DVIR requirements: what 49 CFR 396.11 and 396.13 ask of drivers and carriers

What a DVIR is and who must prepare one

DVIR stands for driver vehicle inspection report: the written record of a driver’s inspection that 49 CFR 396.11 requires. Drivers usually talk about pre-trip and post-trip inspections. In the federal rules the written report comes at the end of the day’s work, and the check before driving is a separate duty under 392.7 and 396.13. Together they make a loop: one driver reports, the carrier repairs and certifies, the next driver reviews.

Section 396.11 applies to every motor carrier and its drivers, with three exceptions: a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), a driveaway-towaway operation, and any motor carrier operating only one commercial motor vehicle. The exceptions are written into 396.11 itself; the pre-trip duty in 392.7 carries no such exception, so even a one-truck operator’s driver must be satisfied the truck is in good working order before driving it.

Intermodal equipment, such as a container chassis tendered by an equipment provider, has its own reporting process under 396.11(b), covered below.

The process also shows up in your safety data. FMCSA’s Vehicle Maintenance BASIC covers pre- and post-trip inspections, vehicle defects and repairs, and the Safety Measurement System draws on roadside inspection results from the last two years, so a defect an officer finds before your driver reports it ends up in the data FMCSA uses to rank carriers.

The end-of-day report: 49 CFR 396.11(a)

Every motor carrier must require its drivers to report, and every driver must prepare a report in writing, at the completion of each day’s work on each vehicle operated. The report covers at least these parts and accessories:

• service brakes, including trailer brake connections
• parking brake
• steering mechanism
• lighting devices and reflectors
• tires
• horn
• windshield wipers
• rear vision mirrors
• coupling devices
• wheels and rims
• emergency equipment

The report identifies the vehicle and lists any defect or deficiency discovered by or reported to the driver that would affect safe operation or result in a mechanical breakdown. The driver signs it.

The no-defect exception

Drivers are not required to prepare a report if no defect or deficiency is discovered by or reported to them. The duty to inspect and the duty to report a defect stay in place; only the paperwork for a clean vehicle goes away. Some carriers still have drivers file a clean report every day, because it shows the inspection happened, but the federal rule does not require it.

Team drivers and several vehicles in a day

On a two-driver operation, only one driver needs to sign the report, provided both drivers agree on the defects or deficiencies listed. A driver who operates more than one vehicle during the day prepares a separate report for each vehicle operated, so a driver who swaps trailers during the day reports separately on each unit that has a defect.

Repairs and the carrier’s certification

A DVIR that lists a defect starts a clock that only the carrier can stop. Before requiring or permitting a driver to operate the vehicle, the motor carrier or its agent must repair any listed defect or deficiency that would be likely to affect safe operation. The carrier or its agent must then certify on the report that each listed defect has been repaired or that repair is unnecessary, before the vehicle is operated again.

In practice that means three things:

1. Someone owns the defect list. A report that sits in a cab or an inbox is the gap an investigator looks for. Name the person who reads every report the day it comes in.
2. Every listed item gets an answer. Either it was repaired, with the work recorded in the vehicle’s maintenance file, or the carrier or its agent decided repair is unnecessary and the certification says so.
3. The certification comes before the next trip. The rule ties it to the vehicle being operated again, not to the end of the week.

Defects found on the road (396.7)

A motor vehicle must not be operated in a condition likely to cause an accident or a breakdown. If a vehicle is found in that condition during a trip, it may be driven only to the nearest place where repairs can safely be made, and only if that is less hazardous to the public than leaving it on the highway.

Out-of-service orders at the roadside (396.9)

An officer who finds a vehicle likely to cause an accident or a breakdown declares it out of service and marks it with an Out-of-Service Vehicle sticker. Nobody may operate it, or remove the sticker, until the repairs listed on the notice are completed, although it may be towed away by a vehicle using a crane or hoist. The driver passes the inspection report to the carrier, and the carrier corrects the violations and certifies within 15 days that they were corrected. Our CVSA out-of-service criteria guide lists the conditions that trigger an order.

