ensuring that these goods are safely positioned and secured on commercial vehicles. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has established guidelines and rules to help ensure that loads are properly secured in order to prevent loads from shifting or accidentally dumped during the shipping process. Below are six DOT load securing compliance tips for companies in the transportation and construction industries.

If you own or manage a fleet of commercial vehicles, you know that DOT Compliance is an integral part of your job. You also know that employing the best drivers is paramount to maintaining your reputation, ensuring standards, and delivering the best to your customers and clients. It's important to integrate Department of Transportation guidelines with your hiring and employment process, so that you're not only finding the most qualified drivers for the job—but also satisfying federal and state regulations.

DOT compliance is essential to fostering the safe transport of cars, shipping containers, concrete piping, and other heavy cargo. A compliance inspection can occur at any time, highlighting the importance of bolstering compliance among drivers and other employees. Below is a look at DOT compliance and the increasingly critical role it plays for businesses in the transportation and construction industries. 

What is DOT Compliance?

The Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for protecting the public by maintaining the safety and security of our country's transportation system. DOT compliance is achieved when a company meets or exceeds the standards established by the DOT. These standards related to safety-sensitive issues including the following:

• Refraining from using drugs and alcohol
• Adhering to inspection and maintenance requirements
• Meeting driver qualifications
• Adhering to hazardous material carriage regulations
• Meeting general safety requirements 

As a fleet manager for commercial vehicles, you always want to safeguard the health of your business. From hiring the best employees to streamlining DVIR practices for your drivers, we understand that everything you do works towards upholding standards for your enterprise. 

That's why we aim to break down some of the complexities surrounding DOT Compliance and adherence to FMCSA guidelines. If your commercial business is involved with transporting hazardous materials, then you already know there are a bunch of regulations in place to stay DOT Compliant. Let's talk hazardous material transportation: who's liable to the regulations? What counts as hazardous material? And how do your drivers signal what they're transporting?

Hazmat Safety: It's the Law

As the owner or operator of a transportation-focused business, you are likely counting the days until your company completes the transition from paper DVIR to digital DVIR. From increased efficiency to improved compliance with key regulations, this offers a host of advantages that will help you promote safety and improve your bottom line. However, procedural changes are not always easy for employees, and you may need to take some special measures to ensure a smooth transition to digital DVIR. Below are seven steps to help you prepare your drivers for these new technologies. 

1) Let drivers know how they will benefit from the switch

A seamless transition is best achieved when drivers fully support the change. However, some employees do not respond well to change. In order to ensure the buy-in of your drivers, you need to outline the specific benefits drivers will experience as a result of the change. Here are three of the top benefits that drivers will enjoy when they switch to digital DVIR:

• Convenience: Drivers can prepare their vehicle inspection reports from their favorite smartphone or mobile device.
• Speed: Paper reports can be tedious and time-consuming for drivers to complete. Digital DVIR makes the reporting process fast and easy.
• Accuracy: Switching from paper DVIR to digital DVIR helps to reduce the chance for illegible writing and human error.

If you manage, or own a fleet, of commercial vehicles, we don't need to tell you that DOT Compliance can be a complex aspect of your job. Especially when it comes to making sure your drivers are compliant with the Federal Motor Carrier Association (FMCSA) rules, it's important to break down each regulation carefully.

We know that DOT compliance in the USA can be daunting. Though Federal regulations are in place to make sure fleet managers and drivers are operating safe vehicles on America's roadways, sifting through the information on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA) website can be a little confusing.

How many times have you wished you could streamline the way in which you manage your fleet? With everything that goes into it, we know that the task brings more than its share of headaches and obligations. Take, for instance, the driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIR) your company needs to file before and after every single trip.

It’s a daily grind familiar to every fleet manager: get up early, fight traffic, get to the office, and begin fighting with your drivers about driver-vehicle inspection reports (DVIR). You hound them to do the inspections, to fully and accurately fill out the form, to tell you about any mechanical issues with your fleet, and to do more than just a cursory checkbox-based inspection.

“Let’s make this task as long, and drawn out as humanly possible,” said no one ever.

If you’re like most people, you’re always looking for ways to make your job a little easier. For those in the commercial driving industry, one thing that could help relieve some stress is to streamline daily vehicle inspections with eDVIR.

It’s a scenario that every fleet manager faces sooner or later: the case of the missing DVIR report. Whether it’s because you need to check on a vehicle's maintenance history, or because of something more stressful, like a lawsuit or a DOT audit, it’s easy to tear your office, your mind, and maybe your team apart when you can’t find these legally mandated reports.

Driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIR) are already an integral part of managing your fleet. So, when it comes to how best to coordinate this critical task, the question isn’t so much whether DVIR is worth the effort — it absolutely is — but how best to go about satisfying this requirement and maintaining the protection it affords you and your business.

No matter how long you’ve been managing your fleet, chances are good that you’ve become intimately familiar with — and perhaps even disillusioned by — the requirement that is the daily vehicle inspection report (DVIR).

Fleet managers have a wide and seemingly endless array of responsibilities -- assigning drivers to cars, managing supply chain issues, promoting, hiring, firing and so much more. Staying on top of pre-trip vehicle inspections can feel like little more than another headache, and a meaningless hassle.

For fleet managers like yourself, daily inspection reports are just another part of the reality of running your business. However, they don't have to be nearly the headache that they once were proven to be. In recent years, new tools have arisen to provide you with the option of setting aside your paper-based process in favor of something a bit more in keeping with today’s technologically driven landscape.