USDOT 3632931
Vehicle Maintenance
VEH_MAINT · FMCSA SMS Methodology v3.20
2 of 7 flagged for intervention
Percentile
—0 best · 100 worst · threshold 80
Measure
7.77Safety Event Group: 5-10 relevant vehicle inspections
Where you sit on the 0-100 percentile scale
No percentile on file for this BASIC.
◕ What this BASIC measures
Vehicle Maintenance measures mechanical / brake / lighting / tire / steering defects discovered at roadside inspection.
Investigation result
No Acute/Critical violations discovered in the past 12 months.
How to clean it up
- Brake defects, lighting violations, tire condition, and cargo securement failures are the top four contributors to this BASIC.
- Pre-trip inspections documented in DVIR are your primary evidence that defects were found and corrected; unsigned or incomplete DVIRs leave you exposed.
- Brake adjustment is the single largest citation category: check slack-adjuster stroke on every tractor at every PM service and after any brake work.
- Annual inspections are required by 49 CFR 396.17; keep the report on file for 14 months and carry the inspection sticker; missing sticker is a citable violation at roadside.
- Carriers with a high VEH_MAINT percentile often qualify for FMCSA New Entrant Safety Audit waiver; but only if they have a documented preventive-maintenance program with written schedules.
See per-inspection detail on the FMCSA SMS portal →