A cylinder that gets a fresh requalification stamp with no documented visual inspection behind it isn't requalified. It's a stamp with nothing under it. DOT's rule is plain: under 49 CFR 180.205 the visual inspection comes first, then the date. The gap most shops carry isn't a missing rule. It's a record nobody can find when an adjuster or a state inspector asks for it. Build one routine your whole crew runs the same way, and that gap closes.
Originally published on Propane Insider.