Self annual inspection on your truck?

Put up or shut up about what?

Do you mean the the regs that are clear, that you have to have experience doing inspections or working on trucks but not driving or owning them?

don’t give a crap about Leo’s telling you crap. It isn’t about those who do not want to do their job but those who will do an accident investigation that goes beyond a level 1.

these are the ones you and I should worry about. Like I said it is cheaper to get the inspection done by someone else, put the liability on them than to deal with additional issues from doing yourself and have to pay a lawyers hourly rate.

The point is this -

• it is against the regulations.
• If an owner-operator gets into an accident and they are sued, two things are going to happen;
  • 1 the sheister lawyer who is suing them isn’t as stupid as they think the lawyer is, many of them take classes on how to sue trucking companies and owners. They cover a lot of things to look for that owners should be learning about.
  • 2- they are going to pick over everything they can to get leverage to force a large settlement OR to show the court/jury that the owner-operator was negligent in their decisions and duties as an owner and driver.

Either way an owner loses because they are too ****** lazy and cheap to actually get an inspection legally done.

As for the llc and personal property safety, courts make that decision, the court can attach your property and it has happened a lot. Madoff, Giuliani and a lot of other high profile cases all had corps and llc protections removed, it put the burden on the person to provide assets - personal assets - to settle a judgment against them. There is this bullsh**** fantasy that there is this magic protections for owner-operators just because they have an llc, and everyone seems to claim a lawyer told them this, but the question is would that lawyer go to court with that advice? I doubt it.

Too bad I am hurting a lot of feelings but when you get into a accident and are sued and the other side gets an idea you played games with assets, you will not be happy with the judgement against you.

One last thing, the annual inspection is a joke, you know it and I know it. There has to be more than 10 to 20 minutes spent on it but many times it doesn’t find crap because of the mechanic/parts changer. I agree with the idea of doing my own but that’s not the way it works and I get a second pair of eyes sometimes - NOT ALWAYS - finds things that we don’t see or overlook.

 

The independent Mechanic I use to do most of my repairs. I hire him to do an inspection when I have a service done.
I like having someone else look under my truck than just me. He does give the truck a once over every time I have some work done.
The annual paperwork is done every summer.

 

I'm curious what would or wouldn't be considered experience and or qualified..
In theory shouldn't anyone that's passed a pre-trip inspection test to get their CDL be qualified. to pass the pre-trip test you have to recognize and identify everything that an inspection covers..
Or such as myself O/O for 10+ years. Did all my own maintenance. rebuilt my engine myself, R&Red a couple transmission. countless brake jobs, etc... Now I'm working as a maintenance man for a Coop with a few trucks. Am I qualified??
I've worked with a few PPL that were "mechanics " at truck stop shops or the like and they were morons..

 

Yes you may do your own inspections. 396.19 (2) and (3) says something to the effect that if you have mastered the use of the methods and procedures, tools and equipment...AND are capable of performing an inspection by reason of EXPERIENCE. Also further down it says have at least 1 year of training OR experience. Ive been doing my annuals for 5 years now......

 

I don’t think some people commenting in here have ever looked at an FHWA annual inspection form. Because every driver should be doing one every morning. It’s almost identical to a pre trip. But, I’m sure they have talked to their lawyer about this thread.

 

Regardless of whether it can be done or not,
self certifying is a joke or at least an oxymoron.
These annual inspections should be a better effort. Done by independent, certified by the state, a shop and with a good detail. It should be more demanding than DOT level 1 at a scale hangar.

 

Good in theory, can easily become a racket. When I moved over to Hawaii I shipped a vehicle over. In order to register it you have to go to a state licensed shop for an inspection. So you go get an inspection, which you fail because you don’t have a current Hawaii registration. You take your failed inspection to the DMV to get your registration. Then you have to go back to the shop and pay for another inspection to get your yearly sticker. So I could see “licensed” shops doing annual inspections becoming a complete goat roping.

 

I remember the emphasis on experience and also remember a lot of small company CYA sending technicians to 'brake certification classes' in order to have something in their personnel files, usually after being prompted by their insurance carriers....NJ Motor Truck Assn may still have those classes, they used to be monthly.

 

Anybody with a cdl is legally qualified to perform inspections... no lawyer needed at all... if not qualified, how do you do your pretrip?

"Sorry officer I'm not legally allowed to do a pretrip , I don't have the training or qualifications."

Dumbest thing I ever heard

 

If you're afraid to do your own inspection you can get one for free. Stop at a scale and wander in there with jammies and flip flops and a wife beater on with a tire gauge in your hand and tell the first person you see "Hey, I can't figure out how this thing works. I opened the hood a month or two ago and I couldn't figure out where it plugs in".