Short answer
Choose software that builds the vehicle file NSC Standard 11 expects, runs Schedule 1 trip inspections under Standard 13, schedules PM by kilometres and by time, and warns before CVIP or other provincial inspection certificates expire. Try it with your own units in kilometres, ask how the price grows with the fleet, and plan the data move before you sign.
Key points
- Start from the vehicle file: Standard 11 lists what each one holds, and provinces add their own rules, such as Ontario’s Regulation 199/07 and Quebec’s SAAQ maintenance record.
- Kilometres should be the native unit, with miles available for US-built trucks and cross-border work.
- Every periodic inspection needs tracking to its expiry date: CVIP in British Columbia and Alberta, the annual inspection in Ontario, the SAAQ mechanical inspection or the PEP in Quebec.
- Price the whole fleet, trailers included, for a full year under each offer before comparing.
What the vehicle file has to hold in Canada
Maintenance software is a filing system with a calendar attached. It keeps one record per truck and trailer, tells you what is due, what is broken and what it cost, and hands an auditor a complete file when one is asked for. In Canada, the shape of that file comes from the National Safety Code and the province.
NSC Standard 11 requires every carrier to have a system to inspect, maintain and repair each of its vehicles at regular intervals, and lists what each vehicle’s record must contain: identification including plate, unit number, make, serial number, year and tire size (and the lessor for a vehicle you do not own); a means to show the nature and due date of upcoming work; every inspection, repair and maintenance job with its date and nature, with invoices kept and measurements marked on your inspection forms; a lubrication record; and any axle or suspension change that affects the weight ratings. Records are kept at least two years. The standard sets no fixed service intervals and calls the manufacturer’s schedule the single best guide to designing a program, though some jurisdictions set a maximum distance or time between services.
NSC Standard 13 covers the daily trip inspection. Carriers give drivers the inspection schedule in written or equivalent electronic format, drivers complete a report for each inspection, and the carrier keeps each report and the certification of repairs for at least six months.
The provinces add their own detail. Ontario’s Regulation 199/07 asks for the name of the person who did each repair, the outside shop’s invoice, the receipt for each part and the odometer at the end of the job, and lets the records be kept electronically. Quebec’s SAAQ maintenance record adds signed maintenance sheets and, for heavier vehicles, brake lining or camshaft rotation measurements. Software does not make you compliant, but it can make the right entry the easy one at the moment the work happens, and it can find the file when an auditor picks a unit at random.
Periodic inspections: CVIP and the provincial programs
Part B of Standard 11 sets the periodic motor vehicle inspection (PMVI): trucks, truck-tractors, trailers and semi-trailers are inspected to the standard at least once a year by an authorized inspector at a government or government-approved facility, and the passed inspection is shown by a decal. Each province runs its own program, with its own name, weight threshold and, in places, a shorter cycle. Standard 11’s table of programs, for example, lists six-month cycles for trucks in British Columbia and for truck-tractors in Saskatchewan.
| Province | What the program is called and how it works | What the software should hold |
|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | Commercial vehicle inspection (CVIP) at a designated inspection facility; applies to commercial vehicles over 8,200 kg licensed GVW and to commercial trailers | Each CVIP report and decal with its expiry; BC’s CVSE guide keeps current and past CVIPs three years |
| Alberta | Annual commercial vehicle inspection at licensed private facilities; a valid certificate and decal are required, over 4,500 kg registered GVW for extra-provincial work and over 11,794 kg within Alberta | Certificate, decal and expiry for every unit |
| Saskatchewan | PMVI program run by SGI; 6- and 12-month terms depending on the unit and where it operates, with a preventative maintenance program option | Term and expiry per unit, and which units are under the PMP |
| Manitoba | Mandatory safety inspection every 12 months for trucks, tractors, trailers and converter dollies of 4,500 kg GVWR or more | Inspection date and expiry per unit |
| Ontario | Annual inspection by a licensed technician at a DriveON Vehicle Inspection Centre for most trucks, trailers and converter dollies over 4,500 kg, based on Standard 11 Part B | Copies of each annual inspection certificate, which Ontario lists among the records an operator keeps |
| Quebec | SAAQ mandatory mechanical inspection at least once a year for vehicles of 4,500 kg GVWR or more, or a preventative maintenance program (PEP) recognized by the SAAQ instead | Sticker expiry, or the PEP maintenance schedule and maintenance sheets |
Two details matter for software. First, the record has to survive the inspection: Ontario wants copies of annual and semi-annual certificates kept, and BC’s guide keeps three years of CVIPs. Second, the calendar has to be per unit, because a fleet’s trailers and tractors rarely expire in the same month. Our guide to CVIP and periodic inspections in Canada covers each program in more depth.
Quebec deserves its own line. A minor defect found at the SAAQ mechanical inspection must be repaired within 48 hours, and a major defect takes the vehicle off the road at once. Carriers in a recognized PEP no longer send their vehicles to the mandatory inspection, but they must follow their maintenance interval schedule and fill out and keep the maintenance sheets; a vehicle withdrawn from the program has three months to pass a periodic inspection.
