Vehicle Inspection Report 2.0 Release Notes

Regulatory Changes

On December 18, 2014, the FMCSA rescinded the requirement that commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers operating in interstate commerce (except drivers of passenger-carrying CMVs) submit and retain VIRs when the driver has neither found nor been made aware of any vehicle defects or deficiencies. U.S. carriers that travel into Canada will still be required to complete a post trip VIR whether or not defects exist. Canadian regulations still require CMV drivers submit and retain one VIR each day. This affects both drivers and administrative personnel that manage the HOS host. Each will see new options in their respective interfaces.

Location Information

To insure driver compliance, the VIR application has been updated to include the location where a vehicle inspection was performed.

Multiple VIR

Prior to version 2.0, a fault identified by a VIR had to be fixed, the fix verified by the driver, and that acknowledgement returned to the host before the system would allow a new VIR to be entered. If a driver performed VIR inspections at the beginning and end of the shift, this posed problems. Now drivers are able to enter multiple VIRs per day, without the prior VIRs being closed.

Driver Approval

Prior to version 2.0, VIR host administrators had to approve the repair of a fault recorded by a driver. In the world of the owner/operator, the approving authority for a defect once it is corrected may be solely the driver (who is also the owner of the vehicle). This new option will allow owner/operators to be the approving authority for repairs in their truck. This feature will affect the driver, who will now be required to do the approval and the host administrator who will no longer be in the loop.

Through Settings, VIR administrators identify UAs for drivers that can close a VIR from their Omnitracs in-cab device.

Maintenance Approval

With the release of VIR 2.0, third-party maintenance personnel can be granted restricted access to record and update a repair in the application. Users at maintenance shops can be set up in Services Portal Administration with limited access to VIR.

Report Enhancements

In prior versions, the missing VIR report and the VIR Home page showed the past 24 hours of information, making it difficult for fleet managers to identify trends and potential problem areas. With VIR 2.0, fleet managers can sort, filter, and interact more efficiently with historical VIRs.

Canadian Rules

VIR has been updated to ensure compliance with MOT requirements for Canadian carriers. These changes include adding additional items to check and information to be reported and retained. Additionally, U.S. carries whose business requires them to cross into Canada are operating as less-than compliant. This change affects all Canadian carries and some US carriers.

Tutorial

A tutorial is provided upon login to guide users through the new interface.

Fixes

Many of these fixes were corrected by virtue of the complete rework of the VIR UI and are no longer applicable.

• Trailer and truck reports now show correct and consistent data on both PDF and CSV exports.
• The Create Report button is disabled when there is no content to report.
• Missing VIRs are no longer generated for vehicels with no movement.
• The odometer field was removed from trailer PDF and CSV reports.

Known Issues

Some known issues are scheduled to be fixed in Patch 2, scheduled for release this Spring.

• Response XML from the VIR Web Service does not always include the "ID" tag. Impact: Integration that uses this field will generate flawed data.
• VIR runs slowly using IE. Impact: Customers may want to use FireFox or Chrome.
• The VIR email link only takes you to the application not the VIR record. Impact: Customers have to search for the VIR.
• If the administrator tunrs off the in-application notifiactions, the notification is not arriving with Mechanic Role. Impact: Mechanics may not see defects, no workaround.
• Users cannot filter by trailer ID. Impact: users cannot search by trailer ID, no workaround – scheduled to be corrected in Patch 2.
• When running a report against a search, trailer and truck reports display more data than anticipated in both PDF and CSV exports. Imact: Search returns too many items, no workaround – scheduled to be corrected in Patch 2.
• During DST change, when selecting a drivers VIR to print time is off 1 hour. Impact: Printed inspection reports may be an hour off, no workaround.
• When filtering by a global group, users can select a group without selecting “Filter By The Groups Below.” Impact: Until Filter By The Groups Below is selected, the group filter is not applied.
• Missing VIR Reports are not accurately reporting Duty Status, Time Started, Distance, or Location Fields. The data is collected, but not displayed on the report. Impact: Reports are inaccurate, no workaround.

Enhancements

This patch of VIR includes the following enhancements:

TrailerID Search

Ability to search by TrailerID added to searchable criteria. Criteria now includes search by VehicleID, TrailerID, DriverID, Driver Name, UA, and type of defect.

Fixes

Many of these fixes were corrected by virtue of the complete rework of the VIR UI and are no longer applicable.

• Search by number populates all reports with that series including VIR number, populating unintended additional results.
• The time is now displaying correctly when selecting a driver’s VIR to print during DST change.
• The report columns “VIR Last Reported” and “Time Started” no longer just show the date, they also show the time. The Column “Time Started” is wider so it can display the date and time on one line.

Known Issues

• Response XML from the VIR Web Service does not always include the "ID" tag. Impact: Integration that uses this field will generate flawed data.
• VIR runs slowly using IE. Impact: Customers may want to use FireFox or Chrome.
• The VIR email link only takes you to the application not the VIR record. Impact: Customers have to search for the report.
• If the administrator turns off the in-application notifications, the notification is not arriving with Mechanic Role. Impact: Mechanics may not see defects, no workaround.
• When filtering by a global group, users can select a group without selecting “Filter By The Groups Below.” Impact: Until Filter By The Groups Below is selected, the group filter is not applied.
• Missing VIR Reports are not accurately reporting Duty Status, Time Started, Distance, or Location Fields. The data is collected, but not displayed on the report. Impact: Reports do not display all data, no workaround.

Fixes

• The Missing VIR report was updated to include a "Date Missed" column that replaces the "Classification" column.
• Email addresses for notifications may now include a period in the user ID. This is now valid: firstname.lastname@email.com

Known Issues

• Response XML from the VIR Web Service does not always include the "ID" tag. Impact: Integration that uses this field will generate flawed data.
• VIR runs slowly using IE. Impact: Customers may want to use FireFox or Chrome.
• The VIR email link only takes you to the application not the VIR record. Impact: Customers have to search for the report.
• If the administrator turns off the in-application notifications, the notification is not arriving with Mechanic Role. Impact: Mechanics may not see defects, no workaround.
• When filtering by a global group, users can select a group without selecting “Filter By The Groups Below.” Impact: Until Filter By The Groups Below is selected, the group filter is not applied.
• Missing VIR Reports are not accurately reporting Duty Status, Time Started, Distance, or Location Fields. The data is collected, but not displayed on the report. Impact: Reports do not display all data, no workaround.