About This Career

Inspects and monitors transportation equipment, vehicles, or systems to ensure compliance with regulations and safety standards.

This career is part of the Government and Public Administration cluster Governance pathway.

A person in this career:

• Inspects vehicles or other equipment for evidence of abuse, damage, or mechanical malfunction.
• Inspects vehicles or equipment to ensure compliance with rules, standards, or regulations.
• Inspects repairs to transportation vehicles or equipment to ensure that repair work was performed properly.
• Identifies modifications to engines, fuel systems, emissions control equipment, or other vehicle systems to determine the impact of modifications on inspection procedures or conclusions.
• Performs low-pressure fuel evaluative tests (LPFET) to test for harmful emissions from vehicles without onboard diagnostics (OBD) equipment.
• Conducts remote inspections of motor vehicles, using handheld controllers and remotely directed vehicle inspection devices.
• Prepares reports on investigations or inspections and actions taken.
• Monitors or reviews output from systems, such as Thermal Imaging Units (TIU) or roadside imaging tools, to identify high-risk commercial motor vehicles for follow-up inspections.
• Issues notices and recommends corrective actions when infractions or problems are found.
• Compares emissions findings with applicable emissions standards.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 10 lbs., sometimes up to 20 lbs. You might do a lot of walking or standing, or you might sit but use your arms and legs to control machines, equipment or tools.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Exposed to conditions such as high voltage electricity, combustibles, explosives, and chemicals more than once a month
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves walking or running more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Picking out a particular sound in the presence of other sounds
• Detecting sounds and hearing the differences between sounds of different pitch and loudness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others

Work Hours and Travel

• Irregular hours
• Overnight travel