Editor’s note: International Roadcheck is May 4-6<\/a>. This is part one of a three-part series on how fleets can prepare for and pass roadside inspections\u00a0<\/i>\u2014not just during the 72-hour International Roadcheck but all year.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Anything that slows a truck driver can cost a fleet. A truck that breaks down on the side of the highway means a costly roadside repair and lost revenue because a shipment is delayed. It also means less on-duty time for a now detained driver. Preventive maintenance along with pre-trip and post-trip inspections by drivers can go a long way in helping them and their fleet be more productive and profitable. That time invested before and after trips can also be the difference between passing and failing a roadside inspection.<\/p>\n A roadside inspection done by law enforcement is at an officer\u2019s discretion, Fred Fakkema, vice president of safety and compliance for Zonar Systems<\/a>, said. \u201cWhen they come through the weigh station, the enforcement officers get all the data that they need \u2014 whether the driver or the fleet has a good safety rating or not. But it\u2019s really the low-hanging fruit, the easy thing that you can see, which you should find on your pre- and post-trip inspection: lights, mudflaps, windshield wipers, tires. They are all No. 1 violations on a roadside inspection,\u201d Fakkema told FleetOwner<\/i>.<\/p>\n The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance<\/a>\u2019s (CVSA) International Roadcheck is May 4-6 this year. During that 72-hour period this week, commercial motor vehicle inspectors in jurisdictions throughout Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will conduct inspections on commercial motor vehicles and drivers.<\/p>\n As a former captain with the Washington State Patrol, where he led its commercial vehicle enforcement division, Fakkema knows his way around a roadside truck inspection and roadway safety. He said the best way for truck drivers to pass is to perform pre-trip and post-trip inspections of their own. Carriers that use a system like Zonar\u2019s Electronic Verified Inspection Report \u201chave seen a dramatic decrease in those inspection violations,\u201d he noted. \u201cIt\u2019s really about the safety on the roadways.\u201d<\/p>\n The potential for a roadside inspection incentivizes drivers and carriers to value safety in and around the vehicles, according to Steve Vaughn, a former California Highway Patrol chief of enforcement, who is now vice president of field operations at PrePass Safety Alliance<\/a>.<\/p>\n Safe drivers and safe roads begin with a pre-trip inspection, which also helps drivers be more productive, Vaughn told Fleet\u00adOwner<\/i>. When discussing pre-trip inspections, Vaughn urges fleets to reinforce the importance of them with the drivers during training sessions. \u201cTalk up pre-trips as frequently as possible,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n Vaughn said fleets that do spot checks of recent driver citations or other out-of-service violations should look at \u201chow many of those could have been corrected by a proper pre-trip inspection.\u201d<\/p>\n If, for example, a driver gets cited for missing or loose lug nuts or bald tires, that should have been caught on the pre-trip. \u201cThat\u2019s something that didn\u2019t just happen after they left the terminal,\u201d he said. \u201cThose are things that generally occur in or on the truck before the driver leaves.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a number of things carriers can do,\u201d Vaughn continued. \u201cReinforce the training, reinforce the message that you need to do your pre-trip, do some spot checks to make sure that violations are not occurring that should have been caught in the pre-trip, and maybe even have some type of incentive program.\u201d<\/p>\n Gino Fontana, a vice president of operations for Transervice\u2019s<\/a> Berkeley Division, has found success with a pre-trip inspection incentive program like a scavenger hunt for drivers in his fleet.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would be very happy, for example, if every driver on every pre-trip checked the fluid levels of the truck,\u201d Fontana told FleetOwner<\/i>. \u201cThere\u2019s probably room for improvement, so we\u2019ll put things on the dipstick like a coupon that says, \u2018If you find this, turn it in to the shop for a $5 Subway gift card.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n That tells the fleet managers a driver is paying attention, Fontana noted. And if the coupon is dirty and looks like it\u2019s been under the hood for two weeks, the managers will know that the truck was driven without thorough pre-trip inspections.<\/p>\n The key to passing a roadside inspection, Fontana said, is preparation. \u201cThat comes in a few forms. The driver\u2019s pre-trip and post-trip is really the most critical piece of this because they\u2019re the eyes of a fleet, and the pre-trip is an opportunity to catch anything that can be caught.\u201d<\/p>\n To Fontana, however, a post-trip inspection is even more important than a driver\u2019s pre-trip inspection. \u201cThat is because if a driver finds something on a pre-trip \u2014 like a flat tire or a leak, or a light that\u2019s not working \u2014 that driver is trying to get out of the gate and is already on the clock,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce hours of service have started is not an optimum time to have to pull into the shop.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if a flat tire or faulty light can be fixed in 20 to 30 minutes, that\u2019s time that gets charged to the driver, Fontana added. But if a driver finds those types of problems on a post-trip inspection, he can alert the maintenance crew about it so the problem can be resolved, and the truck is ready before the next driver conducts a pre-trip inspection.