In the world of commercial vehicle and equipment management, the importance of accurate DVIR inspections and maintenance cannot be overstated. Fleet managers and operators understand that the reliability of their vehicles and equipment directly impacts operational efficiency, safety, and compliance. However, traditional paper-based inspection methods often fall short in meeting these demands. This is where innovative solutions designed to streamline and digitize inspection processes, including its DVIR inspection software, saves the day – and so much more.
What is a DVIR?
The abbreviation DVIR stands for Driver Vehicle Inspection Report. By completing a pre-trip or post-trip DVIR, fleets identify safety issues, keep tabs on preventive maintenance, and stay compliant with regulations. Fleets complete inspections on paper or digitally. We’ll look at both approaches as well as why inspections are so important to conduct routinely.
What is a DVIR? This comprehensive list and guide will get you started.
Challenges Faced by Businesses in Fleet Management
If you have anything to do with fleet, what do you see as the most important part of your day? If you didn’t say inspections, think again. With competing priorities and urgency to get the day started, it’s tempting to skip this step. But is it worth the repercussions? The risk involved when you send hundreds or thousands of vehicles on the road without due diligence is enormous. Safety is not limited to how we can prevent real-time issues but also proactively protecting our fleets. Making sure that vehicles and equipment are ready to operate is key yet can easily become a lax point.
- According to the National Institute of Operational Safety and Health, 73% of drivers felt rushed by their delivery schedules. This can easily lead to skipping inspections and pencil-whipping inspections.
- With that in mind, it’s no wonder that last year’s International Roadcheck blitz led to nearly 25% of vehicles placed out of service due to tires, brakes, lights, and more. (Source: Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance)
- All contributing factors to the fact that commercial vehicles were a whopping 47% of all fatal accidents in 2020. (Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
Comparing Paper to Digital DVIR Inspections
Even in this digital age, so many fleets are still doing inspections on paper. That may seem cost efficient at first, but it allows for pencil whipping and has no feedback loop, therefore giving little value. Comparing paper to digital DVIR inspection processes makes it clear how big an improvement can be made.
| Paper Inspection | Digital DVIR Inspection |
| Slow to complete | Saves 15 minutes each round |
| Full of errors | Accurate and complete data |
| Low upfront cost but high organizational risk | Moderate upfront cost but high compliance and minimal organizational risk |
| Time consuming and manual for maintenance or admin staff to process | Instantaneous and automatically cascades information |
| Inspection booklets are approximately $4 a piece | Instead of a booklet per vehicle per month, you could be digital! |
Is Paper Really So Bad?
Operators don’t always want to spend the time necessary to walk around the vehicle, asset, or piece of equipment to carefully check every detail for an issue that wasn’t there yesterday. Paper forms allow operators to pencil whip their way through the process. In other words, they can inaccurately fill out forms based on memory of what happened yesterday or even the week before.
Fleet managers get put at a disadvantage since these paper logs also deter true accountability. They often won’t hear about an issue until it takes a vehicle out of service. Accountability also extends to your maintenance team; they need to be accountable by signing off when an issue has been fixed. If your paper process isn’t making this happen, it’s time to move to a digital inspection process.
You need to prevent any issues from snowballing by getting everyone in the loop, and that will not happen with paper processes. Paper inspections lead to unexpectedly out-out-service vehicles and unnecessary costs in two major ways:
- Maintenance issues that could’ve been fixed early or prevented altogether will go unfixed and turn into bigger issues, causing breakdowns, potential safety hazards and decreased business productivity.
- Roadside inspections might uncover compliance issues and turn into costly fines and out-out service vehicles.
The Numbers Tell the Story
- Roadside inspections and programs can prevent an estimated 14,000 accidents and 9,000 injuries in a year (Source: FMCSA)
- 15 trucks per minute are inspected in North America (Source: CVSA)
- 11.3% of the vehicles inspected had break-related critical vehicle inspection items, indicating they were unfit and unsafe for the road (Source: CVSA)
- An out-of-service vehicle can cost over $1,000 daily, not including fines or repairs
- Preparing for a DOT audit can take up two days with traditional paper DVIR
Why are Digital Inspections Your Best Preventative Maintenance Strategy?
Digital inspections offer the potential to provide everything you need to connect two disparate processes such as maintenance and inspection, which only offers upside.
With automated, real-time alerts, maintenance managers can initiate service requests the moment an issue is spotted during an inspection, allowing them to run both a responsive and truly preventative maintenance process. Getting ahead of issues before they snowball into bigger problems not only prevents unnecessary maintenance spend but also allows leaders to better manage vehicle, asset, and equipment availability by preventing unexpected downtime and lost productivity.
If your inspections solution is part of a connected vehicle and asset operations platform, integrating your inspections data with your vehicle service data, such as engine diagnostics and mileage, offers additional insights to maximize your operations, assets, workforce, and budget. Consistently moving parts form the foundation of your operations, and paper isn’t suitable for essential processes like daily inspections.
Not All Digital DVIR Inspection Solutions Are Created Equal
Not all solutions will offer you the necessary benefits to meet your key goals. These goals include staying in compliance, protecting your drivers and business, and running a proactive maintenance program.
