Periodic Inspections and Maintenance, General Information

It is the driver's responsibility to inspect and ensure the road-worthiness of a vehicle before placing it into service. Commercial vehicles may be subject to inspection by authorized inspectors, and an unsafe vehicle can be taken 'out of service' until the driver or owner repairs it.

Use the following checklists to ensure that vehicle components are in good working condition before each trip. Careful inspections eliminate later unplanned stops to fix overlooked or forgotten items.

The checklists in this chapter can be copied and kept as a record that the procedures have been completed. For details on how to inspect each item on the checklists, see the corresponding procedure (step number) in Safety Precautions.