Out of service? or a inadvertence of a driver

One of our drivers arrived at a roadside inspection center on August 2nd around 9pm. The driver was then redirected for a formal level 2 inspection, after the inspector suspected an anomaly on the trailer's air suspension.
As a result of this inspection, we had an OOS for "defleated air suspension" (393.207(f)). The cause of the anomaly was quickly found, the driver had simply forgotten to wind up the suspension with the switch. 17 minutes later, he left the inspection center with a documented and resolved OOS.

There was no mechanical failure of the air suspension, so no repairs were required to resolve the anomaly. Only one switch was forgotten to be activated and we still received an OOS.

If a driver forgets to activate his blinker at an intersection or during a lane change, will he be issued an OOS for mechanical failure? If the inspector notices such a problem, he will inspect the vehicle and validate that flashing light is functional. If it is functional, the inspector will have the option of issuing a ticket for reckless driving but will not have an OOS for mechanical failure.

We believe that it is necessary that this type of situation be clarified so that an event like we had is not treated as a mechanical failure when in fact it is not.

It was discussed whether or not this should be an equipment violation due to the fact there nothing was wrong with the equipment.

It was an error on the driver’s part. Inspectors are taught to inspect the vehicle as it is presented to them. When a defect of the regulations is discovered, the inspector documents what is seen and does not attempt to diagnose why the defect exists.

A vehicle operating with a deflated air suspension is the same hazard whether the driver forgot to air it up or it
was deflated for another reason. In this case, the driver fixed the equipment violation by airing up the suspension and the OOS condition was rectified. How and why the condition is present, is not part of the inspection process of the inspector at roadside.