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Roadcheck 2013: Driver OOS violations down for second consecutive year

The number of commercial vehicle drivers being pulled off the road for out-of-service violations dropped for the second straight year according to data published from Roadcheck 2013.

Commercial vehicle inspectors across North America completed 73,023 truck and bus inspections during the 72-hour-long enforcement blitz conducted by CVSA members. The campaign, which ran June 4-6, saw a total of 47,771 North American Standard Level I inspections, in which vehicles and drivers are assessed for violations of federal, state or Canadian provincial safety regulations.

Of Level I inspections conducted in Canada and the U.S., 24.1 percent were found with out-of-service violations. There were a total of 71,630 driver inspections, including those conducted during Level I inspections, from which 4.2 percent were found with OOS violations, compared to 4.6 percent in 2012. There were 899 seat belt violations issued.

CVSA’s report did not list any specific numbers pertaining to Mexican trucks. An email request on Sept 12 from Land Line to CVSA requesting specific data on Mexican truck and driver inspections has not been answered.

Nearly 52 percent of all OOS violations for drivers were related to hours-of-service violations, according to the data, an increase of 1.6 percent over 2012. Roughly 37 percent of all OOS violations in hazmat were loading violations, also an increase compared to the figures from last year’s Roadcheck.

A record number of vehicles were inspected in 2012. Of those inspections, 48,815 were Level I. Other inspections conducted were vehicle-only or driver-only inspections.

According to a press release accompanying the Roadcheck 2013 results, this year’s enforcement  included special emphasis on motorcoach safety, including traffic enforcement, as well as securement of cargo. Jurisdictions reported a total of 1,471 motorcoaches were inspected during Roadcheck this year.

According to the data, 96.9 percent of drivers for passenger-carrying vehicles passed inspections, while 3.1 percent were placed out-of-service. That number increased from 2.5 percent of passenger-carrying drivers in 2012.

Cargo securement-related violations represented 11.7 percent of all OOS violations issued during the event, down slightly from 12.3 percent in 2012.

Brake adjustment and other brake system violations once again led the way in terms of vehicle violations, accounting for 49.6 percent of all violations.

CVSA estimates that more than 10,000 CVSA and FMCSA inspectors participated at approximately 2,500 locations across North America during this year’s event. Approximately 1,000 commercial vehicles were inspected every hour during the 72-hour event. The United States, Canada and Mexico participated with inspections occurring either at fixed or temporary inspection locations.

Roadcheck has resulted in the inspection of more than 1.3 million vehicles and drivers since it began in 1988.

CVSA sponsors Roadcheck each year with the support of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), Transport Canada, and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (Mexico).

A fact-sheet on the Roadcheck 2013 results is available here.

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