CVSA Releases 2017 International Roadcheck Results

Commercial motor vehicle enforcement personnel in Canada and the United States conducted more than 62,000 driver and vehicle safety inspections on large trucks and buses during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) 30th annual International Roadcheck, June 6-8, 2017. 23 percent of vehicles and 4.2 percent of drivers that received Level I Inspections were placed out of service.

International Roadcheck is a three-day enforcement event when CVSA-certified inspectors conduct high-volume, large-scale, high-visibility roadside inspections of large trucks and buses. Commercial motor vehicles and their drivers were checked at inspection sites, weigh stations and roving patrol locations along roadways in North America throughout the 72-hour enforcement initiative.

• A total of 62,013 Level I, II and III Inspections were conducted during 2017 International Roadcheck.
• 19.4 percent of commercial motor vehicles inspected (Level I, II or III Inspections) were placed out of service. 4.7 percent of all drivers inspected (Level I, II, and III Inspections) were placed out of service.
• 40,944 inspections were North American Standard (NAS) Level I Inspections. A Level I Inspection is a 37-step procedure that includes examination of both the driver and vehicle. Other inspections conducted included the NAS Level II Walk-Around Inspection (12,787) and the NAS Level III Driver-Only Inspection (8,282).
• 7,713 inspections were conducted in Canada; 54,300 were conducted in the United States.

Vehicle-related results are as follows:

• Of the 40,944 Level I Inspections conducted, 23 percent (9,398) percent were placed out of service for vehicle-related violations.
• The top three out-of-service vehicle violations were for brake systems (26.9 percent of vehicle out-of-service violations), cargo securement (15.7 percent) and tires/wheels (15.1 percent).
• Of the 2,267 vehicles carrying hazardous materials/dangerous goods that received a Level I Inspection, 12.8 percent were placed out of service for vehicle-related violations.
• The top three vehicle violations related to the transportation of hazardous materials/dangerous goods were for loading and securement (40.4 percent of all out-of-service hazardous materials/dangerous goods violations), shipping papers (22.7 percent) and placarding (20.8 percent).
• 398 motorcoaches received Level I Inspections; 10.1 percent (40) were placed out of service for vehicle-related violations.
• Of the vehicles placed out of service, brake adjustment and brake system violations combined to represent 41.4 percent (7,743) of all out-of-service vehicle violations.

Driver results are as follows:

• Of the 62,013 total Level I, II, and III Inspections conducted, 4.7 percent (2,940) of drivers were placed out of service for driver-related violations.
• Of Level I, II and III Inspections of vehicles carrying hazardous materials/dangerous goods, 1.9 percent were placed out of service for driver-related violations.
• Out of the 598 motorcoaches that received Level I, II or III Inspections, 3.8 percent (23) of drivers were placed out of service for driver-related violations.
• The top three driver-related violations were for hours of service (32.3 percent of driver out-of-service violations), wrong class license (14.9 percent) and false log book (11.3 percent).
• There were 710 safety belt violations.

Each year, International Roadcheck places special emphasis on a category of violations. This year’s focus was cargo securement. While checking for compliance with safe cargo securement regulations is always part of roadside inspections, CVSA highlighted proper cargo securement this year as a reminder of its importance. Cargo securement violations (not including hazardous materials/dangerous goods loading/securement) represented 15.7 percent of all vehicle out of service violations during 2017 International Roadcheck.

The top five violations related to cargo securement (out of a total of 3,282) in the United States were:

1. No or improper load securement (423)
2. Failure to secure vehicle equipment (379)
3. Leaking, spilling, blowing, falling cargo (281)
4. Insufficient tiedowns to prevent forward movement for load not blocked by headerboard, bulkhead or cargo (256)
5. Failure to secure load (178)

The specific out-of-service (OOS) violation percentage distributions (numbers indicate a percentage of the total out-of-service violations by category) from 2017 International Roadcheck are shown below: