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Free Vehicle Inspection Checklist for Work Vehicles

Walk around the car, tap OK, Needs attention or Fail for each item and add a note where something is wrong. The defects collect themselves, you sign off whether the vehicle is safe to drive, and you print the checklist or save it as a PDF for your fleet manager. Use it as your daily vehicle inspection checklist on the phone, or print it blank for the glovebox.

A pre-trip check for cars and vans used for work. It does not replace a state safety inspection or a commercial driver vehicle inspection report (DVIR).

What the checklist covers

  • Documents

    Registration and proof of insurance in the vehicle, your license, and the accident report form with the fleet's contact numbers, so a fender bender does not turn into a hunt through the glovebox.

  • Exterior and lights

    Headlights, tail and brake lights, turn signals, windshield, wipers, mirrors, plates, body damage and doors. Lights are easiest with someone behind the car, or against a garage wall.

  • Tires and wheels

    Pressure against the label, tread against the wear indicator bars, sidewalls, wheel nuts and the spare or repair kit.

  • Fluids and under the hood

    Oil, coolant, brake fluid and washer fluid, fresh leaks under the car, battery terminals, belts and hoses.

  • Interior and controls

    Warning lights after start, brakes, parking brake, steering, horn, seat belts, heater and defroster, enough fuel or charge, and cargo tied down.

  • Safety kit and sign-off

    First aid kit, warning triangles, extinguisher, vest, flashlight and jumper cables, then the defects list, safe to drive yes or no, and signature lines for the driver and the fleet manager.

How to do a daily vehicle inspection in five minutes

Start outside with the engine off: walk once around the car looking at the body, glass, mirrors, plates and tires, then crouch for the tread and a look underneath for fresh drips. Open the hood for the fluid levels and the battery. Then sit in, start the engine and check that the warning lights go out, the lights, signals, wipers and horn work, the brakes feel firm and the parking brake holds.

Mark anything worn or low but still usable as Needs attention and say what and where in the note. Mark Fail for anything that makes the vehicle unsafe, such as a brake light out, a tire with a bulge or a brake warning light that stays on, and do not sign it off as safe to drive until it is fixed or your fleet manager has decided.

The checklist is for cars, pickups and vans that people drive for work: a rep's company car, a technician's van, a pool car, or a personal car used for client visits. Commercial motor vehicles have their own federal rule: drivers prepare a written driver vehicle inspection report at the end of each day's work on each vehicle, covering at least brakes, steering, lights, tires, horn, wipers, mirrors, coupling devices, wheels and emergency equipment (49 CFR 396.11), and before driving must be satisfied the vehicle is in safe operating condition (49 CFR 396.13). Use your carrier's DVIR for those vehicles.

Logging the trip for reimbursement? Use the mileage log template with the same odometer reading.

Technician on the way to a job? Record the visit itself with the service report template.

Pre-trip check, state inspection, DVIR, service

Pre-trip check
This checklist: a quick walk-around by the driver before a trip, recorded and signed, so defects are found in the driveway and not on the highway.
State inspection
The safety or emissions inspection some states require at a licensed station on a set schedule. A pre-trip check does not replace it.
DVIR
The driver vehicle inspection report required for commercial motor vehicles under 49 CFR 396.11. Commercial drivers use their carrier's form.
Service
The maintenance a mechanic does by mileage or time: oil change, brakes, tire rotation. A defect you mark here is often the reason to book it early.

Tips for checks that catch problems

  • Check the tread against the bars

    Every passenger car tire has treadwear indicators in its grooves that show when the tread has worn to 1/16 of an inch (FMVSS 139, S5.4). Tread level with those bars is a Fail.

  • Use the pressure on the door pillar

    The recommended cold tire pressure is on the tire placard, which federal rules put on the driver's side B-pillar (FMVSS 110, S4.3), not the maximum printed on the tire. Check it before driving, when the tires are cold.

  • Write the note for the mechanic

    "Front left tire, bulge on the outer sidewall, about 1 inch" gets the right part ordered. "Tire looks bad" gets a second trip.

  • Keep the same order every day

    Outside, under the hood, then inside. The same route around the car every morning is what makes a five-minute check thorough instead of rushed.

More for field reps and the people who manage them: field sales management, sales route planning, the outside sales rep's job.

Sources

Found a defect? Say it once, paste it twice.

Walking around the parked car, describe the chip in the windshield or the soft tire out loud into ParrotNotes on your phone. You get the transcript and a summary to paste into the note here, or into a message to your fleet manager, instead of typing with cold fingers. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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