What is a pre-use inspection for port equipment?
A pre-use inspection is the check an operator makes at the start of every shift, before a reach stacker, empty container handler, terminal tractor or straddle carrier starts work. It finds leaks, worn tires, a twistlock that does not lock or a brake that does not hold before the machine lifts a container over a person or drives through a busy yard.
The workbook gives one printable checklist per machine type, a log of every check with the hour meter reading, a defect register that keeps a machine out of service until the repair is recorded, and a unit register that shows the next service by engine hours.
What do safety rules say about daily checks?
- Do not run a defective truck: the U.S. marine terminal standard, OSHA 29 CFR 1917.43(c)(5), says powered industrial trucks with a fuel system leak or any other safety defect shall not be operated, and (c)(4) requires brakes in safe condition.
- Daily checklists: OSHA's sample daily checklists split the check into key-off items (leaks, tires, fluids, hydraulic cylinders) and engine-running items (gauges, hour meter, steering, brakes, horn, lights, attachments), and say to adapt the list to each type of truck.
- Safety features to check: PEMA, TT Club and ICHCA recommend seat belts on reach stackers, straddle carriers and terminal tractors, a fifth wheel locking indication and cab air filtration on terminal tractors, and weight and eccentricity measurement, anti-collision and fire suppression on yard machines (2nd edition, December 2012).
- Docks guidance: the UK HSE code of practice for docks, L148 (2014), asks for vehicles that are maintained and inspected, the parking brake on whenever the driver leaves the cab, safe access and seat belts where fitted.
Port authorities and terminal operators in the Gulf set their own rules for equipment on their sites. Check the current requirements of your port and of the manufacturer, and adapt the items in the file to them.
How to use the checklist
- Print the sheet for the machine type, or fill it in on a tablet: the first part applies to every machine, the second to the type.
- Mark every item OK, Defect or N/A, and write the hour meter reading.
- Read the outcome: a defect on a stop item gives Do not use; other defects give Defects reported; a blank item gives Check not complete.
- Log it: enter the check in the Inspection log and each defect in the register, which keeps a stop defect Out of service until a repair date is entered.
- Plan the service: the unit register takes the latest hour meter reading for each machine and counts the hours left to its next service.
Which items stop the machine?
Items marked as stop items include leaks, tires and wheel nuts, brakes, steering, the seat belt, the fire extinguisher or suppression system, lights and reversing alarm, twistlocks and their indicators, the spreader, the boom, the weight or load moment indicator and the fifth wheel lock. Each item carries a code that points to its source on the Settings sheet. The Stop item column is editable: set it from the manufacturer's manual and your own risk assessment.
How does the workbook calculate?
Worked example: two days on one terminal
- On 18 October, terminal tractor TT-07 has a silent reversing alarm, a stop item. The checklist says Do not use until it is fixed; the workshop replaces the alarm the same day and the register shows D-001 Closed.
- On 19 October, straddle carrier SC-03 shows the rear left lock lamp lit when unlocked. D-002 stays Out of service with 2 days open until a repair date is entered.
- Reach stacker RS-01 reads 6,419.8 hours. With its last service at 6,000 hours and a 500-hour example interval, it has 80 hours left. Empty container handler EC-01 has 28 hours left, inside the 50-hour margin, so it shows Due soon.
Common mistakes in equipment checks
- Ticking the whole sheet at once. Engine-running items need the engine running.
- One generic list for every machine. A terminal tractor has no spreader; a reach stacker has no fifth wheel.
- Defects with no owner. Every defect needs a person it was reported to and a repair date.
- No hour meter reading. Without it, services drift and a machine runs past its interval.
What the template does not cover
The workbook organizes daily checks; it is not a thorough examination of lifting equipment, which has its own intervals and competent examiner, and it does not cover quay cranes or RTG and RMG cranes, which follow their manufacturers' inspection programs. The 500-hour service interval, the 50-hour margin and the example machines are examples only: enter your manufacturer's intervals. It does not replace the manufacturer's manual or the safety rules of your port.
Sources
- OSHA, 29 CFR 1917.43, Powered industrial trucks (marine terminals), paragraphs (b)(5), (c)(4), (c)(5), (e)(3). Source: OSHA.
- OSHA, Sample Daily Checklists for Powered Industrial Trucks. Source: OSHA.
- PEMA, TT Club and ICHCA, Recommended Minimum Safety Features for Container Yard Equipment, 2nd edition, December 2012. Source: TT Club.
- HSE, Safety in docks, Approved Code of Practice L148, 1st edition, 2014. Source: HSE. Last reviewed 21 October 2026.