<\/p>\n The work before and after a trip can \u201creally impact the bottom line \u2014 not only for the driver but for the carrier,\u201d Zonar\u2019s Fakkema said. \u201cWhen you do a proper post- and pre-trip inspection, not only does it save funds for the fleet, but it makes them more efficient as well,\u201d he added. \u201cMost drivers are still being paid by the mile. If they get pulled in for a simple violation that could have been repaired during a proper pre-trip, their vehicle is not rolling, so they\u2019re not getting paid. The carrier is not getting paid because their load is not being delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n Just pulling into a weigh station with low air in a truck\u2019s tires could open a driver to more problems. \u201cThe inspector is going to do a complete thorough inspection \u2014 not just a Level 3 or Level 2 walkaround,\u201d Fakkema warned. \u201cThey\u2019ll do a Level 1, 37-point inspection. They\u2019ll crawl under the truck, and they\u2019ll continue to look at everything. That leads into hours of service checks and everything else that goes along with the other requirements for a driver. So, it really opens up Pandora\u2019s box just by not doing a pre-trip.\u201d<\/p>\n During CVSA\u2019s International\u00a0Roadcheck, inspectors will ensure the vehicle\u2019s brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, driveline\/driveshaft components, driver\u2019s seat, exhaust systems, frames, fuel systems, lighting devices, steering mechanisms, suspensions, tires, van and open-top trailer bodies, wheels, rims, hubs and windshield wipers are compliant with regulations. Inspections of motorcoaches, passenger vans and other passenger-carrying vehicles also include emergency exits, electrical cables and systems in the engine and battery compartments, and seating.<\/p>\n There are eight levels of commercial vehicle inspections, the first of which is the most comprehensive, and others that focus on particulars such as a driver\u2019s qualifications or a specific aspect of a vehicle. Other inspection levels deal with jurisdictions. Inspectors will check that the vehicle\u2019s brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, driveline\/driveshaft components, driver\u2019s seat, exhaust systems, frames, fuel systems, lighting devices, steering mechanisms, suspensions, tires, van and open-top trailer bodies, wheels, rims, hubs, and windshield wipers are compliant with regulations. Inspections of motorcoaches, passenger vans, and other passenger-carrying vehicles also include emergency exits, electrical cables and systems in the engine and battery compartments, and seating.<\/p>\n The enforcement officers also look for critical violations detailed in the North American Standard Out-of-Service (OOS) Criteria<\/a> published annually by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). These pass\/fail criteria can put a vehicle OOS until all conditions are corrected. Vehicles that pass a Level 1 inspection should receive a CVSA decal to display. That decal generally means a vehicle will not be subject to re-inspection for 90 days.<\/p>\n Here is how CVSA describes each inspection level: <\/i><\/p>\n Level 1<\/b> is the most comprehensive inspection. This includes a thorough vehicle and paperwork review along with a review of a driver\u2019s record of duty status, hours of service and more. A vehicle that passes the Level 1 inspection receives an inspection sticker to display.<\/p>\n Level 2<\/b> inspections, also known as \u201cwalk-around inspections,\u201d are similar to Level 1 but do not require the inspector to get under the vehicle.<\/p>\n Level 3<\/b> is an in-depth inspection of paperwork belonging to the driver, vehicle, and carrier.<\/p>\n Level 4<\/b> is the inspection of a particular feature, such as brakes or lights.<\/p>\n Level 5<\/b> is a vehicle-only inspection that does not require a driver to be present. It can be conducted at any location.<\/p>\n Level 6<\/b> inspections deal with radiological shipment haulers and follow the North American Standard Inspection for Transuranic Waste and Highway Route Controlled Quantities of Radioactive Material.<\/p>\n Level 7<\/b> is an inspection of vehicles that do not meet the requirements of other inspection levels. This could include people-moving vehicles such as limousines, taxis, school buses, hotel shuttles, and other intrastate operations.<\/p>\n Level 8 <\/b> is an inspection conducted electronically or wirelessly while the vehicle is in motion without direct interaction with an enforcement officer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n By Josh Fisher<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Source: https:\/\/www.fleetowner.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n The audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\n Pre-trip and post-trip inspections, along with preventive maintenance, can go a long way to keeping freight moving and drivers in service. Editor’s note: International Roadcheck is May 4-6. This is part one of a three-part series on how fleets can prepare for and pass roadside inspections\u00a0\u2014not just during the 72-hour International Roadcheck but all year.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[53],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11019,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11017\/revisions\/11019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/div>\nInspection levels<\/h3>\n
CUT COTS OF THE FLEET WITH OUR AUDIT PROGRAM<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nFLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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