§393.30 requires every storage battery on a CMV to be securely mounted, located so that it cannot be flooded by water entering the cab, and (where contained in a compartment) protected with a non-conductive ventilated cover. The most common practical reading: the battery must not move, must not arc against the box, and must be secured against ejection in an accident.
Severity weight
Severity weight 2 in the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC. Findings cluster around the same root causes — corroded hold-downs, missing fasteners, a cover that no longer latches.
How it gets cited
The two patterns: (1) the battery hold-down strap or J-bolt is missing, broken, or no longer tensioning the case — the battery rocks in the box when the truck moves; (2) the battery cover or compartment is loose, missing, or so corroded that the terminals are unprotected. A wiggle test by the inspector produces the cite in either case.
How to prevent it
- Check battery security on every pre-trip — physical hand pressure on the case, not just a visual.
- Replace hold-downs on the maintenance schedule, not when they break — corroded steel goes from tight to gone in a single freeze-thaw cycle.
- Keep battery cover hardware in stock; the cover is often missing because the prior driver didn't put it back.
How Roadworthy HQ helps
A battery-installation citation shows up in Roadworthy HQ as part of the inspection it came from, not as a record of its own: the app does not store 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.