Preventing Out-of-Service (OOS) Orders at Roadside Inspections

As a fleet manager, one of the last things you want is a vehicle placed out-of-service (OOS) at a roadside inspection.

When this happens, your fleet gets assessed Compliance, Safety & Accountability (CSA) severity points, and your Safety Measurement System (SMS) percentile will rise. A recurring violation in the vehicle maintenance category of Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) within six months will lead to a time-weight multiplier of three. This multiplier of your severity points will further skew the percentiles. This increase could lead to more roadside inspections, interventions and sanctions from the FMCSA for your DOT number.

Not only that, you might need to send another truck to deliver the cargo in order to meet the deadline.

Preventive Maintenance (PM) Can Eliminate Violations

One of the most common violations and OOS orders at roadside inspections are for brakes that are out of adjustment. Scheduling your vehicles for maintenance with Ultimate Fleet Repair can help you prevent these shortcomings.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) stated, after their last Brake Inspection Week, that “brake related problems make up the highest percentage of out-of-service violations on commercial trucks.” As you are likely aware, according to the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Section 385.13, “Generally, a motor carrier rated ‘unsatisfactory’ is prohibited from operating a CMV.”

Many carriers, particularly owner-operators with only a few vehicles, who receive an unsatisfactory rating for maintenance, will never recover. Nearly 700 trucking companies went out of business in 2019. Of course, not all of those were due to poor maintenance, but ensuring excellent maintenance is crucial to keeping your vehicles rolling and your reputation with shippers sterling.

Your driver can only do so much to prevent brakes from failure or from being out of adjustment. Sure, they can do a visual check for brake line thickness, a slack adjuster check, and even an audible check for air leaks, but not much more.

Many leaks go undetected when the brakes aren’t engaged. How many drivers are going to search out another driver to assist when they need to get on the road?