396.11 Driver vehicl inspection reports

I work for a natural gas utility in the pacific northwest. Just this year the company started requiring a post trip inspection report. No big deal in itself, but the problem I am having is that the company interprets the rule as to mean that a vehicle not driven on a daily basis still requires a post trip inspection report for each day whether driven or not. The FMCSA 396.11 rule states:
Every motor carrier shall require its drivers to report, and every driver shall prepare a report in writing at the completion of each day's work on each vehicle operated.
The rule seems clear enough to me that a vehicle not driven on a particular day does not require a report for that day. The company interprets "each vehicle operated" as meaning operated (owned and licensed by) the company rather than operated (driven) by the driver. We do not keep a log book because of special rules for utilities and because we are not interstate and operate within a 90 mile radius (this is how it has been explained to me although I have not found the specific rule).
What I am looking for is clarification of the 396.11 rule. I have not found any clarification of the rule by searching the internet. Any help here would be appreciated.

 

That does not address my post. I am looking for specifics of the rule. The company interpretation would seem to require daily post trip reports even when there was no trip, i.e. weekends, holidays, vacations, other duties, etc.

 

I have read all the info on the FMSCA website concerning 396.11 and have not found my question addressed. I am guessing that it is because no one else has ever interpreted the rule the way my company has. I suppose that I will call the local FMSCA office in Olympia and try to get clarification. My bosses say that the reason for requiring daily written reports for days when the vehicle is not driven is that they don't know how to prove that the vehicle was not driven on a particular day. So my question to them is "how do I prove that it was not driven on weekends, holidays, etc.". They have no answers. It seems to me that a whole lot of the daily post trip inspection depends on the word of the driver and that a citation is not likely to be issued for lack of reports when a vehicle has not been driven for a week, or a day, or a month which is the case for some of our trucks. I did mention to them about 2 hrs. showup (company policy) for making daily reports on days not worked. Their answer, "That's not gonna happen!".

 

It is very true that companies can and often do exceed governing agencies requirements. I see it daily. Once again, that does not address my original post. I am looking for written clarification of intent of the rule as written.