What 393.3-SV means in plain language
A citation for 393.3-SV means an inspector found that your truck's external sun visor was positioned or damaged in a way that blocks your line of sight while driving. The visor—that panel above the windshield designed to reduce glare—must not obstruct your ability to see the road, mirrors, or signal lights.
This is fundamentally a visibility issue. Your view of the road ahead, to the sides, and in your mirrors is critical to safe operation. A sun visor that droops, hangs at an angle, or has broken mounting hardware can impair that visibility. The regulation requires that external sun visors be maintained so they do not create blind spots or restrict your forward or peripheral vision.
This is not about having a sun visor on your truck. It's about making sure whatever visor you have doesn't get in the way of safe driving.
What our enforcement data actually shows
Across our 13 million+ inspection records, 393.3-SV is cited infrequently compared to the universe of vehicle maintenance codes. You received one of 288 all-time citations for this violation—ranking it #1100 of 3,036 FMCSR codes by citation volume. In the last 12 months alone, inspectors documented 195 citations, with 62 citations in just the last 90 days.
Here's the critical piece for your situation: this violation has a 0.0% out-of-service rate. That means in every single instance in our database—all 288 citations—inspectors did not remove the vehicle from service. Not one truck was ordered off the road for this violation. This stands in sharp contrast to the all-FMCSR average out-of-service rate of 31.4%, meaning 393.3-SV is treated as a correctable defect, not a safety-critical emergency.
The citation you received is a violation that needs to be corrected, but it does not automatically sideline your truck or put you in the highest-risk category of roadside enforcement outcomes.
Who gets cited most
Our inspection records show this violation is not evenly distributed across the country. Over the last 180 days, enforcement has concentrated in a few states:
- Arizona leads by a significant margin with 67 citations, followed by Kansas with 30 citations, and California with 20 citations. All three states have recorded a 0.0% out-of-service rate for 393.3-SV, consistent with the national pattern.
If you were cited in Arizona, you're in the state where this particular violation is most actively enforced. If you operate in one of the other 45 states, the odds of encountering this citation are substantially lower.
Among carriers, our data shows fleets such as NO LIMITS LOGISTICS LLC with 4 citations and MORENO TRUCKING LLC with 3 citations appearing in the enforcement record. This does not indicate systemic fleet-wide problems—rather, it reflects where inspectors have encountered the issue over the all-time span of our database.
How severe is this compared to similar codes
393.3-SV sits in the vehicle maintenance category alongside codes addressing lighting, inspection records, and structural defects. A useful comparison:
- 393.9(a) — Inoperable required lamps has been cited 660,737 times with a 15.4% out-of-service rate. Lighting failures are far more frequently cited and carry meaningful OOS consequences.
- 396.3(a)(1) — General inspection/repair/maintenance violations accounts for 236,919 citations with a 45.3% out-of-service rate—the most severe peer code in enforcement.
- 393.78 — Windshield condition defects has 157,894 citations but only a 0.3% out-of-service rate, similar in leniency to 393.3-SV but cited roughly 550 times more often.
Your citation is for a low-volume, low-severity violation. It is correctable and not treated as grounds for immediate vehicle removal.
How to avoid it
The data on co-occurring violations gives you actionable clues about what inspectors are checking when they find a sun visor issue. Here's what to do:
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Inspect the sun visor mounting hardware during pre-trip. Check that bolts, brackets, or fasteners holding the visor are secure and not bent. If the visor hangs crooked or sags, tighten or replace the hardware before you roll. This is a two-minute pre-trip check.
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Ensure the visor moves freely and doesn't rest on the steering wheel, dashboard, or windshield. When folded or retracted, it should sit flush or at a safe angle that does not intrude into your sightline. Test the pivot points and ensure nothing is binding.
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Check lighting devices and reflectors while you're inspecting the front of the truck. Our data shows 393.11A1-CSLRR (lighting and reflectors) co-occurs with sun visor citations in 12 shared inspections over the last 90 days. If your visor is damaged, adjacent lights may be at risk, and vice versa. A thorough look at the headache rack and upper cab area during pre-trip covers both.
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Replace a damaged or deteriorated visor rather than trying to tape or wire it in place. A makeshift fix is visible to inspectors and doesn't solve the obstruction problem. A sun visor is a relatively inexpensive part.
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Pay attention to vehicle-specific wear patterns. Our data shows Kenworth, Peterbilt, and Freightliner models account for a large share of 393.3-SV citations. If you drive one of these makes, inspect the visor more frequently—these vehicles may have known mounting or durability patterns.
The bottom line: a working sun visor that doesn't block your view is a simple maintenance task. Fix it before the next inspection, and you'll remove this violation from your record.