Vehicle Inspections keep Route Drivers and Trucks on the Road

It is estimated that the vending industry has 100 000 route delivery vehicles and drivers over 120 million miles a year. Even though your main work is servicing food and beverage Antares vending machines, you are also a truck driver subject to specific state and federal regulations.

To ensure that trucking regulations are the same state to state, the Federal Motor Carrier Act is used by every state to regulate trucks and drivers

In 1998, the Federal Highway Administration changed the definition of a commercial motor vehicle Act to include any vehicle having a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) over 10, 000 pounds. As a result of this change, a large number of route delivery vehicles became subject to the truck regulations.

Your vehicle for your Antares vending business must have a medical examiner certificate card, current state driver’s license, current insurance card and a fire extinguisher plus a flares/flag kit for emergency use.

As an Antares business route driver, reporting of safety procedures becomes your responsibility. You have to prepare a safety report at the completion of each day’s work on the vehicle that you drive. The report needs to cover at least the following parts and accessories: brakes, steering mechanisms, lighting devices, tires, horn etc.

This report must identify the vehicle and list any defect or deficiency discovered by you that would affect the safe operation of the vehicle or result in its mechanical break down. Upon completion of the report, you must turn it over to the designated person.

If any defect or deficiency is listed in your vehicle inspection, then it must be repaired before you can take out the vehicle out the next day. Your vehicle must always be in great shape so that it can handle the duties of your Antares vending business. The vehicle inspection reports shall be maintained by your employer for 3 months from the date the report was written.

If you do not maintain the required safety regulations, you might end up being fined or your company truck can be taken off the streets. If the vehicle is involved in an accident, all the details must be mentioned in the report.

The best advice is to practice defensive driving and of course keep filling out the daily safety reports, and always keep in mind that an ounce of prevention is certainly better then the long arm of the state.