What this schedule is for
This is a preventive-maintenance interval record for a Class 7 or Class 8 tractor (above). It’s a form that you fill on screen, download as a CSV or PDF. Or download a blank version if you prefer to write by hand. And the answers remain in this tab. Next time someone visit, they see a blank form.
Assign it to a power unit. Assign it to the operator or owner of the tractor. Assign engine hours or miles to the hub. Assign interval policy that you copied down from VIN. Assign the next due dates. Assign every shop or in-house PM visit.
Standard tractor systems on the status board include oil and filters. Also includes chassis lube. It include coolant. It includes aftertreatment. It includes brakes. It includes the air dryer. It includes the fifth wheel. It includes driveline fluids. Federal periodic inspection is included.
The rule is 49 CFR Part 396, Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance.
The rule says that each motor carrier must systematically inspect, repair, and maintain all CMVs under its control in safe operating condition. 396.3 requires every motor carrier to systematically inspect, repair, and maintain CMVs it controls, and to keep records that identify the vehicle, show the nature and due date of the work, and show the date and nature of each inspection, repair, and maintenance event.
FMCSA Safety Planner 5.2 repeats this duty. Planner 5.2.1 recites the three elements of the record and then adds the one-year plus six-month retention window.
What it is not
- It is not a daily pre-trip inspection checklist. A pre-trip walk looks at lamps, tires, coupling, and leaks before a trip. This page tracks when the next oil, lube, and annual inspection are due.
- It is not a truck inspection checklist walkaround and not a 49 CFR 396.11 driver vehicle inspection report.
- It is not a trailer inspection checklist. 396.17 treats the tractor and the trailer as separate vehicles. Keep trailer PM and the trailer annual on the trailer file.
- It is not the light-vehicle vehicle maintenance log used for cars and pickups.
- It is not CVSA North American Standard out-of-service criteria. Those rules are roadside. They are not a PM A/B/C schedule.
- It is not a shop repair order, a warranty claim, or a 396.25 brake-inspector qualification file.
How to fill each block
There is no one federal oil-change mile number published in Part 396. For this VIN and duty cycle, interval miles, hours and months is provided by the engine and chassis maker. This page includes examples such as Volvo, PACCAR, and Detroit charts. The book in the truck is not replaced.
Provide the Make, Model, Year, Class, Serial/VIN, Engine, Transmission, Current Miles/Hours, Carrier, Company/Unit Number, and USDOT Number.
If marked, include the company number, make, year, and serial number (396.3(b)(1)). If the carrier doesn't own the tractor, include the name of the person who furnished it.
Tire Size is also listed in Planner 5.2.1. Verify that this page apply to the power unit only.
- Volvo Trucks 2022 and newer D11/D13 on VDS-5 premium oil: 75,000 / 60,000 / 45,000 / 35,000 miles or 2,000 / 1,700 / 1,400 / 825 hours by economy, normal, heavy, and severe duty. Other approved VDS-5 oil is shorter on the same poster. Chassis lube examples are 15,000 or 10,000 miles. Source: Volvo service and maintenance intervals and the 2022 GHG Service at a Glance PDF.
- PACCAR MX EPA24 oil and filter on the Peterbilt Powertrain card: 75,000 / 50,000 / 30,000 miles or 2,250 / 1,500 / 800 hours by idle and vocational class. The MX-13 operator manual groups work as Interval A/B/C and later letters (for greater than 20 percent idle, Interval A is 25,000 miles or 750 hours or 6 months; Interval B is 50,000 miles or 1,500 hours or 12 months).
- Detroit DD15 in the 2022 Detroit warranty booklet: 75,000 / 60,000 / 45,000 miles (or 1,000 hours) / 35,000 miles (or 750 hours) by efficient long haul, long haul, short haul, and severe MPG bands. Oil filter at every oil change. Freightliner driver and maintenance manuals are model-specific. The Cascadia driver manual sends chassis and fifth-wheel lube to the Cascadia Maintenance Manual.
Base it off the tractor set interval and duty cycle. No sister unit, no. OEM charts vocational vs linehaul. Account for MPG and idle time. Does the fleet name the visits as PM A, B, C, or something else? Can use OEM interval letters. Can track only hours and miles. Lettered intervals are in Paccar MX operator manuals. Volvo Service at a Glance names the component and the duty column instead.
Match the hours/miles/months from the maintenance manual that corresponds with this VIN. Match duty and oil spec. Vary by example. Unless the maker states otherwise, all of these are "whichever occurs first."
