DVIRs: What Drivers Must Report and What Carriers Must Do Next

The driver vehicle inspection report — the DVIR — is the most frequent piece of compliance paperwork in trucking. It happens every working day, and it's the link between a driver noticing a problem and a mechanic fixing it. The rules are in 49 CFR 396.11 (the report) and 396.13 (the next driver's inspection).

Most carriers know drivers have to fill one out. Fewer have a clean process for the part that comes after: getting defects repaired and certified before the truck goes back out.

What the report covers

At the end of each day's work, the driver reports on each vehicle they operated, covering at least:

1. Service brakes, including trailer brake connections
2. Parking brake
3. Steering mechanism
4. Lighting devices and reflectors
5. Tires
6. Horn
7. Windshield wipers
8. Rear vision mirrors
9. Coupling devices
10. Wheels and rims
11. Emergency equipment

The report identifies the vehicle, lists any defect that would affect safe operation or could cause a breakdown, and is signed by the driver. Electronic DVIRs are fine as long as they capture the same information and signatures.

When a defect is reported: the carrier's job

This is where the real compliance obligation sits. Before the vehicle is operated again, the carrier must:

1. Repair any reported defect that would likely affect safe operation; and
2. Certify on the original report either that the defect was repaired, or that repair is unnecessary for safe operation.

That certification — usually signed by a mechanic or other authorized person — is what closes the loop. A DVIR listing a brake defect with no certification, followed by the same truck showing up on the next day's logs, is exactly the pattern auditors look for.

The next driver's part

Under §396.13, before driving, the next driver must be satisfied the vehicle is in safe condition, review the last DVIR, and — if defects were noted — sign it to acknowledge they saw the repair certification. The pre-trip and the paper trail work together.

How long to keep DVIRs

Keep the original DVIR, the repair certification, and the next driver's acknowledgement for three months from the date the report was prepared.

Don't confuse this with two neighbouring rules: roadside inspection reports (§396.9) are handled separately, and annual periodic inspection records (§396.17/§396.21) are kept for 14 months.

Where DVIR programs break down

• Defects reported, never certified. The repair may even have happened — but without the certification there's no proof.
• Reports that never reach the shop. Paper forms left in the cab mean the person who can fix the problem never sees it.
• Pencil-whipped reports. The same clean report every day for months, on a truck with a roadside out-of-service brake violation in the middle, tells an investigator the inspections aren't real.
• Missing the 3-month window because reports live in a shoebox and nobody can find March.

Close the loop digitally

The simplest fix is to put the report, the defect list and the mechanic's certification in the same place. In TruckComply, drivers log DVIRs against the vehicle, defects stay flagged as open until a mechanic signs off on them, and the inspection history is there when an auditor asks for it.