The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) kicks off its 72-hour “Roadcheck” inspection blitz today, with over 10,000 federal, state, provincial and local inspectors working at 1,500 locations across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to conduct comprehensive North American Standard Level I Inspections.
“Roadcheck gives CVSA and its members a powerful and high-visibility mechanism to spotlight the critical role of comprehensive commercial vehicle driver and vehicle safety inspections to prevent roadway tragedies,” noted Mark Savage, a major with the Colorado State Patrol and CVSA’s president.
The group noted that this is the 26thtime the annual Roadcheck campaign has been conducted, and that this year will mark the first time CVSA will conduct an official “launch event” on Canadian soil – specifically at an inspection location outside Niagara Falls.
From June 4-6, inspectors across North America will conduct Level I inspections of trucks, tractor-trailers, buses and motorcoaches, and submit inspection records to their state, provincial and federal jurisdiction systems for analyses. CVSA added that it will also tap into that data, comparing it to past inspection results to help identify trends and to measure program effectiveness.
Additionally, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is providing to each state and province quick reference visor cards for distribution to drivers during Roadcheck 2013 concerning the new hours-of-service [HOS] rule changes taking effect July 1.
The agency added that about one in ten out-of-service violations issued during Roadcheck are for improper loading, also known as improper cargo securement, so that will be also be a major focus for this year’s inspection blitz.
“These violations are serious because the loss of any article of cargo onto the roadway becomes an imminent danger to other motorists,” CVSA noted tin a prepared statement. “Meanwhile, a shifting of a load upon or within the vehicle itself can cause vehicle instability and loss of control. Drivers are responsible for the securement of the proper loading of the cargo they carry, so even if they don’t load the vehicle themselves, they need to be aware of the proper loading procedures and regulations for what they carry.”
Also new for this year, CVSA is partnering with the International Association of Chiefs of Police to encourage any of their participating law enforcement agency members to conduct traffic enforcement activities on bus and motorcoach operators during Roadcheck.
