SUPERVISORY GUIDELINES FOR MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTION PROGRAMS

The report is a manual of administrative guidelines designed to assist the program manager in administering a state inspection program. The manual includes practical guidelines covering the areas of organization, staffing, legal management, station licensing and supervision, inspector training and licensing, public relations, data management, and program coordination. The guidelines are generally applicable to all types of motor vehicle inspection programs and focus in on the most frequently used type of system, the state-licensed system of inspection. The manual includes an analysis of the problem and recommendations based on summaries of vehicle inspection program procedures received through the mail from 39 states, telephone interviews with 26 states which use the state-licensed system, and visits to 5 states which were carefully selected to properly represent the different types of state-licensed systems. The recommended guidelines are specifically developed to attack the weaknesses identified and reflect procedures already in use by some of the states or suggested in the literature. The contents of this manual provide the program administrator with an easily usable guide to aid in the identification of problem areas and to improve the quality of inspection services provided.