More than 40,000 commercial motor vehicle inspections were conducted May 4-6 for International Roadcheck, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) annual high-volume, high-visibility inspection and enforcement initiative.

Approximately 83.5% of the commercial motor vehicles examined had no out-of-service (OOS) violations. Inspectors removed 6,710 commercial motor vehicles and 2,080 drivers from roadways – a 16.5% vehicle and 5.3% driver out-of-service rate – over that three-day inspection period.

Each year, CVSA highlights a category of violations during International Roadcheck to bring awareness to certain aspects of a routine roadside inspection. This year, inspectors captured data on two categories – hours of service and lighting.

Vehicle Violations

There were 1,367 out-of-service lighting violations, accounting for 14.1% of all vehicle out-of-service violations. It was the third most-cited violation, after brake systems (2,564 OOS violations) and tires (2,564 OOS violations). Out-of-service lighting device violations include headlamps, tail lamps, stop lamps, turn signals and lamps on projecting loads.

Of the 9,691 out-of-service vehicle violations issued, the top five violations also included violations in the brake adjustment (1,203 OOS violations) and cargo securement (1,192 OOS violations) categories.

Driver Violations

The second focus area, hours of service, was the most cited driver out-of-service violation, accounting for 41.5% of all driver out-of-service violations. That’s 1,203 violations.

Hours-of-service rules limit the number of hours that drivers of commercial property- and passenger-carrying vehicles are permitted to spend driving and working and regulate the minimum amount of time drivers must rest between driving shifts. Canada, Mexico and the U.S. all have strict hours-of-service regulations in place to help reduce the occurrence of driver fatigue.

Types of Inspections

CVSA-certified inspectors at weigh stations, inspection stations, roadside and designated inspection sites in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. inspected commercial trucks and combinations, cargo tank hazardous materials/dangerous goods (HM/DG) trucks and combinations, non-cargo tank HM/DG trucks and combinations, and motorcoaches/buses during International Roadcheck.

Inspectors primarily conducted the North American Standard Level I Inspection, a 37-step inspection process that involves thorough inspection of the vehicle (including underneath the vehicle) and the driver.

Inspectors performed 23,135 Level I Inspections and removed 5,048 vehicles (21.8%) and 1,200 (5.2%) drivers from roadways due to the discovery of critical vehicle or driver inspection item violations as identified in the CVSA North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria.

In addition to Level I Inspections, inspectors also conducted Level II Walk-Around Driver/Vehicle Inspections, Level III Driver/Credential/Administrative Inspections and Level V Vehicle-Only Inspections.

In Canada and the U.S., inspectors conducted 9,410 Level II Inspections and placed 1,593 (16.9%) vehicles and 549 drivers (5.8%) out of service. They also conducted 6,836 Level III Inspections and placed 331 drivers out of service. That is a 4.8% driver out-of-service rate.