A method and apparatus to provide evidence that a person who is intended
to make a required inspection was actually physically present at a
predefined location associated with the inspection, so that the
inspection could have been done, and if not, to provide an indication of
the failure to perform the inspection. This invention is particularly
well suited to determine if required pre/post-trip inspections of
vehicles have been performed. Detecting a triggering condition, such as
powering on (or off) equipment, indicates the beginning of a period of
time during which the inspection is to be performed. The monitoring
system waits for a predetermined event to occur, which indicates the
period of time has expired and determines if data corresponding to the
inspection have been received. If not, it is concluded that the
inspection has not been performed.