How to Get and Complete the MN DOT MIP Inspection Form

The Minnesota DOT MIP inspection form, officially the Vehicle Inspection Report, is published free on the Minnesota State Patrol’s website in two versions: a printable handwritten form and an electronic fillable PDF. You download it, but you do not complete it yourself. A certified inspector examines the vehicle, marks each of the 22 categories pass, fail, or not applicable, signs the report, and issues the windshield decal that proves annual compliance under the Mandatory Inspection Program.¹

Where to Download the Form

The current Vehicle Inspection Report lives on the Department of Public Safety site under the State Patrol’s commercial vehicles pages. Pick the handwritten version if your inspector will fill it out at the shop with a pen; pick the fillable electronic version if the inspector wants to type and save the report digitally. Both are the same form and both are free.¹

The decal is separate. Decals come from the Department of Public Safety at a statutory maximum of $2 each, and only certified inspectors can buy them.² So you download the report; the inspector supplies the decal.

Who Can Complete and Sign the Form

A valid MIP report has to be signed by an inspector certified by the commissioner of public safety. Certification is open to Department of Public Safety and MnDOT staff, fleet owners and their employees, licensed commercial vehicle dealers and their employees, commercial vehicle repair shops, and government agencies that operate commercial motor vehicles.² If you own a fleet and have a certified employee on staff, that employee can inspect your vehicles. Otherwise, you take the truck to a certified shop.

Filling Out the Top of the Form

The header of the Vehicle Inspection Report captures everything that identifies the vehicle, the carrier, and the inspection event itself. The inspector enters:

The decal number being issued.
The date and time the inspection starts and ends.
The street address, city, state, and ZIP where the inspection takes place.
Vehicle make, year, VIN, unit number, odometer reading, license plate number, and state of registration.
Owner name and full mailing address.
Carrier name and full mailing address, if different from the owner.
USDOT numbers for both the owner and the carrier.
The inspector’s name and certification number.

For a combination vehicle, the trailer gets its own line with its license plate, state, and gross vehicle weight rating. Each unit in a combination needs its own report and its own decal, so a tractor pulling a semitrailer generates two inspections, not one.³

The 22 Inspection Categories

The body of the form walks the inspector through 22 mechanical categories. Every applicable line item is marked pass, fail, or N/A. The checklist covers:

Brake system, including service brake adjustment and pads, parking brake, drums or rotors, hoses and tubing, low-pressure warning device, tractor protection valve, air compressor, electric and hydraulic brakes, ABS warning lights, automatic slack adjusters, and trailer breakaway brakes.
Coupling devices: fifth wheel and mounting, king pin, pintle hooks, ball hitch, drawbar and towbar, safety chains and cables, saddle mounts, and locking mechanisms.
Exhaust system.
Fuel system, checking for visible leaks and verifying the fuel cap and tank securement.
Lighting: headlamps, tail lamps, brake lamps, turn signals, marker and clearance lamps, and conspicuity tape or reflectors.
Safe loading.
Steering: wheel free play, column, front axle beam, gear box, pitman arm, power steering, ball and socket joints, tie rods, and drag links.
Suspension: U-bolts, spring assembly, torque and radius components.
Frame members, tire and wheel clearance, and sliding subframe assemblies and locking devices on trailers.
Tires, wheels, and rims, including tread depth, pressure, lock or side rings, fasteners, and welds.
Windshield and glazing, wipers, washers, and defrosters.
Rear-vision mirrors, horn, fire extinguisher, emergency warning devices, rear-end protection, cab and body, wheel flaps, driveline and driveshaft, and motorcoach or bus seating.

Page two is for measurements. The inspector records brake chamber type and size, pushrod stroke at each axle position, tire size, tread depth and pressure, steering wheel free play, fifth-wheel measurements, and the tractor protection valve activation pressure.⁴

Any item marked failed has to be repaired before the vehicle can receive a decal. When every applicable item passes, the inspector signs the report, writes the decal number into the header, affixes the decal to the vehicle, and hands the completed report to the carrier.⁴

Decal Placement and How Long the Inspection Lasts

The decal goes on the vehicle in a spot where a State Patrol officer can see it during a roadside stop. The inspection and its decal are valid for one year from the inspection date, so the clock runs from the day the inspector signs the form, not from a fixed annual date.

Keeping the Completed Report

Hold onto your copy. The vehicle owner has to keep the completed report for at least 14 months at a Minnesota location where the vehicle is domiciled or maintained. The inspector keeps a copy for the same 14 months at their place of business. During that window, both copies must be available for review by authorized federal, state, or local officials.²

Does Your Vehicle Even Need This Form?

Before you schedule anything, confirm the vehicle falls under the MIP. Minn. Stat. § 169.781 applies to any commercial motor vehicle used to transport passengers or property that weighs more than 26,000 pounds alone or in combination, any bus, and any vehicle of any size carrying hazardous materials that require placarding under 49 CFR Parts 100–185. Self-propelled special mobile equipment on a commercial chassis and vehicles transporting railroad employees for a motor carrier are also covered.²

Several vehicles are outside the program. School buses and Head Start buses with a valid certificate under Minn. Stat. § 169.451 follow their own inspection regime. Buses run by the Metropolitan Council or a local transit commission under Chapter 458A are excluded. Covered farm vehicles can qualify for an exemption when operated by a farm or ranch owner, operator, employee, or family member and used to haul agricultural commodities, livestock, or farm machinery and supplies; vehicles at 26,001 pounds or less can travel anywhere in the U.S. under that exemption, while heavier farm vehicles are limited to Minnesota or 150 air miles of the farm when crossing state lines, must display the covered farm vehicle designation, and cannot be for-hire or placarded hazmat.⁵ Interstate carriers that already meet federal motor vehicle inspection requirements can carry proof of federal compliance plus a certificate of compliance from the commissioner instead of a state MIP decal, which avoids a duplicate inspection.²

Penalties for Skipping or Faking It

Operating a commercial motor vehicle in Minnesota without a valid MIP decal, or without the federal-compliance alternative and the commissioner’s certificate, is a misdemeanor under Minn. Stat. § 169.781, subd. 8.² Minnesota misdemeanors can carry fines and up to 90 days in jail, though inspection violations are typically resolved with fines.

Faking the decal is worse. Forging, duplicating, or altering a document to look like a Minnesota inspection decal, or possessing a fake decal with intent to defraud, is a gross misdemeanor.² On top of the criminal exposure, any vehicle found with serious mechanical defects at a roadside stop can be placed out of service under federal standards until the defect is fixed, which parks the truck and the load with it.

1
Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Mandatory Inspection Program
2
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 169.781 – Annual Commercial Vehicle Inspection Inspectors, Fee, Penalty
3
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Vehicle Inspection
4
Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Minnesota State Patrol Periodic Vehicle Inspection Information Form
5
Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Designation as a Minnesota Covered Farm Vehicle