What is a DVIR?

Drivers inspect the vehicle and record the condition of its major components, noting any defect that would affect safe operation.

When a defect is reported, the repair needs to happen and the vehicle needs to be re-inspected. A defect closed by the shop without a driver re-inspection leaves a gap in the record.

Keeping the report, the repair and the re-inspection linked is what makes the history defensible later.

A DVIR is only finished when the defect loop closes: the driver reports it, someone certifies the repair or that none was needed, and the next driver sees that certification before the truck moves.

A report is not required when the driver finds no defect and none has been reported to them — that is stated in the rule itself, and a carrier told otherwise is filing paperwork it does not owe. What an audit looks for is the loop on the reports that DO exist: the defect, the certified repair, and the driver’s review before the next trip. Our DVIR page quotes that rule with the regulation linked.