Mountains of paperwork can be 
tedious and time consuming. Regardless of whether you work in an office or for a chassis rental company, too much unnecessary reporting can result in inefficiencies, boredom and wasted time and paper. Truck drivers, rejoice! The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing to drop the requirement that drivers file inspection reports, even when their trucks have no defects. Note: You should continue to conduct inspections and file the paperwork until the rule becomes final.
Why is the FMCSA making this proposal? First and foremost, it is designed to reduce the amount of paperwork the trucking industry has to complete thus benefitting industry. Secondly, it may save the government money without reducing safety.
Currently, drivers must submit vehicle inspection reports at all times, whether there is damage or defects to their trucks or not. By making this proposed change, it could save up to $1.7 billion a year.
According to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, the move was made in response to a challenge from President Obama, which called for his administration to find ways to get rid of waste and red tape.
THE FMCSA made a similar change last year for intermodal chassis, but this new inspection reduction will affect a much larger group of drivers than last year’s changes.
According to the American Trucking Association, this proposal would bring modest relief to the paperwork burden for the country’s transportation companies. More than 95 percent of truck driver inspection reports were reported the status quo for their trucks each day. Meaning they were reporting no defects to their vehicles, but were still having to file reports and complete the paperwork.
By moving to a defect-only reporting system, the trucking industry will be able to better focus their time on necessary truck inspections and repairs, rather than reporting.,
The biggest take away from the proposal is that it will remove the burden of significant paperwork for transportation company employees and allow them to focus on their load and getting to and from each haul location. Not only that, but it will save billions of dollars for the Federal government, all without sacrificing driver and truck safety.
April has been working with Penn Intermodal’s Sales and Operations teams to educate clients on the benefits of leasing chassis for bulk liquid storage and transport since 2012.
