LOCAL RULES: O. REG. 199/07

Ontario driver vehicle inspection report requirements

Your Ontario driver vehicle inspection report has 8 rules to meet. ReportDraft puts every one on your checklist and checks your draft before you sign.

  • A daily inspection done in the last 24 hours, with its report completed
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Ontario's daily inspection rules for trucks, tractors and trailers are in section 107 of the Highway Traffic Act and Ontario Regulation 199/07. Schedule 1 lists every system to check and sorts each defect as minor or major, and the regulation sets what the report must say. Here is each rule with a link to the official text, and how walkaround notes become an Ontario daily inspection report.

Last reviewed October 11, 2026 against the official sources listed below.

Driver vehicle inspectionONTARIO / SAMPLE

Sample notes, 82 words

Carrier: Ridgeline Freight
Driver: Marcus Hale
Date: 10/06/2026, 6:40pm, end of day at the Elm St yard
Unit 214, trailer 5310
Odometer 412,883
...
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43%of your draft is ready from these notes

We sorted 11 items into 2 sections and flagged 1 to fix soon.

  • Fix soonSchedule 1: daily inspection of trucks, tractors and trailers

    Audible air leak at the trailer gladhand seal

  • Worth watchingSchedule 1: daily inspection of trucks, tractors and trailers

    Right steer tire worn to the wear bars on the outer edge

8 Ontario rules on your checklist, including the plate and its jurisdiction, the odometer reading, the location, and a signed statement that the vehicle was inspected under O. Reg. 199/07.

Still to add

  • Ontario lawLicence plate number and plate jurisdiction
  • Ontario lawDefects found
  • NeededOdometer reading

Filled in for you

Operator's nameRidgeline Freight
Vehicle or unit number214
Trailer number(s)5310
DriverMarcus Hale
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What Ontario requires

  • The daily inspection report includes: the licence plate number and plate jurisdiction; the operator's name; the date and time of the inspection; the city, town, village or highway location; the printed name of the person who conducted the inspection; for a commercial motor vehicle, the odometer reading; any major and minor defects found, or a statement that none were found; and a statement, signed by the person who conducted the inspection, that the vehicle was inspected in accordance with the RegulationO. Reg. 199/07, s. 7 (1)
  • When no major or minor defects are found, the report contains a statement that no major or minor defects were foundO. Reg. 199/07, s. 7 (1) 7
  • A daily inspection of a commercial motor vehicle or trailer includes every system and component listed in Column 1 of the appropriate daily inspection schedule (Schedule 1 for trucks, tractors and the trailers they draw) and is adequate to determine whether there is a major or minor defect as set out in that scheduleO. Reg. 199/07, ss. 5 (1), 6 (1), (2)
  • Every person who conducts a daily inspection accurately completes an inspection report forthwith after completing the inspectionHighway Traffic Act, s. 107 (5)
  • A daily inspection is valid for 24 hours (a motor coach inspected under Schedule 3 also needs a valid under-vehicle inspection), and no one may drive a commercial motor vehicle on a highway unless the daily inspection of it and of any vehicle it draws has been conducted and a report completedO. Reg. 199/07, s. 6 (3), (4) · Highway Traffic Act, s. 107 (9)
  • If the driver is not the person who conducted the daily inspection, the driver signs the daily inspection report before driving the vehicle or drawing the trailer, and may rely on the completed report unless the driver has reason to believe otherwiseO. Reg. 199/07, s. 7 (2) · Highway Traffic Act, s. 107 (10)
  • No person may drive a commercial motor vehicle on a highway if it, or any vehicle it draws, has a major defect (a defect listed in Column 3 of the schedule)Highway Traffic Act, s. 107 (11) · O. Reg. 199/07, ss. 1 (2), 2 (1)
  • A driver may continue to drive with a minor defect (a defect listed in Column 2 of the schedule) on the vehicle or a trailer it draws only if the defect has been entered on the daily inspection reportO. Reg. 199/07, ss. 2 (2), 8 (3) · Highway Traffic Act, s. 107 (12)
  • The driver monitors the vehicle for major and minor defects; a defect noticed after the daily inspection is entered on the daily inspection report forthwith and reported to the operator by a means likely to come to the operator's attention quicklyO. Reg. 199/07, s. 8 (1), (2) · Highway Traffic Act, s. 107 (8)
  • The driver submits the completed daily inspection report to the operator's principal place of business, or another terminal or business address the operator names, as soon as possible and no later than 20 days after the inspection ceases to be valid; a book of reports kept in the vehicle that the operator regularly reaches counts as submitted if later defects were reported to the operatorO. Reg. 199/07, s. 9
  • While in control of a commercial motor vehicle on a highway, the driver has the daily inspection schedule and the completed daily inspection reports for the vehicle and anything it draws, and surrenders them forthwith on the demand of a police officer or officer appointed under the ActHighway Traffic Act, s. 107 (6), (7) · MTO Truck Handbook: Vehicle safety, maintenance and daily inspections
  • The operator supplies the driver with the daily inspection schedule for each vehicle and trailer and with daily inspection report forms, may add information to a schedule to help the inspector, and may delete parts of a schedule for components the vehicle is not required to have and does not haveHighway Traffic Act, s. 107 (4) · O. Reg. 199/07, ss. 5 (3), (4), 7 (3)
  • The operator keeps the daily inspection reports submitted by drivers for at least six months, at its principal place of business or another terminal or business addressO. Reg. 199/07, ss. 15, 17
  • Daily inspection reports and schedules may be made, kept and surrendered electronically; an electronic report must meet every other requirement but needs no signature, and a driver asked by an officer transmits it, or shows a display readable from outside the vehicle or a printed copy signed by the driverO. Reg. 199/07, s. 18
  • Schedule 1 applies to trucks, tractors and the trailers they draw; buses use Schedule 2 (motor coaches Schedule 2 or 3), school purposes buses Schedule 5 and school purposes vehicles Schedule 6. Commercial motor vehicle here includes school purposes vehicles and tow trucks but not, for example, one other than a bus, school purposes vehicle or tow truck with a gross weight or registered gross weight of not more than 4,500 kilogramsO. Reg. 199/07, ss. 1 (1), 5 (1)

