Need dot consultant? Dot advice

The route tracker pairs to smartphones through bluetooth .
http://xrscorp.com/fleet-management...fety-and-csa-2010-compliance/electronic-logs/

 

My question is in reference to visor lights? I have a freightliner classic and just purchased a chrome visor. I am planning on putting these really thin 1/2in wide by 12in long lights about 18 of them with a 3in gap in between each one. Would this be against DOT regulations? If yes then how many can I put?

 

Would you be using these lights to satisfy a DOT requirement, like ID lamps or clearance lamps?

I know of no regulation (Federal DOT) which prohibits extra lighting (more than is required) as long as the lamps are the proper color. You can have all the chicken lights your alternator can handle.

Now, there may be some State or Local regulation against them that I am not aware of.

If you run extra lights, just be aware of the problem we have been having for years, some inspectors or officers out there that will write you up of ANY lamp is inoperable. Only REQUIRED lamps are required to be operable, but folks get written up for it sometimes.

 

Thanks for the input

 

maybe you could answer my question please, its always been my understanding that if you find a minor defect on your truck that does not render it out of service for example a marker light ,or small leek you add it as a comment to the dvir section none safty related as work needing to be done and you coninue to report on each dvir evry day untill the problem has been fixed and the mechanic has signed of on the dvir that its been corrected .is that correct or is it as my company is now telling me report it to your superviser and have him make a separet note of it .thanks

 

We had a guy doing that over a tire that he flat spotted by not making sure all his brakes unlocked in the freezing cold and he dragged it all the way up the street. Problem was, the tire had to be ordered and shipped to us and the logs he was marking it on daily only got turned in at the end of the week. So he was writing it up every day but nobody saw the forms until Monday morning. All that did was open the possibility of getting the company in trouble during an audit.

As for something minor like a marker light or oil leak, you should be able to slap a new marker light in or wait till it gets back to the shop if it's an oddball or impossible to reach. The rules say that only required lights have to work. So if it's an extra that's not required, there doubly no sense in writing it up. Same with a minor oil leak. If it's not dumping it out on the ground then it's unlikely to even be noticed and can be fixed when you get back to base.

I know it can be annoying on top of the other things we have to deal with, but you should carry some basic hand tools to deal with minor problems. The company will appreciate you for it, even if they don't always say so.

 

thanks for the reply ,kinda missed my point marker light was just an example ,company has a habbit of not fixing things for weeks ,things that would be obvious if the dot inspect you .and we carnt take are trucks to the shop till the manager oks it ,thats why i list every day ,let them have the fine not me

 

Here's what the regulation says

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.aspx?reg=396.11

Now here's the thing . It says to list defects that affect the safety . If they are listed regulation requires them to be corrected before the vehicle is operated .
If you don't feel they affect the safety of operation , don't list them . A mechanic can check that the defects you listed don't affect safety and not correct them

 

It's your responsibility as part of the pretrip to review the DVIR and be sure all listed defects have been corrected

 

Yeah, they'll still hit you with the fine whether it's listed or not. If you listed it, you knew about it and operated it anyway, and if you didn't notice it, you should have. That's how the system is set up.