Vehicle Inspector

Vehicles may be inspected for a number of reasons. Some companies periodically inspect all the vehicles in their fleet as a precaution. Others inspect delivery vehicles to ensure that no dangerous items are brought into company land.

Some governmental agencies do inspections to make sure operators are abiding by state and federal laws. All of these inspections are done by Vehicle Inspectors.

Your day-to-day responsibilities as a Vehicle Inspector vary depending on your employer. If you work for a private company, you’re given a list of vehicles to inspect. You perform an inspection of the vehicle’s exterior and engine, and then you test-drive it to make sure it’s working properly.

As a Vehicle Inspector, you may drive anything from a school bus to a tractor in a given day, so you know quite a bit about driving nearly anything. You make a list of the systems you inspected and your recommendations. You may also put pass/fail stickers on the vehicles.

If you hold a security-related position in a governmental agency or private company, your inspections are slightly different. You use mirrors to check the underside of vehicles. You also inspect the storage compartments for contraband, and use x-rays to examine the cargo holds.

You inform the police of anything illegal that you find, and may be required to testify about these findings in a court of law. Days when you spot something dangerous will certainly be exciting, but you’ll have a lot of paperwork to fill out as a result of your findings.