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For Ontario drivers that start at 9:00 PM nightly…

Dear Marc,

For Ontario drivers that start at 9:00 PM nightly and finish at 10:00 AM the next day, do they have to complete another DVIR at midnight?

Question submitted from Chargo Trucking, Ontario

Dear Reader,

I will begin my response by assuming that your fleet operations are strictly within the Province of Ontario.  

If that is in fact the case, the Ontario Highway Traffic Act – Regulation 199/07  prescribes what are the requirements for commercial motor vehicle inspections.  

I have included this regulation for your convenience.

Among other requirements within this regulation, it prescribes that a driver of a commercial motor vehicle in Ontario must inspect such commercial motor vehicle and towed unit(s) to ensure that they meet the minimum safety standards.

In order to achieve this goal, section 6 (3) of 199/07 states that a daily inspection is valid for 24 hours.  Therefore, using the example that you tabled in your question, for a Ontario driver that starts at 9:00 PM nightly, he/she would have to complete an inspection of the commercial motor vehicle and any units that are being towed by that CMV prior to operating these vehicles. 

The only exception to this requirement is if another driver has completed an inspection of that commercial motor vehicle and towed units within the last 24 hours.  If that is the case, Driver #2 would have to have to provide a copy of his/her completed DVIR to Driver #1 DVIR for that commercial motor vehicle.

If Driver #1 is coming on duty at 9 p.m. nightly, and  he/she does not have and inspection in the previous 24 hours from another driver because the vehicle may have been parked for a number of days, then Driver #1 would have to complete an inspection of a commercial motor vehicle and any units that are being towed by that CMV that they are about to operate.  

Driver #1 would have to subsequently complete another inspection of that same commercial motor vehicle and any units that are being towed by that CMV within the next 24 hours, unless of course another driver subsequently used that commercial motor vehicle and completed their own inspection of the vehicle including documenting the DVIR.

The same scenario would follow on day’s going forward for commercial motor vehicle and any units that are being towed by that CMV they are about to operate.

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