Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIRs) are more than just another form to fill out — they’re a crucial tool for maintaining fleet safety, efficiency, and regulatory compliance.
Here’s why DVIRs should be a non-negotiable part of your fleet management routine:
- Safety First: DVIRs help identify potential safety issues before they become dangerous problems on the road. This proactive approach can prevent accidents and protect your drivers, other motorists, and your valuable assets.
- Regulatory Compliance: Completing DVIRs is not just good practice — it’s the law. The FMCSA requires commercial motor vehicle drivers to perform pre-trip and post-trip inspections and document their findings.
- Cost Savings: Regular inspections catch minor issues before they escalate into major repairs. This preventive maintenance approach can significantly reduce downtime and repair costs.
- Liability Protection: In the event of an accident, thorough DVIRs can provide crucial documentation to show that your company maintains its vehicles properly and prioritizes safety.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Over time, DVIRs generate valuable data that can inform your maintenance schedules, vehicle replacement strategies, and driver training programs.
By leveraging digital DVIR solutions like Whip Around, fleets can streamline this essential process, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and easy access to critical vehicle health information.
How Five Star Breaktime Solutions avoided a nuclear verdict & improved safety
Five Star is one of the nation’s top out-of-home food and beverage retail solution providers for employers, commercial and institutional locations.
Powering a business of this size requires a rather large fleet — about 1,500 vehicles in this case.
Conducting and tracking inspections on paper was causing them to lost and misplace reports at an alarming rate. Plus, their CAB score was in the red, causing all kinds of headaches for drivers and managers.
That’s when they turned to Whip Around.
Avoiding a nuclear verdict
Despite the Five Star driver operating safely and legally, a serious accident occurred involving a pedestrian.
The responding officer then asked for the driver’s DOT pre-trip and full inspection history. Thanks to Whip Around, this process went smoothly.
“He was able to show him that he’s been doing his inspections ever since he was hired, and when we got to the police station they wanted to see if we had any defects reported,” Safety Manager Josh Humphries said. “We didn’t have any defects reported, so that freed us up from a lot of additional questioning from DOT and police officers.”
Without those records proving that the truck was properly maintained, a tricky situation could have arisen.
“It was a huge help from a legal standpoint and also from a state standpoint, avoiding being cited for certain things,” Josh said.”
Moving the safety and compliance needle
Remember that CAB score we talked about? Five Star has successfully reduced that score — and a lower score is a good thing.
“I want to say we were at 82 percent; now we’re at 50. So Whip Around has helped bring that score down,” Josh said. “With DOT pre-trip inspections, that’s where the drivers report this stuff back, finding issues with things like lighting, reflectors, tires, wheels, windows and all that stuff.”
Drivers are enjoying the new culture. By completing training sessions and conducting inspections every day, each division earns a score. At the end of the year, the divisions and employees with the top scores will win prizes, including a special Safety Cup.
“Basically, we are trying to incentivize our employees to do the right thing,” Josh said. “And we’re incorporating Whip Around into that.”
