DVIR requirements in Canada and the US

What a DVIR is and who needs one

DVIR stands for driver vehicle inspection report, the US name for the written record of a driver’s inspection. Canada calls the same idea a trip inspection, set out in National Safety Code Standard 13, and drivers know it as the pre-trip or circle check. Both exist to catch defects early and keep unsafe vehicles off the road.

In the US, the rule in 49 CFR 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. Intermodal equipment tendered by an equipment provider has its own reporting process under the same section.

In Canada, Standard 13 applies to commercial vehicles as the National Safety Code defines them: trucks, tractors and trailers, or combinations, over a registered gross vehicle weight of 4,500 kg, and buses with more than 10 seats including the driver. The provinces adopt the National Safety Code standards by reference or mirror them in their own laws, and some exempt certain vehicles, so the exact text you are held to is your province’s. Ontario’s, for example, is Regulation 199/07 under the Highway Traffic Act.

US rules: 49 CFR 396.11, 396.13 and 392.7

The end-of-day report (396.11)

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. A driver who operates more than one vehicle in a day prepares a report for each. The driver signs it; on a two-driver team only one needs to sign, provided both agree on the defects listed.

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.

Repairs and carrier certification

Before requiring or permitting a driver to operate the vehicle, the motor carrier or its agent must repair any listed defect 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.

Before driving (396.13 and 392.7)

Before driving, the driver must be satisfied that the vehicle is in safe operating condition, review the last 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 combination.

Section 392.7 adds that no commercial motor vehicle may be driven unless the driver is satisfied that the brakes, parking brake, steering, lights and reflectors, tires, horn, wipers, mirrors, coupling devices, wheels and rims, and emergency equipment are in good working order.

Retention and electronic reports

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

Canadian rules: NSC Standard 13 trip inspection

Under Standard 13, the carrier must give drivers the applicable schedule of inspection items, on paper or in an equivalent electronic format, and every vehicle is inspected against it. Trucks, tractors and trailers are inspected under Schedule 1 every 24 hours. The driver carries the schedule and the current inspection report and shows both to an inspector on request.

The person who inspects prepares a report, written or electronic, with:

• the licence plate or unit number of each vehicle;
• the carrier’s name;
• the date and time of the inspection;
• the city, town, village or highway location where it was done;
• a statement, signed by the inspector and by the driver if different, that the vehicles were inspected as required;
• the inspector’s legible printed name; and
• the odometer reading, if the vehicle has one.

Unlike the US rule, a clean inspection still produces a report: when no defects are found, the inspector records that fact. The driver forwards the original report to the carrier within 20 calendar days, and the carrier keeps the original report and the certification of repairs for at least 6 months from the date it was prepared.

Schedule 1 and the other schedules

Schedule 1 covers trucks, tractors and trailers over 4,500 kg registered gross vehicle weight. It lists 23 systems: air brake system, cab, cargo securement, coupling devices, dangerous goods, driver controls, driver seat, electric brake system, emergency equipment and safety devices, exhaust system, frame and cargo body, fuel system, general, glass and mirrors, heater and defroster, horn, hydraulic brake system, lamps and reflectors, steering, suspension system, tires, wheels, hubs and fasteners, and windshield wiper and washer.

Schedule 2 covers buses and any trailer a bus tows. Schedule 3 is a daily alternative for motor coaches with air brakes, air suspension and automatic brake adjusters, paired with a Schedule 4 under-vehicle inspection at least every 30 days or 12,000 km, whichever comes first, by a qualified person.

Minor and major defects

Each Schedule 1 system lists defects in two columns: defects, often called minor, and major defects. The difference decides whether the truck can move.

What a driver does with each kind of defect

• No defect: record “no defect”; the inspection is valid for 24 hours.
• Minor defect: record it and report it to the carrier before the next required inspection (Ontario says as soon as possible). The trip can continue. The carrier must have it corrected before the next required inspection or within the time the jurisdiction allows.
• Major defect: record it and report it to the carrier immediately. No carrier may permit, and no driver may drive, a commercial vehicle with a major defect until it is repaired.

The duty does not end at the pre-trip. While driving, the driver monitors the vehicle against the schedule, and any defect that shows up during the day is recorded and reported the same way.

Side by side: US DVIR and Canadian trip inspection

If your trucks run in both countries, one form can serve both rules: make sure it covers every Schedule 1 system and every item on the US list, have drivers complete it before driving and record defects found during the day, write “no defect” on clean inspections, and keep reports six months, the longer of the two periods.

Running a driver inspection process that holds up

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

1. Train to the schedule. Drivers should know which defects are major on your equipment. The most common reason Ontario gives for taking a commercial vehicle out of service is out-of-adjustment air brakes.
2. Route defects the same day. A defect report that sits in a cab or an inbox is the gap auditors look for. Someone in the office owns the list.
3. Close every defect in writing. In the US, the carrier certifies each listed defect as repaired or not needing repair before the vehicle runs again, 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 reports in order for each unit so you can produce any day’s report quickly.
6. Spot-check monthly. Compare reports 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 a safety program. TruckerPro’s trucking compliance tools are part of the same TMS that RigMD runs on.