There are certain results you should define ahead of time in order to take them into account during the technology research and selection process. While there may be more, there are five key factors we highlight in our Digital Inspections Buyer’s Checklist eBook. One of these is ease of use for any employee, no matter their technological skill.
According to The Economist in its 2019 Tailored with Technology, Corporate Growth report, technology skills among employees are listed as the second most-cited reason for lack of tech adoption by organizations, behind only security and privacy concerns. If a technology platform is too hard to use, decreasing user adoption, it may not provide the full benefits you are seeking and may not turn out to be your long-term solution.
Introducing IntelliShift’s Digital Vehicle Inspection Software
Enter IntelliShift, a game-changing single connected platform in the world of fleet management. At the heart of its fleet management solution is digital vehicle inspection software. This software encompasses a user-friendly inspection app available “In the Field” through a mobile application. This app empowers drivers and maintenance teams to conduct thorough inspections using customizable digital forms, eliminating the need for manual paperwork.
For more insights on the value of digital vehicle inspection software, check out the Straight Talk on Fleet Podcast hosted by Erin Gilchrist, IntelliShift’s VP of Fleet Evangelism.
The Power of Integration: DVIR Inspections and Maintenance
One standout feature of IntelliShift’s solution is its seamless integration of inspections and maintenance. Maintenance processes directly tie accurate inspections to create a streamlined workflow. This integration ensures that any issues identified during inspections can promptly address, reducing vehicle downtime and enhancing operational efficiency.
Tie your inspections to your maintenance
Efficiency Amplified: Speeding Up Inspection Processes
Traditional paper-based inspections are time-consuming and often lead to delays in identifying and addressing problems. IntelliShift’s digital vehicle inspection software revolutionizes this process. The use of customizable forms and checklists in the app expedites inspections. Real-time data entry ensures that insights are available immediately, allowing for swift action.
“It used to take each driver 20 to 25 minutes to conduct inspections. Now, it takes 10. That gives them 15 extra minutes per shift to take a call. It also reduces overtime for the team ending its shift because they don’t have to wait as long for the next team to be ready.”
-C.W. SCWALBE, EMS OPERATIONS MANAGER, NEW YORK’S LARGEST EMERGENCY SERVICE
Insights at Your Fingertips: Monitoring and Improving CSA Scores
Managing a fleet involves keeping an eye on various factors, including Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) scores. IntelliShift’s dashboard offers a consolidated view of completed and failed inspections, empowering management to make informed decisions to improve CSA scores. This not only enhances regulatory compliance but also contributes to the overall safety of the fleet.
Reducing Downtime: A Catalyst for Operational Excellence
Imagine a scenario where a vehicle or piece of heavy equipment experiences a mechanical issue while on the road or on a job site. With traditional paper-based inspections, the process of identifying the problem, documenting it, and initiating maintenance takes hours or even days. Meanwhile, the vehicle or piece of equipment sits unused, affecting delivery schedules, customer satisfaction, and overall productivity.
IntelliShift’s solution transforms this scenario. With its real-time digital inspection forms completed through the intuitive “In the Field” mobile inspection app, drivers and maintenance personnel can swiftly document any issues as they arise. This immediate documentation triggers a seamless workflow, connecting inspections directly to maintenance processes. Then, the solution promptly initiates the necessary repairs, significantly reducing the vehicle’s downtime.
Insightful Visualization: Completed and Failed Inspections at a Glance
With integrated data presented in a dashboard format, fleet leaders can see a real-time breakdown of completed inspections, indicating which vehicles are ready for the day’s tasks. Equally important, the dashboard highlights any failed inspections, pointing out vehicles that require immediate attention. When a fleet leader prevents vehicles with potential issues from leaving the yard, it mitigates the risk of breakdowns on the road and ensures the safety of drivers. This can’t occur when using processes that require sifting through piles of paperwork or waiting for manual reports. This digital level of visibility enhances fleet uptime, reduces operational disruptions, and ultimately contributes to improved customer satisfaction.
Success Stories: Transforming Fleet Management with DVIR Inspection Software
The success stories of companies that have embraced IntelliShift’s solutions are truly inspiring. From reduced vehicle downtime to improved CSA scores, these businesses have witnessed remarkable transformations in their fleet management practices. By leveraging digital vehicle inspection software, they have gained a competitive edge in the industry.
Liberty Coca-Cola saves 2,600 at each location with Inspect
Conclusion: Driving Forward with IntelliShift
In the modern era, the efficiency of fleet operations hinges on the adoption of innovative technologies. IntelliShift’s DVIR inspection software addresses the challenges faced by businesses in the transportation and logistics sector. By digitizing inspections and seamlessly integrating them with maintenance processes, IntelliShift empowers fleets to operate flawlessly, ensuring operational efficiency, safety, and compliance.
If you’re ready to leave behind the inefficiencies of paper-based inspections and unlock a new era of streamlined fleet management, try IntelliShift’s digital vehicle inspection software. IntelliShift paves the way for a future where fleet operations are optimized for success with features like customizable forms, real-time insights, and a focus on improving CSA scores.
