CVSA Annual Conference Recap

North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria

The following amendments were suggested for the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (OOSC). They were presented to Class I Members for a vote. The approved changes will be incorporated into next year’s out-of-service criteria, which will take effect on April 1, 2026. Please note that Part I items 9-11 have been renumbered below to reflect the addition of a new item 9. English Proficiency (U.S. Only), which was added to the OOSC by emergency action in June.

1. “Part I, Item 2. OPERATOR’S/CHAUFFER’S LICENSE OR PERMIT (NON-CDL) b. and c.” and “Item 3. COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE, c. and d. Endorsements and Restrictions” were updated to separate “Endorsements and Restrictions” into two different entries – “Endorsements” and “Restrictions” with specific violation codes added for each.
2. The change to “Part I, Item. 8. Intoxicating Beverages, b. Be on Duty or Operate” is to align the out-of-service condition with the alcohol content thresholds in the federal regulations.
3. Language in “Part I, Item 10. DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – U.S., a. Property-Carrying Vehicles (6), (7) and (8) and b. Passenger-Carrying Vehicles (6), (7) and (8)” was modified to clarify when a driver should be out of service for a false record of duty status and a new out-of-service condition was added for electronic logging device tampering.
4. The reference to automatic on-board recording devices was removed from “Part I, Item 10. DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – U.S., Footnote 6” due to them being removed from the regulations.
5. The note from “Part I, Item 11. DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – CANADA, i. No Previous 14 Days” was moved and placed under “h. No Daily Log/Record of Duty Status” as it is more relevant to that section.
6. The text under “Part II, Item 1. BRAKE SYSTEMS, h. Air Brake Hose/Tubing (7)” was moved to “a. Defective Brakes (2)” and the term “gladhands” was changed to “service air connections.”
7. “Part II, Item 1. BRAKE SYSTEMS, a. Defective Brakes (7) Hydraulic and Electric Brakes” and “b. Front Steering Axle(s) Brakes, (4) Hydraulic Brakes – (Front Steering Axle)” were both updated to state less than 1/16” or 1.6 mm to reflect a thinner measurement than the regulatory requirements in Canada and the U.S.
8. “Parking Brake” was changed to “Parking/Emergency Brake” in “Part II, Item 1. BRAKE SYSTEMS, e.”
9. A wire rope damage chart was added to “Part II, Item 2. CARGO SECUREMENT, Tiedown Defect Table – Wire Rope.”
10. Information about countersunk screws was added to “Part II, Item 3. COUPLING DEVICES, b. Upper Coupler (Including Kingpin).”
11. Number (5) about lubricant within the hub was removed from “Part II, Item 14. WHEELS, RIMS and HUBS, i. Hubs.”
12. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Seven Out-of-Service Types chart was added to “Part IV, Item 4. U.S. FEDERAL OUT-OF-SERVICE ORDERS.”

Operational Policies

1. In Operational Policy 4 – Inspector Training and Certification, definitions of certified inspector, new entrant safety auditor, off-site new entrant safety auditor and safety investigator were updated to reflect an enforcement official from a member jurisdiction.
2. Operational Policy 4 was updated to allow a Level VII Inspection to count toward initial and annual certification.
3. Language was added to Operational Policy 4 to clarify that any combination of off-site or on-site new entrant safety audits can meet the maintenance requirements.
4. Operational Policy 4 was amended to allow cargo tanks containing elevated temperature materials to be included in initial certification and maintenance of certification allowances.
5. Operational Policy 4 was updated to include the Canadian term “highway tank” when referencing Cargo Tank Inspection certification.
6. Updates were made to Operational Policy 4 to grandfather in Canadian inspectors in relation to the newly developed Canadian Dangerous Goods Inspection certification course, with future inspectors being required to attend the newly developed course.
7. All references to Advanced Explosives and Cargo Tank Facility Review courses and certifications were removed from Operational Policy 4.
8. Verbiage regarding certification extension was added to Operational Policy 4 for Level II Inspection, Level III Inspection, Level V Inspection, Cargo Tank Inspection, Hazardous Materials/Dangerous Goods Inspection, Passenger Carrier Vehicle Inspection, New Entrant Safey Audit, and Investigative Safety Analysis, similar to what was already applicable to Level I Inspections.
9. Operational Policy 5 – Inspection/CVSA Decal was updated to include guidance on whether to document violations on components not in use on a vehicle when not in combination.
10. Operational Policy 14 – Enhancing Roadside Inspection and Enforcement Data Uniformity was updated to include guidance on how to document 20% out-of-service brake violations when defective brakes are found on certain vehicles.
11. A note regarding documenting anti-lock brake violations was removed from Operational Policy 14.
12. Guidance was added to Operational Policy 14 for documenting violations of overloaded tires.
13. Operational Policy 15 – Inspection and Regulatory Guidance was updated to add guidance for securement, lighting and flag requirements on forklifts on the back of trucks or trailers.
14. A fine structure was added to Operational Policy 17 – Uniform Maximum Fine Schedule for violations for the English language proficiency requirements.

