A monthly vehicle inspection is a fleet manager's regular look at a car, van or ute that someone else drives every day: a walk round the outside, a look under the bonnet, time in the driver's seat, and a count of the kit that is meant to be on board. It takes ten to twenty minutes per vehicle, and you can fill it in here and download the finished record as a PDF without creating an account.
Why monthly, when drivers check every day
A driver's daily check finds what has failed today — a lamp out, a tyre gone soft. A monthly inspection is for the problems that arrive slowly: a tyre wearing on its inside shoulder, oil that drops a little every week, a windscreen chip that has started to run, a first aid kit emptied one plaster at a time, and damage nobody mentioned.
It is also the one time each month that somebody other than the driver looks at the vehicle. Familiarity hides things. A second pair of eyes, ideally with the driver standing there, is the point of the exercise.
Compare with last month
The most useful thing a monthly check records is change. Four things make that possible:
- A photo of each side and each end, taken the same way every month, so new damage can be dated to a month and a driver.
- The odometer, so you can see how hard the vehicle is working and when its next service will fall.
- The shallowest tread depth and which tyre it was on, so wear can be tracked instead of discovered.
- The items marked Needs attention last time — the form asks about them first.
The emergency kit is a monthly item
Kit disappears. Torches get borrowed, gloves get worn out, first aid supplies get used and not replaced, extinguishers pass their service date. The kit section lists what most fleets issue — first aid, extinguisher, hi-vis, gloves, triangle, torch, jack and brace, chocks, a body-fluid clean-up kit. Switch the section off if your vehicles carry none of it, and add to the notes anything your policy adds for remote work.
Fit to use, needs attention, do not use
Each item is Good, Needs attention, or N/A. The vehicle as a whole gets one of three statuses at the end. Fit to use: nothing found, or only cosmetic points. Use, but fix soon: items that need booking in, each listed as an action with an owner and a date. Do not use: anything that affects braking, steering, tyres, lights or visibility — the driver is told and the key is taken back until it is repaired.
Common questions
How long does a monthly vehicle inspection take?
Ten to twenty minutes for a car or van once you have done a few, longer for a vehicle with a lot of equipment. Working round the vehicle in the same order every time is what makes it quick.
Who should do the monthly check?
Ideally a supervisor or fleet coordinator, with the regular driver present. A driver can do their own if trained, but the value of a monthly check is that someone less familiar with the vehicle looks at it.
What is the difference between a monthly and an annual vehicle inspection?
The monthly check is a visual and functional look anyone trained can do. The annual is a deeper inspection by a mechanic — underneath the vehicle, brake wear measured, steering and suspension joints checked for play, followed by a road test.
Should tyre pressures be checked hot or cold?
Cold — before the vehicle is driven, or after it has stood for a few hours. Compare with the placard on the door pillar or in the fuel flap, not the maximum moulded into the sidewall.
What should I do about damage nobody reported?
Photograph it, record it, and ask about it without blame. Drivers report what they believe will be dealt with fairly. If unreported damage keeps turning up, the problem is usually the reporting process rather than the drivers.
Does this work for electric vehicles?
Yes. Choose Electric or Plug-in hybrid in the details and the checks for the charging cable, port and range appear; mark the fluid checks that do not apply as N/A.