A trucker’s heartbeat during an unexpected roadside DOT (Department of Transportation) inspection can become faster than the engine of a Boeing jet. If you’re a driver or a fleet manager, this guide might calm you down better than yoga as we discuss how you can stay on top of inspection levels with proper fleet management, planning and training.

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This article will provide insights into the following areas:

• What Is DOT Inspection?
• Who Can Conduct Checks?
• 6 Levels of Inspections
  • North American Standard
  • Walk-around Driver/Vehicle
  • Driver-only
  • Special
  • Vehicle-only
  • Enhanced NAS
• Inspection Results
• How To Prepare Your Drivers
• Things To Keep In Mind
• Next Steps

What Is DOT Inspection?

DOT inspection is a sequence of assessments that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) carries out to check your commercial motor vehicle’s (CMV) health and maintenance status.

A commercial motor vehicle business must comply with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR). These regulations play a crucial role in maintaining vehicles and promoting public safety on the road. DOT officials conduct surprise or pre-planned inspections to check whether your business is DOT-compliant or not. You may end up paying hefty fines in case of non-compliance or failure to clear any level of inspection.

No need to worry, though. With proper planning and appropriate DOT compliance software, you can pass these tests with flying colors. Before delving deeper, let’s understand which regulators can pull your truck over for sudden inspections.

Who Can Conduct Checks?

Agencies under DOT mostly carry out roadside inspections for your commercial fleet of vehicles.

• FMCSA is an agency that generally oversees most of the DOT inspections and funds them.
• State Officers are designated officials for particular states who conduct these inspections.
• CVSA (Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance), a non-profit NGO, created guidelines for the North American Standard Inspection Program, which we’ll discuss later. Vehicles that pass levels 1, 5 and 6 get CVSA decals that are valid for three months.

6 Levels of Inspections

Inspectors carry out six levels of inspections to assess your vehicle. Level 1, the North American Standard Inspection, is the most common. However, drivers cannot know which level of inspection they might face on the road until an officer stops them.

Let’s discuss all levels in detail to give you a comprehensive idea:

Level 1: North American Standard

If you’re a trucker who’s been behind the wheel for over a few years now, you might be familiar with this one. It’s the most extensive and commonly performed inspection, consisting of 37 steps to examine the driver and all parts of the vehicle and cargo.

Expect officers to go through your commercial driving license, logs, hours of service records, and skill and medical certificates to determine your ability to handle the truck. They can also ask you to undergo a drug or alcohol test.

After evaluating the driver, they’ll check the vehicle thoroughly. The level 1 DOT inspection checklist includes the following:

• Seat belt
• Brake and exhaust systems
• Driveline/driveshaft
• Cargo and coupling devices
• Suspensions, frames, steering mechanisms and lighting devices
• Fuel systems, tires, wheels, rims and hubs
• Windshield wipers, electrical cables and the engine
• Emergency exits and battery compartments

This inspection typically takes around 50-60 minutes to complete.

Level 2: Walk-around Driver/Vehicle

Level 2 is quite similar to level 1 except for areas requiring inspectors to check underneath the vehicle. As the name suggests, they generally walk around to find out if anything is visibly wrong and then check the documents of the driver and vehicle. They can also perform a drug or alcohol test at this level.

It’s less thorough than level 1 and usually takes 30 minutes. You will, however, need the same kind of preparation and paperwork.

Level 3: Driver-only

At this level, inspectors exclusively focus on the driver’s license, skills and qualifications. You should keep the following documents ready:

• Updated commercial driver’s license
• Skill performance evaluation certificate
• Medical examiner’s certificate
• Hours of service
• Carrier identification and status
• Driver’s record of duty status

Level 3 inspections are generally over within 15 minutes.

Level 4: Special Inspection

This is a one-time inspection for any specific feature or equipment of a vehicle. For example, inspectors may check your engine or brakes to identify new technologies to detect safety issues or to verify and validate previous claims.

Special inspections happen rarely, and the estimated time depends on the equipment officials are examining.

Level 5: Vehicle-only

This DOT inspection doesn’t require a driver to be present in the truck. Officials can conduct it anywhere, including the carrier’s place. The criteria are the same as level 1, but there’s no need for driver’s paperwork.