All operational policies may be accessed by members via the CVSA member portal. Once logged in, under the “Documents” heading, select “My Digital Library,” then click on “Operations Manual.”

Administrative Policies

Language was added to CVSA Administrative Policy 19 – CVSA U.S. State and Territorial Training Programs to define veteran and junior Curriculum Advisory Team members, their term limits and application dates.

All administrative policies may be accessed by members via the CVSA member portal. Once logged in, under the “Documents” heading, select “My Digital Library,” then click on “Operations Manual.”

Inspection Procedures

1. Steps 22 and 23 in the North American Standard Level I Light-Duty (Hydraulic) Vehicle and Trailer Inspection Procedure were amended to add guidance on applying and releasing the brakes during the inspection.
2. The North American Standard Hazardous Materials/Dangerous Goods Inspection Procedure was updated to clarify a U.S.- only requirement, include a reference to Canadian package types and remove outdated references to ORM-D materials.

Detailed inspection procedures can be found in the CVSA member portal. Once you’ve logged in, under the “Documents” heading, select “My Digital Library,” then click on “Operations Manual.”

Inspection Schematics

Three inspection schematics were updated:

1. North American Standard Hazardous Materials/Dangerous Goods Inspection Procedure Schematic
2. North American Standard Level I Light-Duty (Hydraulic) Vehicle and Trailer Inspection Procedure Schematic
3. Mexican Licencia Federal de Conductor Schematic

All inspection schematics are housed in the CVSA member portal. Once you’ve logged in, under the “Documents” heading, select “My Digital Library,” then click on “Operations Manual.”

Inspection Bulletins

The following inspection bulletins were updated:

1. 2025-03 – Electronic Parking Brake Control Systems | (French) (Spanish)
2. 2021-04 – Mexican Federal Licenses | (French) (Spanish)
3. 2020-02 – Roadside Examination of Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse Status | (Spanish)
4. 2012-06 – Identifying Intermodal Equipment Providers for Intermodal Chassis

Inspection Standards

The following changes were made to the CVSA Enhanced CMV Inspection Program.

1. The table in the CVSA Enhanced CMV Inspection Standard was edited to clarify when a defect will fail a dispatch or in-transit inspection, and guidance was added to better explain the columns.
2. In Section 3.17.b, a bullet was added to the In-Transit column to make it clear that a brake rotor worn through to center vents is a defect.
3. The note at the bottom of Section 6.1.a was amended to clarify that the inoperative light defects listed in that section would be in either the Dispatch or In-Transit column based on which column an inoperative light is located for a particular light.
4. The CVSA Enhanced CMV Inspection Standard and Periodic Inspection Standard Defective Conditions of Hose, Tubing and Lines was amended to align with Operational Policy 15 – Inspection and Regulatory Guidance and Canada’s National Safety Code 11B.
5. A note was added to CVSA Enhanced CMV Inspection Standard Section 9.4.c to clarify that air exhausting from the control box on a tire inflation system is normal and not a defect.

