Leading Fleets, Vol. 9, 2016

8 LEADING FLEETS VOL 9 2016 The latest revision to the California Biennial Inspection of Terminal BIT code which has been renamed the Basic Inspection of Terminal program is altering how the California Highway Patrol CHP runs its current terminal inspections to reflect similar inspections conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSA The safety and compliance changes that went into effect Jan 1 broaden who is required to participate and reprioritize which carriers need to be inspected based on performance So what does that all mean Dissecting the Revised BIT Regulations The California BIT revisions introduce new changes that the legislature believes will promote higher levels of motor safety They are also intended to allow the CHP to more closely target its limited human resources inspectors so they can focus on unsafe motor carriers In a nutshell there are four major changes taking place 1 Prior to Jan 1 California terminal inspections were required every 25 months which forced carriers in good standing to undergo a BIT inspection no matter what Under the new regulations the CHP has the discretion to not inspect a carrier terminal more often than once every six years if the carriers safety profile within the FMCSAs Compliance Safety and Accountability CSA program is in good standing 2 Also for the first time the new BIT revisions are intended to bring smaller two axle trucks into the inspection process Before the revisions CHP inspectors were required to inspect large trucks with three or more axles But under the new regulations commercial trucks between 10000 and 26000 pounds with two axles will also be inspected if they are being used for transportation in California This gives us a chance to give training and to present education programs to these carriers on highway safety and maintenance issues as well as education about the laws and how to comply with them says Cullen Sisskind manager of CHPs motor carrier safety program 3 In addition motor carriers in California that do not presently have a U S DOT number will be assigned one and will be required to display either the DOT number the California number or both numbers on their trucks Previously U S DOT numbers were not required on all commercial vehicles in California By issuing the U S DOT numbers to commercial vehicles the CHP will now be able to upload all vehicle terminal and carrier inspections conducted on a particular motor carrier into the CSA database 4 The final change involves BIT fees Under the new regulations the DMV is responsible for collecting carrier inspection fees These fees will also be based on the size of the commercial motor vehicle fleet rather than the number Photos courtesy of CHP If you have a single truck operating in California you might be subject to revised regulations covering maintenance and safety Are Your Trucks Under New Regulations in California Californias new regulations integrate the performance based federal system of inspection