Burnaby RCMP emphasize the importance of pre-trip inspections for commercial vehicles

Burnaby

2021-06-30 15:32 PDT

For over a year, the Burnaby RCMP has been making commercial vehicle safety a priority for our traffic enforcement.

In an effort to take further steps to seeing safer roadways and to improving commercial vehicle safety, we felt the need to clearly detail the rules and regulations surrounding pre-trip inspections/reports and the importance of conducting them.

Prior to entering the roadway each day, every commercial vehicle must have a pre-trip inspection conducted on it, which falls under S. 37.22 of the MVAR (Motor Vehicle Act Regulations). The person conducting this inspection must satisfy himself or herself of the safe operating condition of the following:

• Service brakes, including trailer brake connections and brake adjustments;
• Parking brake;
• Steering mechanism;
• Lighting devices and reflectors;
• Tires;
• Horn;
• Windshield wipers;
• Rear vision mirrors;
• Coupling devices;
• Wheels and rims;
• Emergency equipment;
• Load securement devices.

Prior to entering the roadway, there are certain requirements for those who must complete a pre-trip inspection. These requirements are found under S. 37.23 of the MVAR. In this section, the MVAR clearly details those who do and do not need to complete a daily pre-trip inspection report.

Those that must complete a pre-trip inspection report are:

• Any two axle vehicle with a licensed GVW of more than 14,600 KGS
• Any commercial vehicle or combination with 3 axles (pick-up with trailer) or more with a licensed GVW of more than 8,200 KGS
• Any trailer or semi-trailer vehicle under the Commercial Transport Act (GVW of more than 1,400 KGS)

Of those that are required to complete a pre-trip inspection report, there are certain mandatory points that must be in the report:

• State the licence plate or unit numbers for the commercial motor vehicle
• Specify any defect observed during the pre-trip inspection
• If no defects are observed during the pre-trip inspection, state that no defect was discovered or came to the attention of the driver
• State the date the report was made
• The person who completed the report must sign the report

Safety is the key component in conducting pre-trip inspections.

In 2020, our officers observed 766 individual vehicle defects. The majority of these defects should have been noted and fix during a full and complete pre-trip inspection.

Released by

Cpl. Michael Kalanj

Email: burnaby_rcmp_media@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

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