Letters and Petitions

1. CVSA will petition FMCSA to change the adjudicated citations policy to allow lead state agencies to make a masking determination and deny such requests for data changes.
2. CVSA will send a letter to FMCSA requesting that the agency release the non-redacted version of its English Language Proficiency enforcement guidance, English Language Proficiency Under 49 CFR § 391.11(b)(2) (MC-SEE-2025-0001) to the public.
3. CVSA will send a letter to FMCSA requesting the agency allow commercial motor vehicle drivers to continue to provide enforcement officials with a paper copy of the medical examiner’s certificate as proof of the driver’s medical certification until the National Registry II system is fully functional.

Policy Positions

A policy position on adjudicated citations was added to the CVSA Standing Policy Guide.

Reauthorization Positions

1. An addendum was added to the “Minimum Qualifications for Entry as a Motor Carrier” reauthorization position statement to include CVSA’s recommendations for what should be included as part of the minimum qualifications.
2. An addendum was added to the “Improvements to the New Entrant Safety Audit Program” reauthorization position statement to include CVSA’s recommendations for what should be included to bring the focus back to motor carrier education.

Other

1. The board approved a waiver request from Québec from the requirement that inspectors complete eight annual inspections on passenger-carrying vehicles to maintain their certification. The waiver is necessary due to a ruling in the province that requires inspectors to complete all inspections at scale facilities. The waiver is effective through the end of the 2026 calendar year.
2. CVSA staff will conduct a survey of lead agency contacts to understand the hurdles jurisdictions may have with automated completion of the Level VIII Electronic Inspection and enforcement around them and what must happen if a driver is determined to be out of service.
3. A new Advanced Roadside Hazardous Materials Inspection Course was approved.
4. Curriculum updates were made to the North American Standard Part A (Driver) Inspection, North American Standard Part A (Alaska) Inspection, North American Standard Part B (Vehicle) Inspection, Passenger Carrier Vehicle Inspection, General Hazardous Materials Inspection, Cargo Tank Inspection, Other Bulk Packaging Inspection certification training courses, and the New Entrant Safety Audit and Investigative Safety Analysis certification training courses.

Webinar

CVSA is offering a webinar on Wednesday, Nov. 12, to go over the action items listed above and more.

Meeting Minutes

The board will review and approve the minutes from September’s board meetings at the next board meeting, which will be in December in Washington, D.C. Once approved, the minutes will be posted in the CVSA member portal.

Mark Your Calendar

The CVSA Workshop is scheduled for April 19-23, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois.

Drivers Most Fret About Wages Not Keeping Up With Inflation

Truck Parking Slips to No. 2 Spot in Annual ATRI Survey

Keiron Greenhalgh

Adequate compensation is the top concern among professional drivers in 2025, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual survey of trucking industry participants.

Driver compensation replaced truck parking atop the list of worries for drivers who responded to the 21st critical issues survey, ATRI said Oct. 26.

Truck parking was the No. 2 concern in 2025 for drivers. English-language deficiency for drivers, broker issues and detention/delay at customer facilities rounded out the top five among the 27 topics to choose from.

Wages are up 2.4% for drivers, according to ATRI research, but that is 0.5% below the rate of inflation.

A study commissioned by FinditParts on truck driver job satisfaction saw predictable pay cited by 81% of drivers as the reason for seeking alternative employment.

During the unveiling of the study’s results at American Trucking Associations’ 2025 Management Conference & Exhibition, Prime Inc. over-the-road driver and America’s Road Team captain Emily Plummer bemoaned the state of the economy and its impact on drivers.

“Drivers don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck,” said Plummer, a driver for 24 years who has accumulated more than 3.5 million safe driving miles.

Drivers want to be able to feed their families, pay their mortgage or rent, the basics every American desires, said Plummer, who was named the Truckload Carriers Association’s 2023 Professional Driver of the Year.

Plummer warned MCE attendees that drivers are taking money from their nest eggs to get by when they want to be saving, putting money away for retirement or major life events.

“Every carrier in here would love to pay their drivers more. It is just not on the cards at the moment,” says A&M Transport CEO Andy Owens. (John Sommers II for Transport Topics)

Speaking on the same panel as Plummer unveiling the study’s results, A&M Transport CEO Andy Owens said it had been difficult as a carrier to raise driver wages because of the freight rate recession.

Glendale, Ore.-based truckload carrier A&M Transport operates in five Western states. Owens also is chairman of the ATRI Research Advisory Committee.

