DVIR question

In all the cases you listed the answer is what ever your carrier wants you to do. A defective jake brake is not an issue that requires a DVIR per DOT regulations, it is not a safety device such as a headlight or a foundation brake problem. So, if your company wants it written up until it is fixed then do it daily, if not submit it once and that will be good enough. As for the low/flat tires and light out, if they were fixed before you left the yard that means you caught them on your pre-trip so no report is required unless your shop needs one before doing the repairs. The DVIR is to be completed at the end of the day with your post trip, so unless your company wants a report filed for this scenario then no you do not need to put it on your post trip DVIR since the problems have been already corrected.

 

You definitely don't work for my company. The way they do it is the drivers never report or repair trailer defects. They get rid of the trailer as soon as they can and pass the problem on to the next driver, which seems to usually be me.

 

my thinking is this.

They changed the law to not everyday. Reason: driver laziness and company paperwork amount.

I still do 2 a day.

Why?

To create a paper trail to show I look after the equipment because the law of probability always allows for the unexpected.

Records are used in defense, things happen. See forum section trucker accidents.

 

For what it is worth, I still do a DVIR, I could care less about what is said (by the Gov rule makers) that we no longer need to. The reason(s) why I continue are, well, many.

1) I am old and do not accept change well

2) No matter what, I want to make sure that if I drop my trailer, and someone else see's something that I did not write up, I'll be nailed for it. (for the record however, we stay hooked up to the same trailer each day, we only switch trailers when one has to go in for service.

3) See number 1 reason.

 

holy smokes, we work at the same company.

 

What I read was that there is a proposal to do away with the requirement of documenting a VI if no defects were found. A DVIR will have to be done when a defect is found.

Its not a rule YET.

 

BrokenSprocket, as of Dec, 15, 2014 you no longer had to complete a no defect DVIR, per FMCSA. However, if your company wants you to then you still do, it just is no longer a government requirement. It is still a good idea as a CYA move, just noit legally required as of 12/15/14.