Forty-four roadside inspectors from across North America will compete to be named the best safety inspector at the annual North American Inspectors Championship in Pittsburgh next week.
The contestants will battle it out under this year's theme of "Education, Performance, Uniformity, and Partnerships."

The event, sponsored by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, is held in conjunction with the American Trucking Associations' National Truck Driving Championship.

"Each and every year we hold the competition, we are strengthening the quality of inspections across North America and developing leaders in highway safety," said Stephen Campbell, executive director of the CVSA. "Commercial motor vehicle safety continues to be a challenge and we need the involvement of all affected parties to help us better understand these issues and put into place practical solutions."

NAIC's purpose is to recognize the inspector for demonstrating inspector excellence. The goals are to provide contestants with education on the latest commercial vehicle safety issues, promote uniformity of inspections throughout North America, challenge contestants using real world scenarios, provide CVSA with a snapshot of the current inspection environment, strengthen the industry and enforcement partnerships and promote camaraderie between inspectors, jurisdictions and countries.

"Commercial vehicle safety inspectors play a critical role toward reducing crashes and saving lives," said Rose McMurray, FMCSA acting deputy administrator. "These dedicated law enforcement professionals are our 'front line' defense when it comes to maximizing highway safety."

NAIC contestants are evaluated in the following seven categories:

1. North American Standard Level I Inspection
2. North American Standard Level I Inspection Procedures
3. North American Standard HAZMAT/Transportation of Dangerous Goods Inspection
4. North American Standard Cargo Tank/Other Bulk Packagings Inspection
5. North American Standard Level V Passenger Vehicle Inspection
6. North American Standard Personal Interview
7. North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria Exam

More info: www.cvsa.org