Before driving: 49 CFR 392.7 and 396.13

Section 392.7 says no commercial motor vehicle may be driven unless the driver is satisfied that these parts and accessories are in good working order, and the driver must use them when needed:

• service brakes, including trailer brake connections, and the parking (hand) brake
• steering mechanism
• lighting devices and reflectors
• tires, wheels and rims
• horn and windshield wipers
• rear-vision mirrors
• coupling devices
• emergency equipment

This is the federal basis for the pre-trip inspection. The rule does not prescribe a written pre-trip form; it requires the driver to be satisfied before driving.

Section 396.13 adds the review. Before driving, the driver must be satisfied that the vehicle is in safe operating condition, review the last driver vehicle inspection report where one was required (that is, where it listed a defect), and sign it to acknowledge the review and that there is a certification that the required repairs were performed. The signature is not needed for defects listed on a towed unit that is no longer part of the vehicle combination.

Intermodal equipment: 392.7(b) and 396.11(b)

Container chassis and other intermodal equipment are often owned by an equipment provider, not the motor carrier hauling them, so the rules split the duties.

Before operating intermodal equipment over the road, the driver must inspect these components and be satisfied they are in good working order: service brake components that can be seen without going under the vehicle, and trailer brake connections; lighting devices, lamps, markers and conspicuity marking material; wheels, rims, lugs and tires; air line connections, hoses and couplers; the king pin upper coupling device; rails or support frames; tie-down bolsters; locking pins, clevises, clamps or hooks; and sliders or sliding frame locks. A driver who operates the equipment over the road is deemed to have confirmed those components were in good working order when the equipment was accepted.

Each intermodal equipment provider must have a process to receive driver reports. The driver or motor carrier reports any known damage, defects or deficiencies in those same components to the provider or its designated agent when the equipment is returned. The report includes the name of the motor carrier responsible for the equipment, the USDOT numbers of the motor carrier and the equipment provider, a unique identification number for the equipment, the date and time the report was submitted, the driver’s signature, and every item that would affect safe operation or result in a mechanical breakdown.

Before the equipment is tendered again, the provider or its agent repairs any reported item likely to affect safe operation and certifies on the original report that it was repaired or that repair is unnecessary. The provider keeps the report and the certification three months from the date the motor carrier or driver submitted it.

How long to keep DVIRs, and electronic reports

The motor carrier keeps the original driver vehicle inspection report, the certification of repairs and the certification of the driver’s review three months from the date the written report was prepared. Reports may be created and kept electronically under 49 CFR 390.32, and so may the 396.13 review.

Section 390.32 lets anyone required to create, keep or exchange records under FMCSA’s rules (49 CFR parts 300 to 399) do it electronically, and lets a signature or certification be made electronically with any technology that otherwise meets FMCSA’s requirements. An electronic record must accurately reflect the required information; it does not qualify if it cannot be retained, is not used for its intended purpose, or cannot be accurately reproduced within the required time for anyone entitled to see it.

File reports by vehicle and date so you can produce any day’s report for a unit quickly, and keep the repair record that answers each defect in the same unit’s maintenance records.

Running a DVIR process that holds up

An investigator or a roadside officer judges the process, not the form. These habits make it hold up:

1. Train to the list. Drivers should know the 392.7 items and what a defect looks like on your equipment, and know that the no-defect exception removes the paperwork, not the inspection.
2. Route defects the same day. The carrier’s repair and certification must come before the vehicle runs again, so someone in the office owns the list.
3. Close every defect in writing. Each listed item is certified as repaired or not needing repair, and the next driver signs the review.
4. Tie inspections to maintenance. Clear open defects at the next service, and check at each PM service that they were.
5. File by vehicle and date. Keep three months of reports in order for each unit.
6. Spot-check monthly. Compare DVIRs with roadside inspection results. A clean report the morning a truck is put out of service for brakes is a training problem.

Driver inspections are one part of an FMCSA safety program. TruckerPro’s FMCSA compliance tools are part of the same TMS that RigMD runs on. If your trucks also run in Canada, the trip inspection rules there work differently; the Canadian version of this guide is on rigmd.ca.