Blue Ink Tech Blog

The level 1 inspection is the one of 8 levels of inspections performed by DOT in the trucking industry. It is one of the most intensive inspections performed by the Department of Transportation (DOT) for commercial motor vehicles. The level 1 inspection involves reviewing the driver's documents as well as walking around the equipment to make sure that everything follows the FMCSA's regulations.

If you have ever driven a vehicle in your lifetime then you have seen a check engine light on the dashboard. This is one of the worst lights in any vehicle because there are so many different things that can turn this on and it's hard to know what the reason is without getting it checked by a professional.

If you are a property or passenger carrying carrier then chances are you are going to have a couple DOT inspections during your career. In 2021 there were over 1,800,000 inspections performed by the DOT and enforcement officials in the US. The DOT performs these inspections to make sure that drivers are acting responsibly and protecting themselves and others while out on the public roadways.

Being in the trucking industry means having to travel to areas that you are not familiar with. You have to locate places to park, find fuel, scale loads and more. Having to search for "truck scales near me" is a common query in a drivers search history. Making sure your load is legal so you don't pull through a weigh station overloaded is common task after leaving a shipper with a full truck.

The trucking industry in one of the most competitive industries in the market today. There are over 4.5 million trucks on the road and over 85% of carriers in the industry belongs to owner/operations (1-6 truck fleets). With this many carriers looking for loads to haul, spot rates can get low and profit margins thin.