It might take around 30-45 minutes to complete.

Level 6: Enhanced NAS Inspection for Radioactive Shipments

Level 6 is a specialized DOT inspection examining only vehicles carrying highway route controlled quantity radioactive materials. It’s similar to level 1 inspection with a special focus on the radioactive cargo. Officers inspect your cargo and vehicle parts before it leaves for delivery.

If your vehicle passes this inspection, they’ll attach a unique decal before you start the trip and remove it afterward. The sticker is only valid for one trip.

Being the most extensive level, it takes up the longest time of all, around 60-75 minutes.

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Inspection Results

An officer can pull your driver over at any location, such as truck stops, fuel stations or on the road. Once the DOT inspection is over, you can expect one of the following outcomes:

No Violations

If inspectors don’t find any violations, they’ll attach a CVSA sticker on your vehicle, valid for not more than three months. Then they’ll let your driver carry on with the journey. Generally, they won’t inspect again till the decal is valid unless there’s a noticeable defect in your vehicle.

Minor Violations

Don’t be nervous if officials find some common violations — not all violations can take your truck off the road. If violations aren’t severe enough, they’ll let you operate the vehicle but may impose a fine.

However, you must fix defects within two weeks and send a report to FMCSA. Minor violations can also affect your CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) scores.

Severe Violations

These are the worst outcomes of inspections you can expect. If the inspector finds any serious violations related to your vehicle or driver, they have the authority to pass an out-of-service (OOS) order. Severe violations can result in a breach of public safety, so officials restrict you from operating vehicles till you repair all defects.

In 2022, Annual International Roadcheck by CVSA found that 6.4% of drivers and 22.8% of vehicles were rendered out of service among all level 1 and 2 DOT inspections in the U.S. and Canada.

Now let’s discuss how you can better prepare your drivers for DOT inspections.

How To Prepare Your Drivers

Proper coordination with your drivers and regular vehicle updates are crucial to ensuring compliance and passing DOT inspections. You should also follow these steps to keep your drivers prepared:

• Educate drivers about common violations. Train them to behave professionally with inspectors and avoid becoming nervous during the inspection.
• Inspectors usually stop a vehicle if it looks visually defective. You can reduce the chances of these unexpected inspections by keeping your vehicle in good condition. Ask your drivers to give utmost attention to the cleanliness of both the vehicle and its equipment. Even if officials stop them, they’ll get brownie points for their attention to detail.
• Implement effective maintenance systems to keep your vehicle in the best condition possible. Your drivers need to regularly check vehicle status and report back to you.
• Encourage your drivers to keep their documentation organized and updated. DOT CMV inspections require a lot of paperwork, and your driver must have them readily available. Remember to have backup copies and keep the originals in a secure folder.
• Ask your drivers to check everything related to inspections before starting the journey and give special attention to violations that can result in an OOS.

Things To Keep In Mind

Preventative maintenance is the stepping stone to ensuring minimum to no violations. It can help you identify and address potential problems and fix them before inspections.

The level of inspection that your vehicle may be subjected to largely depends on how the driver handles himself from the beginning of the inspection. That’s why you also need to streamline the learning management process to properly train drivers to face the inspection procedure.

Fleet management software with DOT compliance features can help you take care of all these issues. Apart from helping your drivers with training modules and HOS logging, it also manages recruitment, inventory management and maintenance processes. The software monitors all suspicious driving activities and sends alerts so you can handle them before any DOT inspection.

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Next Steps

DOT violations like an expired license or medical card, improper cargo or defective lights can cost your business quite a lot in terms of time and resources. Being prepared at all times not only safeguards your vehicles from unexpected results during DOT inspections but also mitigates the constant worry of potential violations. By feeling confident in your preparation, you can increase productivity and create a better work environment.

You must use appropriate fleet management software to remain DOT-compliant and check all vehicle conditions. Check out our free comparison report to make an informed decision.

Which software do you use to maintain DOT compliance? Did you recently undergo a DOT inspection, and if so, what was the outcome? Let us know in the comments below!