Motor Carrier Specialist

Motor Carrier Specialist

The Motor Carrier Specialist (MCS) plays a vital role within our commercial unit at the California Highway Patrol. An MSC is assigned to work all over California and travel to facilities where commercial vehicles are based. An MCS will inspect motor carriers for compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements relating to safety, maintenance, and operational practices. Among other duties, MCSs will check motor carrier drivers for controlled substances, alcohol testing, and hazardous materials transportation requirements. They will also make recommendations to motor carriers regarding improvements to their procedures and practices.

They will perform inspections and evaluations of school buses, general public paratransit vehicles, farm labor vehicles, buses, trucks, truck tractors, pull-trailers, and semi-trailers. The MCS is essential in helping maintain our roadways safe from dangerous and unkept commercial vehicles.

Minimum qualifications for the position of MCS:

• One year of experience performing the duties of a CVIS I, Range B.

• Four years of experience in any one or a combination of the following: College education with major work in automotive or mechanical engineering may be substituted for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.

  1.  As a journey-level mechanic including mechanical repair and preventive maintenance programs. Experience as a driver of a bus or truck and trailer or semi-trailer, heavy-duty trucking equipment may be substituted for up to one year of the required journey-level mechanic experience, Or 
  2. Automotive or mechanical engineering experience, which shall have included extensive experience in the design, modification, or regulation of motor vehicle equipment, Or 
  3. As a field supervisor, or a comparable position with a motor carrier, operating a fleet of heavy-duty motor trucking or bus vehicles with typical over-the-road operations.

MCS Open Examination:

The open examination period for Motor Carrier Specialist (MCS) has officially opened. Interested parties will have until the final filing date to complete and mail in their CA STD 678 form to our Selection Standards and Examinations Section. The application will register the applicant to take the written exam, all who pass will receive list eligibility, allowing them to apply to open MCS vacancies throughout the state.

Salary Range:

Motor Carrier Specialist I - $5,006-$6,049 /month

Scope

Are you familiar with:

• Different types of commercial vehicles

• Basic commercial vehicle mechanics and terminology?

• Do you shine under stress?

• Are you a great communicator?

Knowledge of:

• Proper use of the English language.

• Mechanical terminology common to motor carrier personnel.

• Automotive, bus, and truck mechanics.

• Construction and equipment systems of different types of motor vehicles.

• Standards of mechanical condition.
  Safe working practices, occupational safety practices, and accident prevention techniques.

Ability to:

• Communicate orally in public and on a one-to-one basis.

• Write clear, accurate, and concise reports.
  Follow oral and written instructions.

• Manage own time, prioritize tasks, and multi-task.

• Work effectively in stressful situations.

• Reach a conclusion by analyzing all available information.

• Detect unsafe equipment and operating practices.

• Use basic tools and safety equipment.

• Perform inspections safely.

• Perform mathematical calculations using addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, and percentages, and to determine the appropriate formula to use in calculations.

• Interact effectively with others and work as a team member.

• Maintain sufficient physical ability and dexterity to allow proper inspection of vehicles and cargo tanks.

• Anticipate and recognize problems and take effective action.