NYS DOT FAQ

US DOT Certification

All vehicles subject to inspection by the New York State Department of Transportation are required to be inspected at least every six months. The operator is responsible for providing an adequate inspection facility, as the NYSDOT does not operate facilities for the inspection of vehicles.

Vehicles subject to NYSDOT inspection include the following:

• Vehicles transporting passengers under the age of 21 years, to and from schools, for hire, or owned and/or operated by school districts or any public or private school. Also included are vehicles used to transport passengers under the age of 21 years between school programs and community residences.
• Vehicles operated in New York State, pursuant to or requiring a certificate or permit for the transportation of passengers, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) or the Commissioner of NYSDOT.
• All buses operated pursuant to or requiring regulatory authority from any city that has adopted an ordinance, local law or charter to regulate a franchise bus line operation pursuant to the New York State Transportation Law.
• Double-decker sightseeing buses regulated by the New York City Office of Community Affairs.

Definitions

School - means every place of academic, vocational or religious services or instruction of persons under the age of 21 years, except places of higher education. It shall include every childcare center, every institution for the care or training of the mentally or physically handicapped (certain exceptions apply) and every day camp.

School Service - means the transportation of persons under the age of 21 years to and/or from school or school activities, with or without adult supervisory personnel, either:

• In vehicles owned and/or operated by school districts or any public or private school or school district; or
• By others for hire except for parents who enter into a contract with a school to provide transportation exclusively for their own children.

Operator - means the person, firm or corporation who has control or directs the operation of the motor vehicle, leases or otherwise.

Inspection Procedures and Criteria for limousine and bus

Vehicles are inspected at an operator provided facility every six months. NYSDOT Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVIs) contact the vehicle operator in advance of the inspection certificate expiration, to arrange for a date for the next inspection of the vehicle. Usually, the MVI will go to the operator's facility and conduct the inspection of the vehicles that were previously scheduled for inspection with the operator. Normally an inspection will take approximately 60-90 minutes to complete, depending on the size/type of vehicle. Initial inspections of new vehicles take somewhat longer do to being a new in service, In addition to the actual vehicle inspection, required maintenance records, preventive maintenance program and driver inspection reports are also checked. Inspections are conducted based on the requirements contained in Sections 720 and 721 of the NYS Transportation Regulations. Contained in these regulations are the passenger vehicle Out of Service (OOS) Criteria. Discovered defects that meet the OOS criteria, will result in the following actions depending on the class of defect discovered:

• "A" rated defect - vehicle is placed Out of Service, no inspection certificate is issued until the defect(s) is repaired and a re inspection is conducted;
• "B" rated defect - vehicle is issued an inspection certificate but defect must be corrected prior to carrying passengers;
• "C" rated defect - vehicle is issued an inspection certificate but defect must be corrected within 15 days from the date of the original inspection.

What if the Vehicle Fails Inspection?

Vehicles placed out of service as a result of the discovery of a serious ("A" rated) safety defect, are not issued an inspection certificate and may not carry passengers. An out-of-service decal is affixed to the vehicle, which permits the vehicle to be operated on the highway for the purpose of getting repairs, for a period of 15 days.

If the out-of-service defect can be repaired and the MVI has available time before leaving the operator's inspection facility, the OOS vehicle can be re inspected the same day. If the OOS defect(s) is properly repaired, a valid inspection certificate is issued. If repairs are not completed before the MVI leaves the facility, the operator must arrange with the MVI for a date for re inspection of the vehicle.

Vehicles that have accumulated in excess of 100 miles or 15 days or more have passed since the vehicle was placed out of service, will require a complete inspection of the vehicle rather than just a re inspection of the OOS items discovered at the original inspection.

Bus Performance

NYSDOT performs semi-annual vehicle safety inspections on a wide variety of vehicles that are subject to inspections by the NYSDOT. Of approximately 145,000 inspections conducted each year, almost 60% are performed on vehicles used in school transportation service, and either directly by a public or private school or by a contractor hired to provide that service. The remaining inspections are performed on vehicles used in other services regulated by NYSDOT 40% limousine and motor coach charter service, transit, ambulette (transit disabled) and "for hire" passenger service.

The following documents are an alphabetic listing of all passenger vehicle operators that have one or more vehicles inspected under NYSDOT's semi-annual vehicle safety inspection program. The columns (left to right) are:

• Operator (Operator name)
• Insp 02-03 / 03-04 (number of regular inspections performed between April 1, 2002 - March 31, 2003 or April 1, 2003 - March 31, 2004)
• OOS 02-03 / 03-04 (number of failed regular inspections)
• OOS Rate 02-03 / 03-04 (Out of Service rate for Operator during given period)
• OpID (BUSNET Operator identification number)
• City (City where the Operator is located)
• Region (NYSDOT Region of assignment of the inspector(s) who perform inspections on the operator's vehicles).

This listing is intended to assist you in identifying Operators of interest, and provide the information you need to compare the inspection record of your local Operator with other similar sized Operators in your area or elsewhere in New York State. For the last fiscal years the average Out of Service (OOS) rate, for all Operators that have one or more vehicles inspected by NYSDOT was 11.9%. The out of service rate by fiscal year is as follows: 11.5% for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2002-2003 and 12.4% for SFY 2003-2004.

The Passenger Carrier Safety Bureau is committed to ensuring all school buses and authorized passenger vehicles in New York State operate at the highest safety standards in the country. Our Bus Inspectors perform more than 140,000 comprehensive bus safety inspections and re-inspections annually. To accomplish this, the Bureau uses over 120 motor vehicle inspectors assigned to one of 11 regional safety inspection teams across the state. A total of nearly 60,000 buses, vans and ambulettes are subject to the NYSDOT safety inspection review every six months and over 400 safety related factors are reviewed during each inspection.

Safety Tip - Driver's Vehicle Inspection

Vehicle inspection, repair, and maintenance standards are critical to the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles. They are designed to reduce accidents, injuries, and fatalities resulting from unsafe vehicles operating on the highways.

Pre-Trip Inspection

The first thing a driver should do when beginning a tour of duty is to review the diver's vehicle inspection (DVIR) report from the previous dispatch. If there were defects noted, you should verify that the DVIR has been signed by a mechanic certifying that either the defect was repaired, scheduled for repair or the defect was determined not to affect the safety of the vehicle and repair was unnecessary. If the previous day's DVIR did contain a defect, you must sign the report to indicate that you have reviewed it and that the required certification and signature are present.
Note: A driver is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle if the company fails to make this certification.

Vehicle Inspection as stated in Service brakes for limousines And BUS

• Parking brake
• Steering mechanism
• Lighting devices and reflectors
• Tires
• Horn
• Windshield wipers
• Mirrors
• Wheels and Rims
• Air condition
• Heating
• Emergency Equipment and exits

The post-trip inspection report shall note any additional mechanical or safety defects not listed on the pre-trip inspection report that the driver becomes aware of prior to the end of the tour of duty.