Department of Transportation

Selected Truck Inspection Practices

The Department of Transportation performs roadside safety inspections of commercial motor carriers to determine whether the drivers are properly licensed, the vehicles are in good working condition, and certain other safety requirements are met. We examined the Department’s administration of inspection activities and found that improvements are needed. For example, a database of inspection history records is not systematically used to focus inspection efforts on carriers that pose the highest safety risk, and carriers can sometimes avoid known inspection sites by taking alternative routes. In addition, carriers are sometimes required to make repairs to correct safety violations that are identified during inspections. The Department attempts to monitor the carriers to ensure that the repairs are made, but we found these monitoring efforts are generally ineffective. We also determined that inspector productivity could be monitored more effectively and additional inspections could be performed if certain improvements were made in inspection facilities.

For a complete copy of Report 2003-S-24 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.