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Transportation Vehicle, Equipment and Systems Inspectors, Except Aviation
Inspect and monitor transportation equipment, vehicles, or systems to ensure compliance with regulations and safety standards.
Also Known As:
Car Inspector
Carman
Emissions Inspector
Inspector
Quality Assurance Inspector
Railroad Track Inspector
Safety Officer
Smog Technician
Transit Vehicle Inspector
Wages
Annual wages for Transportation Vehicle, Equipment and Systems Inspectors, Except Aviation in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
26,100
2% Change From 2024
Explore Transportation Inspectors video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Inspect repairs to transportation vehicles or equipment to ensure that repair work was performed properly.
- Inspect vehicles or equipment to ensure compliance with rules, standards, or regulations.
- Prepare reports on investigations or inspections and actions taken.
- Investigate incidents or violations, such as delays, accidents, and equipment failures.
- Review commercial vehicle logs, shipping papers, or driver and equipment records to detect any problems or to ensure compliance with regulations.
- Conduct visual inspections of emission control equipment and smoke emitted from gasoline or diesel vehicles.
- Examine carrier operating rules, employee qualification guidelines, or carrier training and testing programs for compliance with regulations or safety standards.
- Issue notices and recommend corrective actions when infractions or problems are found.
- Identify modifications to engines, fuel systems, emissions control equipment, or other vehicle systems to determine the impact of modifications on inspection procedures or conclusions.
- Attach onboard diagnostics (OBD) scanner cables to vehicles to conduct emissions inspections.
- Inspect vehicles or other equipment for evidence of abuse, damage, or mechanical malfunction.
- Conduct remote inspections of motor vehicles, using handheld controllers and remotely directed vehicle inspection devices.
- Investigate complaints regarding safety violations.
- Conduct vehicle or transportation equipment tests, using diagnostic equipment.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")