Heavy vehicle daily check checklist

Updated · 6 minute read

The short answer: a daily check is a quick visual inspection of the truck before it leaves the yard, depot or rest area. The NHVR publishes a checklist covering brakes, couplings, wheels and tyres, body, lights, mirrors, windscreen and leaks. There is no single mandatory form, so adapt it to your vehicles and keep a record of what you found.

Why it matters

The NHVR puts it simply: the operator of a heavy vehicle is responsible for making sure each vehicle is roadworthy. Under the Heavy Vehicle National Law, every party in the chain of responsibility has a primary duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of their transport activities, and section 60 makes it an offence to use or permit the use of a heavy vehicle that does not meet the standards that apply to it. A daily check is the cheapest way to catch a fault before a roadside inspection or a crash does.

The national law applies in the ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. For what a full maintenance record should look like, see heavy vehicle maintenance records: what the NHVR expects.

The daily check checklist

These are the items in the NHVR’s guide, with the examples of faults it gives for each. Add anything specific to your fleet, such as tippers, cranes or refrigeration units.

Brakes

  • Brake failure indicators work.
  • Pressure or vacuum gauges work and don’t show a failure.
  • Low-pressure warning devices work.
  • Air tank drain valves work.

Couplings

  • Fifth wheel or ballrace and its mountings are secure, with no missing or loose pivot pins or bushes.
  • Towbar, drawbar and couplings are securely mounted, not bent or cracked, with no loose or broken bolts or welds.
  • The kingpin is correctly engaged in the fifth wheel jaws, and the trailer coupling is secure.
  • Air lines, electrical connectors and any ABS or EBS connectors are correctly attached to the trailer.

Wheels, tyres and hubs

  • Tyres are correctly inflated.
  • Tread is at least 1.5 mm deep, in a band that runs right around the tyre and across at least 75% of its width.
  • No deep cuts, chunking, bumps, bulges or exposed cords, including on the sidewalls.
  • Dual tyres are not touching each other.
  • No missing, cracked or broken wheel nuts, studs or bolts, and wheels are secure.
  • Hub seals are not leaking.

Structure and body

  • Panels, chassis and visible structures are secure, with no advanced rust, cracks, sagging or loose parts.
  • The horn works and is loud enough to warn other road users.

Lights and reflectors

  • Headlights, indicators, brake, tail, reversing and clearance lights all work.
  • On an LED light, no more than 30% of the individual LEDs are out.
  • Reflectors and lenses are present and not faded, broken or damaged.

Mirrors

  • Mirrors are present, secure and adjusted, with no missing sections, cracks or damage that reduces the view behind.

Windscreen and windows

  • Windows work.
  • Wipers and washers work well enough to give a clear view ahead.
  • The area the wipers sweep has no damage that interferes with the driver’s view, such as scoring, sandblasting, chips or cracks. The NHVR sets size limits for chips and cracks in that area; check them in the Inspection Manual.

Engine, driveline and exhaust

  • No fluid is leaking: oil, fuel, water, coolant or refrigerant, hydraulic fluid or brake fluid. Condensation from the air conditioning or refrigeration doesn’t count.
  • In particular, no oil leaking onto brake friction surfaces, the exhaust or the road.

Electric and gas-powered trucks

  • High voltage wiring is not damaged or chafed, no electrolyte is leaking, and the energy storage warning light cycles when the ignition is switched on.
  • Gas containers (hydrogen, CNG, LNG) are in good condition and properly restrained, gas lines are not leaking, and the hydrogen warning light cycles at ignition.
  • The right labels are on the number plates.

When you find a fault

Decide whether the vehicle is safe to use. If it isn’t, it doesn’t go out. Either way, write the fault down so it stays with the vehicle and reaches whoever fixes it. The NHVR’s former accreditation standards, still a useful benchmark, expected faults to be recorded and reported, repaired and tested, and if a repair is put off, a record of who decided that.

If an inspector finds a defect on the road, you may get a defect notice with a date it has to be fixed by. Clearing it goes much faster when your own records already show the fault, the repair and who did it.

What to record

  • The vehicle: rego, and your unit or fleet number.
  • Date, time and odometer reading.
  • Who did the check.
  • Each item checked, and any fault found, in plain words.
  • Whether the vehicle was cleared to go, and by whom.
  • For each fault: when it was fixed and tested, or who decided to defer it and until when.

Under the former NHVAS accreditation, records had to be kept for at least three years. The new Safety Management System Standard doesn’t set a period, so three years is a sensible minimum.