Is a post trip inspection officially required by D.O.T.?

Depends on who you ask....

Most companie have a specific policy...my interpretation is you must do either a pre trip or a post trip. if you do a postrip, you must do a quick pretrip to check for air leaks in morning and thus need to log a quick pre. At my company we all do pres and never log post. I have never has trouble when my logs were looked at. Some say you must do post but dont need pre. WHo knows.

 

I am on qualcomm... how our post trip works is it is merely a macro that we fill out at the end of the day listing what trailers we pulled that day... we do not log it on the duty status...

I always do a physical post trip... but I am not logged on like for the pretrip.. where I am logged " on duty pretrip "
I often end my day fueling and that is where I do my postrip.. but I dont send the macro till I am done and parked..


Personally, I would rather find a lightbulb out or whatever during a post trip when I have plenty of time to fix it.. if you dont do a post trip and find something in your pretrip.. it can take time away from you..

 

I thought you technically are suppose to do a pretrip, during trip, and post trip inspection

 

Personally, I do a quick pre-trip...walk around the truck, thump the tires, check the lights, and hit the road. My post-trip is more detailed. Why? 2 reasons: #1 because I have time to fix anything I might find that is wrong...or time for dispatch to make alternate plans for my loads if it is an issue that will take a little longer to fix. #2 because that 14 hour clock starts when you begin your day. If you spend the first 15-30 minutes pre-tripping your truck and maybe making a minor repair or two, by the time you roll out you are down to a 13.5 hour work day. 13 after your required 30 minute break. What if you wind up 10-20 miles short of where you need to be when your 14 hours is up? If you are OTR, that's not as big of a deal. I go home every night so coming up 15 minutes short means not quite making it home legally. The DOT does not care if you stay on-duty-NOT-driving past the 14th hour...you just cannot drive. So, if I get home at the 14th hour and then show my post-trip, I'm legal. If I show a 15 minute pre-trip and get home at 14:15, I'm in violation.

 

What is required is that the driver complete and sign a Daily Vehicle Inspection report at the end of their shift for each truck and trailer they have operated that shift. The next driver to operate that equipment is supposed to review the DVIR and sign off if any repairs were made. 'Pre-trip' inspections are not required by regulation - all that is required is that the driver is satisfied that the equipment is safe to operate. The best way to determine that is by doing a pre trip inspection. Even a post trip inspection is not required. The only requirement is that the DVIR form be filled out, signed and filed with the carrier.

 

Well yea...Im not saying i dont do a posttrip..i only log the pre...unless im of course dead tired and go right to the sleeper lol, but most of the time i phisicaly do a post trip.

 

Does any have a copy of the rules? You are required to do a inspection at the completion of each days work. So a POST trip is required.

§ 396.11: Driver vehicle inspection report(s).

