With more inspections performed by fewer people at fewer locations, this year’s 72-hour Roadcheck inspection blitz found a drop in the number of trucks put out of service.

During the 14th annual Roadcheck, June 4-6, more than 8,000 inspectors performed more than 49,000 North American Standard inspections – nearly 9 percent more than last year, with a record number of Level I inspections performed. This increased number of inspections was accomplished with 2,500 fewer personnel at 100 fewer locations than in Roadcheck 2001.
Inspectors put 22 percent of the vehicles out of service – an 8-percent improvement over last year’s 24 percent. Since 2000, the vehicle out of service rate has dropped by close to 16 percent.
Brake problems were the most frequent vehicle out-of-service violation, accounting for 53 percent of the total vehicle out-of-service violations, followed by lights (13 percent), tires and wheels (8 percent), load securement (7 percent) and suspension (5 percent).
Less than 6 percent of the drivers were placed out of service, a number that has remained unchanged over the last three Roadchecks. Most of them,58.1 percent, were placed out of service for hours-of-service violations, plus more than 8 percent for falsifying their records of duty status. Nearly 400 drivers, or 11.5 percent of those placed out of service, had problems with their commercial driver’s licenses, such as suspended or disqualified licenses. Only 1 percent of those placed out of service were due to drug/alcohol violations.
There was an increased emphasis placed on hazardous materials loads and drivers, due in large part to security concerns in the truck and bus industry. Only 17.1 percent of the vehicles and 2.6 percent of the drivers were placed out of service. In 2001, 17.2 percent of vehicles and 2.3 percent of drivers were placed out of service.
From 1992 to 2002, the vehicle out-of-service rate for Level I inspections conducted during Roadcheck has gone from 34.1 to 24.9 percent – a decrease of 27 percent. During the same period, the driver out-of-service rate for Level I inspections dropped from 5.6 to 5.1 percent.
International Roadchecks are sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance with participation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, Transport Canada, Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (Mexico), and for 2002, the Research and Special Programs Administration.