“Every carrier in here would love to pay their drivers more. It is just not on the cards at the moment,” said Owens.

The top overall concern among survey respondents, the economy, did not make the Top 10 for drivers despite the correlation between that and drivers’ No. 1 issue.

There were more than 4,200 respondents to the survey. Of those, 47% were from motor carriers and 30% were drivers.

Respondents’ top-ranked strategies for dealing with drivers’ biggest concern in 2025 were quantifying the economic impact of paying drivers for all their hours worked, including detention time and congestion delays; analyzing driver compensation models and the correlation to job satisfaction; and researching the effectiveness of carrier programs that financially incentivize drivers, including regarding fuel economy.

ATRI research has shown driver productivity — and therefore compensation — is hurt by 135.9 million hours annually for detention and 1.2 billion hours annually for congestion.

Meanwhile, truck parking slipped to No. 2 in the rankings for driver concerns, perhaps reflecting progress made over the past year. Truck parking also slipped two places to the No. 4 spot in the overall results of the study.

Ohio and Pennsylvania, for instance, announced expansion of truck parking capacity, with 1,400 spots to be added in Ohio and 1,200 in Pennsylvania.

And at a federal level, the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, which would provide grants for building and improving parking, was unveiled in February, while the Department of Transportation unveiled more than $200 million in grants during the summer.

It is not just the amount of parking that concerns drivers, however, Plummer told MCE attendees. There’s a big difference between parking and safe parking, said Plummer, adding: “I can park my truck anywhere, but am I safe there?”

In addition, safe truck parking is key to attracting and retaining new drivers, especially female drivers, said Plummer.

Oftentimes, drivers may not have a choice outside of on- and off-ramps, said Plummer, which isn’t good enough — a position her peers agree with.

Trucking lawsuits driving up food prices, killing jobs

Tyson Fisher

An increase in lawsuits and nuclear verdicts has been a growing problem for the trucking industry. However, researchers found that sweeping tort reform would greatly benefit all Americans, including addressing one of their main concerns: food prices.

Tort reform was the second-biggest concern among motor carriers, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s latest survey. In just the past year, Wabash had to pay a severely discounted $30 million settlement to end a case that initially put it on the hook for nearly half a billion dollars. Daimler Truck North America got it with a $160 million verdict around the same time.

Trucking stakeholders have sounded the alarm, and some are listening. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., and Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, have introduced a bill that protects trucking companies from lawsuit abuse. Oklahoma enacted tort reform earlier this year. Nevada and Texas are looking into it.

Perhaps more lawmakers would take tort reform for the trucking industry if they realized lawsuit abuse affects everybody. That was what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform recently discovered.

Lawsuit abuse has driven up costs in the trucking industry, both in litigation costs and insurance premiums. But a new report from the Institute for Legal Reform shows the increase in trucking lawsuits has hindered broader economic growth, reducing both GDP and employment.

The study looked at the cost of litigation in the trucking sector per $1,000 of revenue across all states. North Dakota had the lowest at $25. Mississippi had the highest at nearly $58.

What would happen if the cost of litigation in all states dropped to North Dakota’s low level? According to the Institute for Legal Reform, the U.S. GDP would increase by an average of $523 billion a year and add nearly 6 million jobs across all industries.

The reason is simple: lower litigation costs would lead to higher economic activity.

To put that in the context most Americans would understand, the study calculated what that means for food costs. Significant tort reform could lower the expected inflation of “food at home” prices by up to 15%. That’s because food is among the most ground-transport-intensive goods.

That would have a more pronounced effect on lower-income households. Among the lower 20% of household incomes would see savings from money spent on food four times more than median income households. Essentially, substantial tort reform could have a meaningful effect on food insecurity concerns across the country.

Conversely, the reverse holds true as well. For every additional $1 million in trucking litigation costs, the U.S. GDP would drop by $2 million. Consequently, production and economic activity would take a hit.

Essentially, lawsuit abuse in the trucking industry is costing the United States billions of dollars, millions of jobs and driving up the cost of food. Meaningful tort reform could fix the problem. Although the study does not suggest specific policies, it explains how tort reform benefits all Americans, not just truckers.