The Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that all commercial motor vehicles (CMV) with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,001 pounds undergo an inspection every year. A DOT inspection is conducted in order to make sure that all parts and accessories of the CMV are in good working order.  There are six levels of this safety analysis, which simply refers to the methods that will be employed during the assessment of a vehicle and the driver. They include:

1) Level I: North American Standard Inspection

This part of the check looks at important documents such as at the vehicle operator’s driver license, medical certificate and waiver and hours of service. The professional conducting the evaluation will also inspect the seat belt, exhaust system, turn signals, tail lamps, head lamps, steering wheel, wheels and rims and fuel system.

2) Level II: Walk-Around Driver/Vehicle Inspection

Level II inspections involve examining everything in the level I inspection with exception of the parts that involve the inspector getting under the CMV.

3) Level III: Driver-Only Inspection

During this check, the inspector will take an in-depth look at the vehicle operator’s driver’s license, medical certification and daily log.

4) Level IV: Special Inspection

These are one-time examinations that take a close look at a specific item. They are typically scheduled to invalidate a previous claim about a vehicle.

5) Level V: Vehicle-Only Inspection

Level V inspections look at everything specified under Level I. The only difference is that they are executed without the driver present.

6) Level VI: Enhanced NAS Inspection for Radioactive Shipments

This inspection is used for certain radiological shipments. Select radiological shipments only comprise highway route controlled quantities set forth by DOT’s title 49 section 173.403.

First let me start off by saying besides starting a newspaper route when I was 9 years old selling the Aurora Sentinel, I haven’t started nothing else besides lots of trouble. So starting a Truck School from the ground up, leads to a word that we use often, TERRICITED, a cross between terrified and excited at the same time. Lately it’s been more terrified. Let me give you a brief narrative before I move into why I/we started the Truck School…

I spent years in customer service oriented jobs, some fulfilling, some not.  One of the coolest jobs I had was teaching a program for the Colorado State Patrol, called “Alive at 25”. A course designed for 15-25-year old’s that are either court ordered because they can’t pay attention to traffic laws, or someone that wants to get their learners permit. Nonetheless, it teaches safe driving techniques, distracted driving, the outcomes of bad decision making and so on. We got to share real stories of what happens when you make bad decisions behind the wheel, and share experiences of personal outcomes of my calls as a Sheriff Deputy responding to an accident because someone made a bad decision behind the wheel. And at the completion of the classes hoping you made a difference in someone’s life.

So, from there I got an opportunity to go to work for a up and coming Truck School, I was hired on to teach Defensive Driving, they sent me to Ok,TX,ND and Utah. I knew nothing about Big Rigs or a CDL, heck I didn’t even have a CDL until about 5 months ago and to this day I only have a CDL B so I can only drive straight trucks or bus’s. (no laughing). But for 6 years I watched and learned. I ended up running the business, all the day to day. I learned what to do, what not to do. I taught our people that they weren’t students, they were customers/real people, that had feelings. The old Truck School mentality had to go, as hard as it was to do, we did it. Every day at every shift change (every 2 hours) myself and staff would personally go outside rain or snow and greet the customers, shake hands, ask how they are. Thank them for coming. We built our name. There is nothing more fulfilling than a big hug when a customer graduates.

It’s my/our time now. We get to make a difference in the trucking world, share our experience’s. The good Lord gave us this chance, everything fell into place in this little bitty town 10 minutes from Denver where everyone says Hi and waves.

Michael Euglow
CEO/Owner
Commercial Vehicle Training Center
www.cvtcdl.com
303-222-4465

The Pretrip Inspection is one of the tougher parts of passing the CDL exam at truck driving school because there is a lot of memorization involved. The purpose of the Pretrip Inspection is to be able to do a thorough safety inspection on a commercial vehicle before heading out onto the highway.

Check out our Pre Trip Form