Kilometres, miles and cross-border units
A Canadian fleet’s software should count in kilometres without being asked, and switch to miles where a unit needs it: a US-built truck whose odometer reads in miles, or a lane priced per mile. Check how the system decides which unit a truck uses, whether it converts ELD readings into that unit, and whether PM intervals, due-soon warnings and reports follow the same unit.
Kilometre-based intervals are what Standard 11 itself uses in its examples. It describes carriers running a basic “A” inspection monthly or every 1,600 km, a deeper “B” service between 10,000 and 30,000 km, and a “C” inspection at six months or 50,000 km, with some adding a fourth level around 100,000 km. Whatever schedule you set, Standard 11 says it must then be followed, so the software has to make overdue work impossible to miss.
If your trucks cross into the United States, they meet US inspection rules on that side of the border as well. For the US view of periodic inspections, see the US annual inspection guide on rigmd.com.
French, English and Quebec paperwork
A fleet based in Quebec, or one with French-speaking drivers and technicians, should test the software in the language people will actually use, from the driver’s trip inspection to the shop’s work order and the printed record.
Quebec also has forms of its own. The SAAQ publishes maintenance sheets for trucks and trailers to be filled out and kept under the PEP, and its PEP request and vehicle-change forms are published in French only. Ask a vendor whether its software records PM inspections on the SAAQ forms and prints them, or whether you will still fill them out by hand alongside the system.
Features to weigh, line by line
A ten-truck carrier that sends every repair to a dealer needs less than a fleet with its own shop, parts room and tire program. Mark each line for your operation.
| Capability | Why it matters in Canada | For most fleets |
|---|---|---|
| A vehicle file per unit with the Standard 11 fields | What the facility auditor asks for, unit by unit | Must-have |
| PM by kilometres and by time | Standard 11 expects the nature and due date of upcoming work on file | Must-have |
| Odometer readings from your ELD | Kilometre-based PM is only as good as the reading behind it | Must-have with ELDs |
| Trip inspections on a phone, based on Schedule 1 | Standard 13 reports are required every 24 hours of operation and paper goes missing | Must-have |
| Periodic inspection expiry tracking | CVIP, annual or SAAQ certificates expire unit by unit | Must-have |
| Work orders with statuses, labour and parts | The dated record of each repair, with its invoices | Must-have with an in-house shop |
| Out-of-service handling | A unit with a major defect must stay off dispatch until repaired | Must-have |
| Documents and renewals | Registration, IRP cab cards, insurance and permits all expire | Must-have |
| Cost per vehicle | Shows which units cost more to keep than they earn | Must-have for owners |
| Mechanic access with limited rights | Technicians see their jobs without seeing the business | Must-have with in-house technicians |
| Parts stock, tires by position, warranties | Saves trips, tracks retreads, avoids paying twice for a covered repair | Depends on your shop |
| SAAQ PM inspection forms | Quebec-based fleets record PM inspections on them | Quebec only |
| Full export of history and documents | Your records outlive any vendor, and the retention clocks keep running | Must-have |
Questions to put to every vendor
Send the same list to each vendor and line the answers up side by side. A vague reply to a precise question is itself an answer.
- Does each truck count in kilometres or miles, and who chooses? What happens to ELD readings from a truck set the other way?
- How is a PM due point worked out, and does closing the service set the next one automatically?
- Which checklist do drivers use for trip inspections, and what happens when a driver marks a major defect?
- Can a driver show the current report to an inspector from the phone? Ontario lets an electronic report be shown on a display readable from outside the vehicle or as a signed printed copy, and an officer can ask for it to be transmitted.
- Which periodic inspections and renewals does it track? CVIP, the Ontario annual inspection, the SAAQ inspection, registration, IRP cab cards, insurance and permits.
- What do technicians see? Can costs be hidden from them, and do they need a separate app or only a browser?
- Does it handle the SAAQ forms if you have units based in Quebec?
- Can we export everything, in formats we can open without you?
- Who sets up the account and moves our data, and who checks the result?
- What does it not do today? A straight answer here is a good sign for the rest.
Pricing models without the jargon
Vendors charge for maintenance software in a few common ways. None is better in itself; what matters is how the bill moves as your fleet and staff change.
- By vehicle. The bill follows fleet size. Ask whether trailers count, whether parked or sold units drop off, and how quickly a new unit is added.
- By user. The bill follows headcount. Ask whether drivers who only do trip inspections count, and whether technicians and office staff are each charged.
- Tiers. Each level adds features. Check which tier holds every item you marked must-have.
- Add-on modules. Parts, tires or integrations billed separately; add them in before comparing totals.
- One-time charges. Setup, data migration or training; get them in writing.
Ask which currency the price is quoted in and whether sales taxes are added on top, whether paying annually rather than monthly changes the price, and what commitment comes with each. Then work out a full year for your real fleet, trailers and add-ons included, under each offer.