What the daily inspection covers

A daily inspection of a truck, tractor or trailer covers every system and component in Column 1 of Schedule 1, from the air brake system to the windshield wiper and washer, and must be thorough enough to find any defect the schedule lists. Buses, motor coaches, school purposes buses and school purposes vehicles have their own schedules.

The operator gives the driver the schedule for each vehicle and trailer and the report forms, and may add notes to the schedule or leave out components the vehicle does not have and is not required to have.

What the report must say

The report is completed accurately right after the inspection. It gives the licence plate number and plate jurisdiction, the operator's name, the date and time, the city, town, village or highway location, the printed name of the person who inspected, the odometer reading, and every major and minor defect found. When nothing was found, it says that no major or minor defects were found. It ends with a statement, signed by the person who inspected, that the vehicle was inspected in accordance with the regulation.

Minor and major defects

No one may drive a commercial motor vehicle with a major defect, one listed in Column 3, on it or on anything it tows: for example a flat tire, tread below the wear limit, a coupler that fails to lock, or a dripping fuel leak. With a minor defect from Column 2, such as an audible air leak or a missing fuel cap, the driver may keep driving once the defect is entered on the report.

Drivers keep watching the vehicle on the road. A defect noticed after the inspection goes on the report at once and is reported to the operator by a means likely to reach them quickly.

24 hours, signatures and records

A daily inspection is valid for 24 hours, and no one may drive a commercial motor vehicle without a completed inspection report. If someone other than the driver inspected the vehicle, the driver signs the report before driving.

The driver carries the schedule and the reports and hands them over when an officer asks, then turns completed reports in to the operator within 20 days after the inspection stops being valid. The operator keeps them for at least six months. Reports may be electronic, and an electronic report needs no signature.

From walkaround notes to an Ontario report

Note each defect with the unit it is on. ReportDraft lays the report out on Schedule 1's 23 systems, marks each defect minor or major from the schedule, prints the plate and jurisdiction, odometer, location and time, says so when no defects were found, and ends with the signed statement that the vehicle was inspected under the regulation.

Common mistakes

  • Driving on a defect Schedule 1 lists as major.
  • Leaving the plate jurisdiction, odometer reading or location off the report.
  • Leaving the defects area blank instead of stating that no major or minor defects were found.
  • Driving on an inspection more than 24 hours old.
  • A driver who did not inspect the vehicle driving off without signing the report.

Sources

Last reviewed October 11, 2026. Next review due January 11, 2027. This page explains published rules to help you write your report. It is not legal advice; the official text linked above governs.