A new FMCSA regulatory change just made life slightly more troublesome for commercial truck drivers. Prior to the change, a driver was allowed to use a violation-free roadside inspection in order to satisfy the annual inspection requirement.
However, due to a change in rules, it’s no longer the case. According to the amendment published in the Federal Register on July 22nd, roadside inspections no longer satisfy the annual inspection requirement.
Here is an excerpt from the FMCSA’s rule changes:
Because not every element of [the required annual inspection] is reviewed/inspected during a roadside inspection conducted under the North American Standard Inspection, most roadside inspections do not meet the periodic (annual) inspection requirements under 49 CFR 396.17. For this reason, FMCSA does not believe it is appropriate to continue to allow motor carriers to use roadside inspections conducted by enforcement officials to satisfy the annual inspection requirements in 49 CFR 396.17(f).
Motor carriers or their agents will now be required to complete a periodic inspection of every CMV under their control in accordance with Appendix G at least once every 12 months, irrespective of whether a roadside inspection is performed
Simply put, going forward, all truck owners will be required to get an annual inspection, despite any roadside inspections that may have been performed during the year.
You can read the changes in full at the Federal Register website.
