Truck PM service

A truck PM service is preventive maintenance. 49 CFR 396.3(a) requires every motor carrier to systematically inspect, repair, and maintain, or cause to be systematically inspected, repaired, and maintained, all motor vehicles subject to its control. Parts and accessories must be in safe and proper operating condition at all times, including the parts in 49 CFR 393 and frame and frame assemblies, suspension systems, axles and attaching parts, wheels and rims, and steering systems. Truck Dispatch Experts does not sell this service.

49 CFR 396.3(b) requires the record for each motor vehicle a carrier controls for 30 consecutive days. A private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness) is excepted. The record identifies the vehicle (company number if marked, make, serial number, and year, and the name of the person furnishing the vehicle if the carrier does not own it), indicates the nature and due date of the inspection and maintenance operations to be performed, and records inspections, repairs, and maintenance with their date and nature. 49 CFR 396.3(c) says those records are retained where the vehicle is housed or maintained for 1 year and for 6 months after the vehicle leaves the control of the motor carrier.

49 CFR 396.11(a) requires a written report at the completion of each day of work on each vehicle operated. It covers at least 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, and emergency equipment. The report lists any defect or deficiency that would affect the safety of operation or result in a mechanical breakdown. If none is discovered by or reported to the driver, no report is required. When a report is prepared, the driver signs it. The carrier repairs defects likely to affect safety before the vehicle is operated again and certifies the repair or that repair is unnecessary. The carrier keeps the report and those certifications for three months. The report may be created in electronic format under 49 CFR 390.32. The section does not apply to a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), a driveaway-towaway operation, or a carrier operating only one commercial motor vehicle.

49 CFR 396.13 says that before driving, the driver shall be satisfied that the motor vehicle is in safe operating condition, review the last driver vehicle inspection report if 49 CFR 396.11(a)(2)(i) requires one, and sign the report to acknowledge the review and that there is a certification that the required repairs have been performed. The signature requirement does not apply to listed defects on a towed unit which is no longer part of the vehicle combination.

49 CFR 396.17(d) allows the carrier to perform the annual inspection for vehicles under its control that are not subject to an inspection under 49 CFR 396.23(a)(1). 49 CFR 396.17(e) allows the carrier to use a commercial garage, fleet leasing company, truck stop, or other similar commercial business as its agent, if that business operates facilities appropriate for commercial vehicle inspections and employs qualified inspectors as required by 49 CFR 396.19. A qualified inspector understands the criteria in 49 CFR 393 and appendix A, has mastered the methods and tools, and either completed a federal or state training program or holds a qualifying state or Canadian province certificate, or has training or experience totaling at least 1 year. This company does not perform that inspection.

49 CFR 396.17(c) says a carrier must not use a commercial motor vehicle unless each appendix A component has passed an inspection at least once during the preceding 12 months and documentation is on the vehicle. 49 CFR 396.21(b) says the original or a copy of the inspection report is retained for fourteen months from the date of the report, where the vehicle is housed or maintained, and must be available upon demand of an authorized official.

Appendix A to Part 396 says the vehicle does not pass the periodic inspection if a tire on any steering axle of a power unit has less than 4/32 inch tread at any point on a major tread groove. Any other tire fails if tread is less than 2/32 inch at any point on a major tread groove. A flat tire or a tire with a noticeable leak also fails. Part 396 does not state an oil-change mileage for those tires.