The amount of time required to complete a vehicle inspection depends on what kind of inspection is being conducted. Standard pre-trip inspections performed by drivers generally only require a handful of minutes, especially with the help of vehicle inspection apps. Inspections done by technicians on a less frequent basis are more thorough and often require an hour or longer.

To keep their vehicles in tip-top shape, fleets should be constantly inspecting their vehicles. On a daily basis, drivers should inspect their vehicles before and after every trip to spot obvious defects to lights, brakes, tires and body. About every month, technicians should take a closer look at the aforementioned criteria to verify that issues aren’t developing under the radar. And every quarter, vehicles should be brought in to verify that consumables like hoses, brackets, and filters are working as intended.

Whether you’re working with a paper form or a vehicle inspection app, filling out a driver vehicle inspection report boils down to entering accurate assessments of the vehicle you’re examining into the appropriate fields. You should take care to scrutinize every inspection item closely and ensure that all of the meter readings you note are correct. If any inspection items require additional explanation, you should take advantage of available comment fields or, if you’re using a digital tool, attach relevant photos, documents, etc.