Insights from Inside
An Officer's guide to CVSA Inspections, Truck Maintenance and Fleet Management
The useful guidebook Insights from Inside can serve as either an industry primer or a helpful reference for experienced truckers.
Retired trucking inspector Alan W. Wintermute’s Insights from Inside is a helpful guidebook to commercial vehicle laws and maintenance in Canada.
This practical reference book covers topics including inspections, regulations, and fleet management, all of which are fleshed out with Wintermute’s tips and enumeration of tricks that industry professionals can put into practice to save time and money. It also elucidates laws, policies, enforcement tactics, and industry requirements, outlining what a person can expect to encounter in the field at each step.
A trucker doesn’t make money unless they’re driving, Wintermute knows. As such, his information—which is relevant to both new and experienced drivers—is made accessible via short chapters that are arranged by subject and common questions. Further, its extensive use of bullet points, checklists, and tips condenses a considerable amount of information in a handy manner. For instance, the book’s chapter on securing loads reviews Canada’s national safety code, furnishes pointers on what to avoid, rattles off a full list of standards, and instructs on what straps a person should use, down to the millimeter. Indeed, exact specifications are included for the number of tie-downs, load security system strength, frequency of re-inspections by the driver, and other general performance criteria—enough precision to instill confidence in all audiences.
Reviewing a bevy of possible contingencies, like what a person should expect and do if they are pulled over for a violation, or if they end up in court, this is an authoritative text that equips its audience well. Its tone is matter-of-fact and lean, putting imparting its information first. And its extensive index, sample schedules, and other appendices aid in understanding. Indeed, such supplementary materials stand to prove useful when truckers are out in the field and wondering what must be done in order for them to meet inspection requirements for electrical, suspension, engine controls, steering, and other mechanical components. A list of websites where semi-tractor drivers can check applicable local laws in whatever Canadian province or North American locale they’re in helps this book to be user-friendly to the end.
Sending drivers on their way with the resources they need to succeed, Insights from Inside can serve as either an industry primer or a helpful reference for experienced truckers. It covers the inspections, maintenance, and requirements that are relevant to day-to-day operations in the trucking industry.
Reviewed by
Joseph S. Pete
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