Setting it up and moving your records
- Name one owner. Usually the safety manager or shop lead, with the final say on unit names, schedules and forms.
- Clean the unit list. Unit number, VIN, plate, year, make, model and tire size for every truck and trailer, plus the lessor of any leased unit: the identification Standard 11 asks for.
- Record each odometer and its unit. Kilometres or miles, truck by truck, before the first PM date is calculated.
- Load PM schedules with the date and reading of the last service, so the first due points are right.
- Enter every periodic inspection certificate with its expiry date, and every registration, insurance and permit document.
- Set up people and switch over on a date. Drivers, technicians and office staff each learn the few screens they use; after the date, new inspections and repairs go into the new system only.
| Data | Move it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Unit list with identification | Yes | Everything else hangs off it |
| Current odometer and its unit | Yes | Distance-based PM starts from it |
| PM schedules and the last service of each | Yes | Sets the first due points |
| Open defects and open repairs | Yes | Nothing unsafe should fall between systems |
| Periodic inspection certificates and other expiring documents | Yes | Renewals arrive on time from day one |
| Service history | At least the retention period | Two years under Standard 11 and Ontario’s regulation; three years in BC’s CVSE guide |
| Trip inspection reports | Keep them accessible | At least six months under Standard 13 and in Ontario; three months in BC’s CVSE guide |
Older history can stay as an archive file attached to each unit, as long as you can produce it when asked.
RigMD, plan by plan
RigMD is the fleet maintenance side of the TruckerPro TMS, sold under its own name. This is what each plan includes on rigmd.ca today.
Starter
- Truck and trailer records, a document hub per vehicle with archive and restore, ZIP download and print-all, documents that can carry expiry dates, and a service history that exports to Excel.
- Daily renewal alerts for registration, IRP cab cards, insurance, permits and periodic inspections such as CVIP.
- Each truck’s odometer kept in kilometres or miles, set truck by truck, with one current reading updated from a connected Motive, Samsara or Radical ELD, when a work order closes, or by hand; ELD readings feed PM due dates.
- PM schedules by days, by kilometres or miles, or both, per truck or per trailer type, with trailer schedules by days. A daily job marks each PM due soon (by default within 14 days, or 500 km for a truck kept in kilometres) or overdue, with a daily email digest and an in-app notice.
- Driver trip inspections, pre-trip and post-trip, in the TruckerPro Driver app on a checklist based on Canada’s National Safety Code Schedule 1 items. Each item is marked OK, minor or major, with notes, the odometer and the GPS location.
- An optional rule requiring a pre-trip before pickup and a post-trip before delivery. With out-of-service blocking turned on, a major defect takes the truck out of service until a supervisor clears it, and defects show on each vehicle’s risk register.
On Pro
- Work orders with statuses, priority and job type, PM work orders opened automatically, and the next due date and reading rolled forward when the work order closes.
- A lead mechanic and assistants assigned by text and email, labour timers and an hourly rate per mechanic, and parts and labour totals hidden from mechanics.
- Comments with email alerts and before and after photos on the work order.
- Out-of-service downtime, a back-in-service email to the driver, and a PDF of each work order.
- A Mechanic role that sees only work-order pages, used in the web app from a phone or desktop browser.
- Cost per vehicle as a page, CSV and PDF, outside-shop invoices read by AI and then approved, and mechanic history as a CSV.
On Premium
- Parts stock with bin location and reorder point; parts picked onto work orders adjust stock, a low-stock email goes out, and a supplier invoice read by AI restocks parts.
- Tire positions, tread readings, retreads and a cost per mile for each tire, plus a warranty expiry email 30 days ahead.
- PM inspections recorded on the Quebec SAAQ forms (6609A for trucks, 6648A for trailers) and printed as a PDF.
The TruckerPro team sets up every account: tell us about your fleet and we will set yours up and switch maintenance on. Compare the plans, and see TruckerPro’s fleet maintenance software and the TruckerPro trucking TMS it runs on.
Sources
- National Safety Code, Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators
- National Safety Code Standard 11: Maintenance and Periodic Inspection Standards (January 2020), Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators
- NSC Standard 13: Daily Vehicle Trip Inspection, Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators
- O. Reg. 199/07: Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspections, Government of Ontario
- Get a safety or emissions inspection for a commercial vehicle, Government of Ontario
- Vehicle inspection program: commercial vehicles, Government of Alberta
- CVSE vehicle inspections and standards: vehicles, Government of British Columbia
- National Safety Code for Carriers: Record Keeping At-a-Glance, BC Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement
- About vehicle inspections, Manitoba Public Insurance
- Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspection (PMVI) program, Saskatchewan Government Insurance
- Mandatory mechanical inspection, Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec
- Preventative maintenance program, Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec
- Heavy vehicle record keeping, Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec
This guide is general information, not legal or engineering advice. Rules change and differ by jurisdiction; check the regulation or the agency named above, and your equipment maker’s service manual.