(a) Equipment provided by motor carrier. (1) Report required. 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, except for intermodal equipment tendered by an intermodal equipment provider. The report shall cover at least the following parts and accessories:
(i) Service brakes including trailer brake connections;
(ii) Parking brake;
(iii) Steering mechanism;
(iv) Lighting devices and reflectors;
(v) Tires;
(vi) Horn;
(vii) Windshield wipers;
(viii) Rear vision mirrors;
(ix) Coupling devices;
(x) Wheels and rims;
(xi) Emergency equipment.
(2) Report content. The report shall identify the vehicle and list any defect or deficiency discovered by or reported to the driver which would affect the safety of operation of the vehicle or result in its mechanical breakdown. If no defect or deficiency is discovered by or reported to the driver, the report shall so indicate. In all instances, the driver shall sign the report. On two-driver operations, only one driver needs to sign the driver vehicle inspection report, provided both drivers agree as to the defects or deficiencies identified. If a driver operates more than one vehicle during the day, a report shall be prepared for each vehicle operated.
(3) Corrective action. (i) Prior to requiring or permitting a driver to operate a vehicle, every motor carrier or its agent shall repair any defect or deficiency listed on the driver vehicle inspection report which would be likely to affect the safety of operation of the vehicle.
(ii) Every motor carrier or its agent shall certify on the original driver vehicle inspection report which lists any defect or deficiency that the defect or deficiency has been repaired or that repair is unnecessary before the vehicle is operated again.
(4) Retention period for reports. Every motor carrier shall maintain the original driver vehicle inspection report, the certification of repairs, and the certification of the driver's review for three months from the date the written report was prepared.
(5) Exceptions. The rules in this section shall not apply to a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), a driveaway-towaway operation, or any motor carrier operating only one commercial motor vehicle.
(b) Equipment provided by intermodal equipment provider. (1) Report required. Every intermodal equipment provider must have a process to receive driver reports of, and each driver or motor carrier transporting intermodal equipment must report to the intermodal equipment provider or its designated agent, any known damage, defects, or deficiencies in the intermodal equipment at the time the equipment is returned to the provider or the provider's designated agent. The report must include, at a minimum, the following parts and accessories:
(i) Brakes;
(ii) Lighting devices, lamps, markers, and conspicuity marking material;
(iii) Wheels, rims, lugs, tires;
(iv) Air line connections, hoses, and couplers;
(v) King pin upper coupling device;
(vi) Rails or support frames;
(vii) Tie down bolsters;
(viii) Locking pins, clevises, clamps, or hooks;
(ix) Sliders or sliding frame lock.
(2) Report content. (i) Name of the motor carrier responsible for the operation of the intermodal equipment at the time the damage, defects, or deficiencies were discovered by, or reported to, the driver.
(ii) Motor carrier's USDOT number; intermodal equipment provider's USDOT number, and a unique identifying number for the item of intermodal equipment.
(iii) Date and time the report was submitted.
(iv) All damage, defects, or deficiencies of the intermodal equipment reported to the equipment provider and discovered by, or reported to, the motor carrier or its driver which would
(A) Affect the safety of operation of the intermodal equipment, or
(B) Result in its mechanical breakdown while transported on public roads.
(v) The signature of the driver who prepared the report.
(3) Corrective action. (i) Prior to allowing or permitting a motor carrier to transport a piece of intermodal equipment for which a motor carrier or driver has submitted a report about damage, defects or deficiencies, each intermodal equipment provider or its agent must repair the reported damage, defects, or deficiencies that are likely to affect the safety of operation of the vehicle.
(ii) Each intermodal equipment provider or its agent must certify on the original driver's report which lists any damage, defects, or deficiencies of the intermodal equipment that the reported damage, defects, or deficiencies have been repaired, or that repair is unnecessary, before the vehicle is operated again.
(4) Retention period for reports. Each intermodal equipment provider must maintain all documentation required by this section, including the original driver report and the certification of repairs on all intermodal equipment, for a period of three months from the date that a motor carrier or its driver submits the report to the intermodal equipment provider or its agent.
(c) Corrective action. Prior to requiring or permitting a driver to operate a vehicle, every motor carrier or its agent shall repair any defect or deficiency listed on the driver vehicle inspection report which would be likely to affect the safety of operation of the vehicle.
(1) Every motor carrier or its agent shall certify on the original driver vehicle inspection report which lists any defect or deficiency that the defect or deficiency has been repaired or that repair is unnecessary before the vehicle is operated again.
(2) Every motor carrier shall maintain the original driver vehicle inspection report, the certification of repairs, and the certification of the driver's review for three months from the date the written report was prepared.
(d) Exceptions. The rules in this section shall not apply to a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), a driveaway-towaway operation, or any motor carrier operating only one commercial motor vehicle.

Citation: [44 FR 38526, July 2, 1979, as amended at 45 FR 46425, July 10, 1980; 53 FR 18058, May 19, 1988; 59 FR 8753, Feb. 23, 1994; 63 FR 33279, June 18, 1998; 73 FR 76824, Dec. 17, 2008; 74 FR 68709, Dec. 29, 2009; 77 FR 34852, June 12, 2012; 77 FR 59828, Oct. 1, 2012; 78 FR 58485, Sept. 24, 2013]

 

The only reason companies insist on 15 minutes is because of paper logs. You can't log less than 15 minutes. When they went to elogs the practice carried over.

 

There is company requirements trying to make the DOT happy and then there is FMCSA regulations.

Before driving and a) Means any time during the 10 hours off duty. Since you don't want to mess up your 10 off you do it at the beginning or end, your choice as far as that goes, but you listen to your company.

b) You review the previous DVIR to make sure any deficiencies noted/repairs were made. That covers slip seating and vehicle present history.

c) Self explanatory.


To me pretrip inspection makes more sense as anything can happen in your 10 hours off duty. But a post trip affords you the opportunity to put your truck in the shop and fixed during your off duty time. It can help save time and delays.

Since there are benefits of both of them your company might require both of them. Post or Pre is redundant. But at a minimum for the regulations a minimum of 15 minutes is required to show you did do an inspection. I know that topic can be argued. I will say in my years of driving I have only logged 15 minutes pretrip and never got in trouble. That includes many audits, inspections and many company log department compliance reviews.

You are not required to do the inspection at the end of the day. You only have to sign the report at the end of your day.