C.F.R. » Title 49 » CHAPTER III—FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › SUBCHAPTER B—FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS › PART 396—INSPECTION, REPAIR, AND MAINTENANCE

49 C.F.R. § 396.11

Driver vehicle inspection report(s)

Read at: eCFRecfr.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) Equipment provided by motor carrier. (1) Report required. Every motor carrier shall require its drivers to report, and every driver shall prepare a report in writing at the completion of each day's work on each vehicle operated, except for intermodal equipment tendered by an intermodal equipment provider. The report shall cover at least the following parts and accessories:

(i) Service brakes including trailer brake connections;

(ii) Parking brake;

(iii) Steering mechanism;

(iv) Lighting devices and reflectors;

(v) Tires;

(vi) Horn;

(vii) Windshield wipers;

(viii) Rear vision mirrors;

(ix) Coupling devices;

(x) Wheels and rims;

(xi) Emergency equipment.

(2) Report content. (i) The report must identify the vehicle and list any defect or deficiency discovered by or reported to the driver which would affect the safety of operation of the vehicle or result in its mechanical breakdown. If a driver operates more than one vehicle during the day, a report must be prepared for each vehicle operated. Drivers are not required to prepare a report if no defect or deficiency is discovered by or reported to the driver.

(ii) The driver must sign the report. On two-driver operations, only one driver needs to sign the driver vehicle inspection report, provided both drivers agree as to the defects or deficiencies identified.

(3) Corrective action. (i) Prior to requiring or permitting a driver to operate a vehicle, every motor carrier or its agent shall repair any defect or deficiency listed on the driver vehicle inspection report which would be likely to affect the safety of operation of the vehicle.

(ii) Every motor carrier or its agent shall certify on the driver vehicle inspection report which lists any defect or deficiency that the defect or deficiency has been repaired or that repair is unnecessary before the vehicle is operated again.

(4) Retention period for reports. Every motor carrier shall maintain the driver vehicle inspection report, the certification of repairs, and the certification of the driver's review for three months from the date the written report was prepared.

(5) Exceptions. The rules in this section shall not apply to a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), a driveaway-towaway operation, or any motor carrier operating only one commercial motor vehicle.

(6) Electronic reporting. The report required by this paragraph (a) may be created and maintained in electronic format, in accordance with 49 CFR 390.32.

(b) Equipment provided by intermodal equipment provider. (1) Report required. Every intermodal equipment provider must have a process to receive driver reports of, and each driver or motor carrier transporting intermodal equipment must report to the intermodal equipment provider or its designated agent, any known damage, defects, or deficiencies in the intermodal equipment at the time the equipment is returned to the provider or the provider's designated agent. The report must include, at a minimum, the following parts and accessories:

(i) Brakes;

(ii) Lighting devices, lamps, markers, and conspicuity marking material;

(iii) Wheels, rims, lugs, tires;

(iv) Air line connections, hoses, and couplers;

(v) King pin upper coupling device;

(vi) Rails or support frames;

(vii) Tie down bolsters;

(viii) Locking pins, clevises, clamps, or hooks;

(ix) Sliders or sliding frame lock.

(2) Report content. (i) Name of the motor carrier responsible for the operation of the intermodal equipment at the time the damage, defects, or deficiencies were discovered by, or reported to, the driver.

(ii) Motor carrier's USDOT number; intermodal equipment provider's USDOT number, and a unique identifying number for the item of intermodal equipment.

(iii) Date and time the report was submitted.

(iv) All damage, defects, or deficiencies of the intermodal equipment reported to the equipment provider and discovered by, or reported to, the motor carrier or its driver which would

(A) Affect the safety of operation of the intermodal equipment, or

(B) Result in its mechanical breakdown while transported on public roads.

(v) The signature of the driver who prepared the report.

(3) Corrective action. (i) Prior to allowing or permitting a motor carrier to transport a piece of intermodal equipment for which a motor carrier or driver has submitted a report about damage, defects or deficiencies, each intermodal equipment provider or its agent must repair the reported damage, defects, or deficiencies that are likely to affect the safety of operation of the vehicle.

(ii) Each intermodal equipment provider or its agent must certify on the original driver's report which lists any damage, defects, or deficiencies of the intermodal equipment that the reported damage, defects, or deficiencies have been repaired, or that repair is unnecessary, before the vehicle is operated again.

