Keeping your heavy or medium-duty diesel vehicle requires more than just good maintenance routines. Southern Commercial Diesel offers full state and federal-level DOT inspections so you can spend more time focusing on the road and less time worrying about keeping track of inspections.
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DOT Inspection Basics
DOT inspections are required for any commercial vehicle exceeding 10,000 pounds to ensure they’re not just in good overall condition, but that they’re both safe to drive and safe for other drivers to be around. DOT inspections can be provided by qualified diesel repair shops like Southern Commercial Diesel or by licensed and registered DOT inspectors. The latter typically consists of state troopers, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) members, or individuals part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). The FMCSA oversees and funds DOT inspections, while the CVSA helps create the outlines for the inspections to follow.
How The Inspection Works
When you go in for a DOT inspection, there are six different levels that cover various aspects of not just your truck and trailer but also yourself or your driver.
The first level is the most comprehensive one. The inspector will go over every inch of your truck and trailer to check for any violations, along with assessing the driver in the form of their license, medical card, and various forms of paperwork. The second level is largely the same as the first, except the inspector won’t go under the truck and trailer. Levels three and five focus on just the driver and just the truck and trailer, respectively, while level four involves the inspection of a specific part of your truck and trailer. Finally, there’s level six but you won’t have to worry about dealing with that one unless you’re hauling radioactive or hazardous biological materials.
After The Inspection’s Done
Once the inspection is completed, you’ll be looking at one of three outcomes. The first is the best, where the inspector finds no violations and both the driver and the truck and trailer are free to go. In this instance, the driver and vehicle will be granted a CVSA decal that lets people know you’ve passed the required DOT inspections. These will be color-coded depending on when you had the inspection done. Green denotes the January to March period, yellow stands for April to June, and orange signals the July to September period. These decals are good for around three months.
The second result can be that violations were found, but neither the vehicle nor the driver has been declared out-of-service; as long as the causes of the violations are fixed as soon as possible (generally within fifteen days of the violations being found), things will be ok.
Finally, the worst result is if both violations are found and the driver and vehicle are declared out-of-service. What this means is, depending on who earned the out-of-service designation, neither the vehicle nor the driver is going anywhere. If this is the case, then the violations need to be fixed immediately.
Inspections and Southern Commercial Diesel
If you’re in need of a DOT inspection for your diesel vehicle, and are in the vicinity of Crestview, Florida, then Southern Commercial Diesel has you covered. We’re fully qualified and certified to provide full DOT inspections for drivers and trucks and trailers in addition to providing CVSA decals. We’ll make sure every inch of your truck is covered so there’s no worry of anything missed. Call us today to find out more or to schedule your DOT inspection.
