Pre-trip inspections - New Brunswick

Application

Drivers are to check their vehicles for safety defects before, during and after each trip. The requirements apply to all commercial vehicle drivers, except those operating the following:

• Commercial vehicles providing disaster relief by transporting passengers or goods;
• On the day the vehicle, trailer or semitrailer has its periodic safety inspection; and
• The driver drives the vehicle within a 160-kilometre radius of the location at which the driver reports for work and returns to that location before being released from duty.

An inspection shall include an inspection of the items listed in Schedule A and Schedule B.

Schedule A items include:

• Lights and reflectors
• Wheels and fasteners
• Tires
• Fuel system
• Exhaust system
• Fifth wheel
• Suspension, spring, air bags and controlling attachments
• Towing and coupling devices
• Load security
• Air brake adjustment and connections
• Hydraulic brake fluid
• Power steering fluid
• Mirrors

Schedule B items include:

• Steering wheel
• Brake pedal reserve and fade
• Brake booster operation
• Brake failure warning light functions
• Brake air pressure or vacuum gauge
• Warning signal, low pressure or low vacuum
• Windshield washer and wipers function
• Windshield and windows for clear view
• Mirrors, adjustment and condition
• Defroster and heater
• Horn
• Driver’s seat belt and security function
• Parking brake
• Emergency equipment

Recordkeeping

Drivers are required to maintain trip inspections for each 24-hour period. If the trip lasts more than one day an inspection must be carried out no later than the first rest stop of each further day of the trip. Although a specific format has not been mandated, trip inspections must be hand written in duplicate and include the following information:

• Date and time of inspection;
• Odometer reading at time of inspection;
• License plate or unit number of commercial vehicle;
• License plate or unit number of trailer or semi-trailer towed;
• Name of the carrier for whom the driver is working;
• A list of items required to be inspected under the regulation;
• Any safety defects as disclosed in the inspection; and
• The name and signature of the person who carries out the inspection.

The driver must state on the trip inspection report that no defects were noted during the inspection. All defects noted by the driver during the trip inspection must be noted on the report. If the commercial vehicle is driven by more than one driver in a day, only the first driver to drive the vehicle has the obligation to inspect the commercial vehicle. Every driver of a commercial vehicle must, when the driver finishes driving the vehicle for the day, record on the trip inspection report any safety defects the driver observed while driving or otherwise in charge of the vehicle.

Record distribution

A driver must forward a trip inspection report to the carrier that owns, leases or is otherwise responsible for the commercial vehicle and any trailer or semitrailer towed by it as soon as possible after the report is completed. The carrier who owns, leases, or is otherwise responsible for a commercial vehicle must retain the trip inspection report for that vehicle for a period of six months after the report is completed.

A carrier shall maintain at the carrier’s principal place of business in New Brunswick the following records for each commercial vehicle that the carrier owns, leases, or is otherwise responsible:

• Identification records, including vehicle’s company number if any, make, year and vehicle identification and if not owned by the carrier, the name of the person who supplied it to the carrier;
• Records of repairs and maintenance of the vehicle including the nature and dates of the repairs, inspections and maintenance operation and the odometer reading at the time they are made;
• Records providing the means for establishing the nature, frequency and due dates of the inspection, and maintenance to be carried out on the vehicle; and
• Records of any axle or suspension modifications that affect the manufacturer’s gross weight rating or axle weight rating.

Maintenance records must be maintained until the earlier of two years after the records are made.

Law

Motor Vehicle Act 265.8

Regulation

Trip Inspection Report and Records Regulation 94-77