(4) Retention period for reports. Each intermodal equipment provider must maintain all documentation required by this section, including the driver report and the certification of repairs on all intermodal equipment, for a period of three months from the date that a motor carrier or its driver submits the report to the intermodal equipment provider or its agent.

(5) Electronic reporting. The report required by this paragraph (b) may be created and maintained in electronic format, in accordance with 49 CFR 390.32.

[44 FR 38526, July 2, 1979, as amended at 45 FR 46425, July 10, 1980; 53 FR 18058, May 19, 1988; 59 FR 8753, Feb. 23, 1994; 63 FR 33279, June 18, 1998; 73 FR 76824, Dec. 17, 2008; 74 FR 68709, Dec. 29, 2009; 77 FR 34852, June 12, 2012; 77 FR 59828, Oct. 1, 2012; 78 FR 58485, Sept. 24, 2013; 79 FR 75449, Dec. 18, 2014; 83 FR 16227, Apr. 16, 2018; 85 FR 50793, Aug. 18, 2020; 91 FR 7896, Feb. 19, 2026]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 15 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1981–2024 · leading case: Manske v. UPS Cartage Services, Inc.
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Manske v. UPS Cartage Services, Inc. (2012) med · cites it 10× “Driver Duties and Cartage Policies At all relevant times, in accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 396.11 , Cartage required drivers, after each trip, to inspect the condition of the vehicles they drove, including specific vehicle parts and operating systems listed in that regulation.”
Irizarry v. Lily Transportation Corp. (2017) ctd “Irizarry then alleges that he “identified these issues in his daily inspection reports, but the Defendant did nothing in response.”
Valadez v. CSX Intermodal Terminals, Inc. (2018) cand “9 (d)(2)-(3) ; 49 C.F.R. § 396.11 (a)(3). Thus, Defendant's policies exceed those legally required.”
Yellow Freight System, Inc. v. Lynn Martin, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, Robert Spinner, Intervenor (1993) ca2 “49 C.F.R. § 396.11 (1988). A legible copy of the last vehicle inspection report must be carried in the power unit of each vehicle.”
American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Larson (1981) pamd “49 C.F.R. § 396.11 . Any defects or deficiencies affecting the safety of operation of the motor vehicle or resulting in its mechanical breakdown must be reported by the driver.”
Steinhouser v. University of Delaware (2019) delsuperct · cites it 8× “The items Plaintiff reported were safety-related and, in many instances, were required to be reported under 49 C.F.R. 396.11(a). Plaintiff was required to submit a Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (“DVIR”) at the end of each work day.”
Interstate Towing Ass'n, Inc. v. Cincinnati (1992) ohsd “17 and inspected daily pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 396.11 . 13. Pursuant to 49 C.”
Douglas Melrose v. Ricky Warner (2016) michctapp · cites it 2× “7 (unsafe operations), 49 CFR 396.11 (improper and fraudulent driver vehicle inspection report), 49 CFR 396.”
James R Bradley Jr v. Prudential Security Inc (2019) michctapp · cites it 2× “7; 49 CFR 396.11; 49 CFR 396.13; Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1963, 1963 PA 181 ; MCL 480.”
Gulick Trucking, Inc. v. State Of Washington Employment Security Department (2018) washctapp “A, part K(2); 49 C.F.R. § 396.11 ; 49 C.F.R. §§ 396.3 , .”
Twenty Holdings, LLC v. Land South TN, LLC and Brandon Majors (2019) tennctapp “Plaintiff asserts that the tractor-trailer was not a farm vehicle, but a commercial vehicle, and was therefore subject to all relevant inspection, maintenance, and record keeping regulations.”
D Estate of William Howard McDuffie-connor v. Scott M Neal (2024) michctapp “13(a) and (b) (cross referencing 49 CFR 396.11(a)(2)(i)). Neal testified that he conducted such a pre-trip inspection, and Pace testified that the blinker was operating.”
Show all 15 citing cases →
— 49 C.F.R. § 396.11(a) — 1 case
Steinhouser v. University of Delaware (2019) delsuperct “The items Plaintiff reported were safety-related and, in many instances, were required to be reported under 49 C.F.R. 396.11(a). Plaintiff was required to submit a Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (“DVIR”) at the end of each work day.”
— 49 C.F.R. § 396.11(a)(2)(i) — 1 case
D Estate of William Howard McDuffie-connor v. Scott M Neal (2024) michctapp “13(a) and (b) (cross referencing 49 CFR 396.11(a)(2)(i)). Neal testified that he conducted such a pre-trip inspection, and Pace testified that the blinker was operating.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.