Preparing for Fleet Annual Inspections

Originally published in the December 2013 edition of Tech Trends (e-newsletter and as an article within NTEA News), this article is also available to you below as an employee of an NTEA member company.

For the past few months, the NTEA has received numerous calls and emails regarding the requirements for annual inspections of commercial motor vehicles. All commercial vehicles are subject to an annual inspection for their continued safe operation. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulates the requirements for the inspection criteria on a commercial motor vehicle. The FMCSA is also tasked with approving state requirements.

What You Need to Know

• Brand new commercial vehicles require annual inspections prior to being placed in service.
• For states with their own commercial motor vehicle inspection program, that program must be approved by the FMCSA to apply, and once approved, will take precedence over federal inspection requirements. Therefore, even if your new truck has passed a federal inspection, there may be more you need to do. If, for instance, the state the new truck is licensed in has an approved periodic inspection, the vehicle must be inspected to meet that state’s requirements.
• Any individual performing the brake inspection portion of the annual inspection must meet specific mandated requirements; and any company performing annual inspections must maintain the records of their brake inspector’s qualifications.

Are you faced with technical or engineering challenges?
Contact the Technical and Engineering Hotline at 800-441-6832 for individual attention on varied topics such as Federal Excise Tax, truck certification and labeling, vehicle compliance and truck spec’ing. The Hotline is available Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm (EST). Members can contact the Association as frequently as needed.