CVSA petitions FMCSA to amend inspection report requirements

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to remove one of the requirements involving inspection reports.

In a petition filed on April 2, CVSA asked FMCSA “to remove the requirement that motor carriers return inspection reports to the issuing agency certifying that all violations noted on the inspection report have been corrected.”

Current regulations mandate that motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers return the inspection reports within 15 days, certifying that all necessary repairs have been made.

CVSA’s petition asks that FMCSA amend the regulation so that the motor carrier is required to retain a copy of the inspection report at the principal place of business or where the vehicle is housed for one year. The issuing agency still would have the option to require the motor carrier or equipment provider to return the completed roadside inspection form.

“While the regulations require the motor carrier sign and return the inspection report, there is no corresponding requirement that the issuing agency do anything with the returned form,” CVSA wrote in the petition signed by Executive Director Collin B. Mooney. “As such, the majority of jurisdictions simply file the forms away or dispose of them, without taking any additional action that would benefit or improve safety. In some instances, the motor carrier is faxing or mailing a physical copy of the form to the issuing agency, which must then scan the form for digital record keeping or file the form with physical files.”

CVSA said that states issued more than 1.6 million inspection reports with violations in 2023, meaning that motor carriers were required to sign and return all of those reports to the issuing agency.

CVSA, which is a nonprofit organization comprised of local, state and federal commercial motor vehicle safety officials, called the requirement “an unnecessary administrative burden on both the motor carriers and the state agencies.”

However, CVSA asked FMCSA to still give jurisdictions the option to maintain the requirement in case they use the forms as a way to identify motor carriers that need additional intervention.

“As such, CVSA is asking FMCSA to remove the requirement that the forms be returned to the issuing agency, while still allowing jurisdictions the flexibility to require the forms be returned, should they see a safety benefit in doing so,” Mooney wrote. LL