The three oil examples don't agree. Several makers say if you have a lot of idle time, drop down to the next shorter drain. Write from this book. Write fuel filter the same way. Write air filter the same way. Write coolant the same way. Write DPF the same way. Write DEF filter the same way. Write brakes the same way. Write fifth wheel the same way. Write air dryer the same way. Write transmission the same way. Write axle the same way. Write valve adjustment the same way.
Here’s the 396.3(b)(2) schedule. Move the next PM type forward. Miles forward. Move hours forward. Move the date forward. Oil on its own due line. Chassis lube on its own due line. Brakes on their own due line. Aftertreatment on its own due line. The fifth wheel is on its own due line. Annual, 396.17, on its own due line. Don’t let an oil change cover for a lapsed periodic inspection.
Status: Mark as Due, N/A for tractor PM systems. If it's due, mark it Due (meaning the interval is up or will be up before the next planned shop day). If it'll be due again prior to the next scheduled shop day, mark it Due. If it's N/A (no such part on this tractor), don't make this board a horn-and-lamp walk.
PM visits 1-6: Use one in-house or shop event per block. Facts needed include date, hours, miles. Choose PM type. Who performed the work? Copy work from invoice. Copy fluids from invoice. Copy RO # from invoice. Check oil, chassis lube, or brakes when that work was in the visit. If the work was done during this visit, check chassis lube. If the work was done during this visit, check brakes. Rule 396.3(b)(3) requires the date and the nature of the work. Leave unused visits blank.
Appendix A parts require a pass by 396.17, which should occur at least once during the preceding 12 months. The documentation must be on the vehicle. That means a report. It could be a decal or sticker pointing to a report.
The report is valid for 14 months, covering the period the vehicle is maintained and/or housed (396.21). 396.17 may be satisfied by a qualified state inspection. 396.17 may be satisfied by a Canadian government inspection. 396.17 may be satisfied by a Mexican government inspection. This is not PM A.
Identify the person who has the file and where it is stored per 396.3(c). Keep it for one year at the place of maintenance or storage. Six months after the tractor goes to another carrier. The signature is required when the file matches the invoices. It is not a dispatch release.
These factors vary, such as the oil approval, engine, make, interval number, idling time, MPG, and vocational use. The same truck can be a legal Class 8 tractor. A Volvo VNL on VDS-5 is a legal Class 8 tractor. A Cascadia with a Detroit DD15 is a legal Class 8 tractor. A Kenworth or Peterbilt with a PACCAR MX is a legal Class 8 tractor. Yet they can still have different oil and DPF due miles.
What varies
Freightliner says go by the driver and maintenance manual for the model. Volvo has its own poster saying refer to the maintenance and lubrication manual for the vehicle as the authoritative source.
Chassis lube interval: Some fleets run this between oil drains. Volvo has an example at 10,000 or 15,000 miles on chassis. Chassis is shorter than oil. On the Powertrain card, kingpin grease by PACCAR is 6 months or 25,000 miles on linehaul. Vocational is 50 hours. Don't assume chassis due date is the oil due date.
Brake service is not a do-it-yourself free-for-all. Section 396.25 requires a qualified brake inspector to inspect, maintain, service, or repair the CMV brakes. Maintain that qualification file separately.
396.23: FMCSA treats inspection programs run by states as equivalent. For 396.17, the clock would be the month on the state sticker. Record what program was used. States might have their own rules for records for intrastate only carriers.
This is the 396 framework from the feds. 396.3 says even when you lease or own your tractor, you must include the 396.3 line identifying who furnished the vehicle. Keep the records if you control the unit for 30 consecutive days (Planner 5.2.1; 396.3).
If you would like a copy of what’s on this tab, download a filled PDF. If you would like a copy of what’s on this tab, download a filled CSV. Download a blank PDF to place in the unit folder. It’ll be an empty form for the next visitor. There’s nothing saved on the server.
Update current miles when the truck comes back from the shop.
After you finish
Update the next-due block when the truck comes back from the shop.
Download a filled PDF or CSV and file it with the repair orders where the tractor is housed or maintained.
Keep the 396.3 file for an additional six months if tractor is turned in/sold.
Having a full row doesn't fix the truck. It doesn't fill in a DVIR defect. It doesn't meet 396.17 if the work wasn't included during the visit. The correct report has to be on the vehicle.
Here's where fleet software can step in and replace that PDF. The written schedule is still the form above. You can print it. The preview image is below this article. The printable PDF is below this article.
This is not a licensed or state inspection.
This is a recordkeeping template only. This is not legal advice. This is not a replacement for the OEM maintenance procedure for this VIN. Completing a field does not prove the work was done correctly.
Not a substitute for the OEM or a licensed inspection
Don’t make up an interval. Copy intervals from the manual that matches this tractor. Don’t invent a federal mile interval that Part 396 doesn’t say.