Under §392.22, whenever a CMV is stopped on the traveled portion or shoulder of a highway for a reason other than necessary traffic stops, the driver must place warning devices in front of and behind the vehicle within ten minutes of stopping. The placement specifications vary by road type — divided highway, undivided two-lane, or curved/hilly road.
Required equipment
Every CMV must carry warning devices per §393.95 — typically three bidirectional reflective triangles, or three liquid-burning flares plus a fusee. Battery-powered emergency warning lamps may also be acceptable in certain configurations.
Common citation patterns
- Stopped for a flat tire, no triangles deployed.
- Triangles deployed but at the wrong distances (the §392.22(b) tables are specific to road type).
- Triangles set out only behind the vehicle, not in front.
How to prevent it
- Pre-trip inspection: confirm warning devices are present, complete, and accessible — not buried under cargo or in a locked toolbox.
- Brief drivers on the §392.22(b) placement diagrams. The specifics matter to inspectors.
- After every breakdown event, log the response — including warning device deployment — in your incident record.
How Roadworthy HQ helps
A §392.22 citation usually traces back to what was, or wasn't, on the truck. Roadworthy HQ does not record individual violation codes. Log the roadside inspection on the vehicle's Inspections tab: date, state, level, driver, the number of violations, and whether it was out-of-service. For an out-of-service inspection the 15-day §396.9(d)(3) repair-certification countdown stays on that tab until you enter the certification date. The rule's 15 days cover every violation on the report, not only out-of-service ones, so for a non-OOS inspection that date is yours to track. The repair itself goes in the vehicle's maintenance log: date, type, what was done, who did it, and cost. DVIRs are logged per vehicle with the defect described in your own words, and a defect marked safety-affecting that is logged without a repair certification sends a critical alert.