Each year, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) holds its International Roadcheck during which commercial vehicle inspectors from all states and throughout Mexico and Canada focus their attention on particular issues during their inspections in order to gather data on those issues and to raise awareness on important issues affecting highway safety. According to the CVSA, this year's Roadcheck, which is scheduled for May 4-6, will highlight hours-of-service and vehicle lighting violations:
Each year, CVSA asks its member jurisdictions to capture and report data focusing on a certain category of violations during International Roadcheck. This helps bring awareness to certain aspects of a roadside inspection. This year, inspectors will capture data on two categories, corresponding to the two main inspection categories of the North American Standard Level I Inspection – driver operating requirements and vehicle mechanical fitness. For the driver category, hours of service will be highlighted this year, and for the vehicle category, inspectors will be paying special attention to lighting.
According to FMCSA data, hours-of-service issues are the top driver-related out-of-service violations, accounting for 34.7% of all such violations. And lighting violations are the top vehicle out-of-service violations, accounting for 12.24% of those violations.
Aside from gathering data on these two specific issues, inspections performed as part of Roadcheck will be conducted in the same manner as typical roadside inspections. That said, according to CVSA, vehicles that successfully pass inspection without any critical vehicle inspection item violations found after a completed Level I or Level V Inspection, should receive a CVSA decal, and in general, vehicles with a CVSA decal are not re-inspected during the three-month period during which the decal is valid. Instead, inspectors focus their efforts on vehicles without a valid CVSA decal.
How Trucksafe can help
With Roadcheck's increased emphasis on hours-of-service compliance, it's now more important than ever that carriers ensure their drivers are properly trained on the hours-of-service regulations in Part 395 of the safety regulations. This includes the substantive hours-of-service restrictions (e.g., 11-hour driving limit, 14-hour driving window, 30-minute rest break, and 60/70-hour rule), as well as the records of duty status/ELD requirements.
To aid in this training, Trucksafe recently launched its Hours-of-Service Mini Course through Trucksafe Academy, an interactive learning course that can be completed online, including on mobile devices. The course includes five detailed video lessons breaking the hours-of-service regulations down in an engaging and memorable way. The course also includes a helpful quiz and a certificate of completion. You can learn more about the course at this link.
If you have any questions about Trucksafe Academy or need help specific to your operations, please feel free to contact us.
