Operational Policy 4 - New Entrant Safety Auditor Maintenance of Certification

New Entrant Auditors-Vehicle Inspections conducted during the on-site audit. Ops policy 4 and FMCSA’s policy for New Entrant auditors is not clear on CMV inspections completed during an on-site safety audit, how they are credited to the auditor and if the inspections can or cannot be considered towards maintaining of the inspector's annual certification. The questions are, Is eFotm policy? Can a safety auditor conducting an On-Site safety audit conduct Level I inspections instead of Level V’s? If Level I inspections are conducted can the auditor/ inspector use those inspections for the purposes of maintaining their annual certification. Or is the auditor/ inspector “required” to conduct Level V's as outlined in eFotm "AND" the specific number of "Additional" roadside inspections outlined in the “General Maintenance of Certification” section of Operational Policy 4 for North American Level I or Level V Inspections and Hazardous Materials/Dangerous Goods Inspections? If an auditor/ inspector is found to be conducting Level I's versus Level V's and is using those inspections towards the maintenance of certification is there any consequences to the auditor or the agencies MCSAP program?

In some jurisdictions, the safety auditors are sometimes part-time employees. Some of which are not sworn police officers (Civilians). These two elements drastically reduce the ability of that auditor from conducting roadside inspections. Therefore, an auditor may struggle to get their required numbers for each certification they may hold. For example, a part-time employee may be limited to a specific number of hours they are allowed to work based on funding and their employment status. The limited hours would prevent them from adequately having time to conduct roadside inspections. Therefore, if they are conducting Level I or V's at a terminal can those count? For PVI certification, Level V’s count towards that certification. When 8 motor coaches are inspected at a terminal it counts towards the PVI certification. Same applies when an on-site audit is completed for a passenger carrier. These level V’s would count towards annual certification maintenance. However, a Level V on any other type of carrier or vehicle type does not count. It is widely agreed that auditors should also be conducting roadside inspections in order to maintain a good working knowledge of each certification they hold. The ask here is can a New Entrant auditor maintain certifications by conducting on-site safety audits?

Establish a policy to make it abundantly clear how inspections of motor vehicles shall be drafted during an On-site safety audit. If Level 1’s are not allowed and will not count towards maintenance, I ask the board to establish very clear verbiage which prohibits this and add it to ops policy 4 under the New Entrant Maintenance of certification. For example: Note: While conducting any on-site safety audit, where vehicle inspections are being conducted, all vehicle inspections shall be drafted as a level V. Unless, the auditor determines that the vehicle is about to leave the terminal or has returned to the terminal after completing transportation in the furtherance of the business being audited. In this case, the auditor shall indicate in Part C the task the vehicle was involved in and or why a level I was conducted. This level I will count towards the auditors yearly 32 inspections for maintenance of certification. Otherwise, no Level I’s shall be conducted or count towards certifications. If Level 1’s could be allowed, establish a policy that would allow only one Level 1 inspection per audit. The remaining inspections (remaining vehicles from sample size) shall be Level V’s. Establish a ratio that would allow a safety auditor to count Level 1 inspections toward their yearly maintenance of certification. Which means not all 32 inspections required for the inspector’s yearly maintenance should not be from on-site audits. On average, if an agency does about 6-10 on-site audits, the maximum of 10 Level 1’s would count. Even if the carrier had multiple trucks. Only 1 truck per audit can be conducted as a level 1.