FMCSA, CVSA, others to conduct 'Roadcheck' in June

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) announced that from June 8 to 10 inspectors and law enforcement officers will be conducting the annual "Roadcheck," which is sponsored by CVSA and mobilizes thousands of federal, state, provincial and local inspectors to more than 1,500 locations across the continent to conduct comprehensive North American Standard (NAS) Level I Inspections and other related roadside enforcement activities of bus and truck motor carriers.

"Roadcheck is successful because of the dedication and hard work of the thousands of roadside inspectors all across North America, as well as the strength of our partnerships and of the combined commitment to ensure trucks and buses are sharing the road safely with others," said Stephen A. Keppler, CVSA's interim executive director. "Each year CVSA teams with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and other organizations, including the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, Transport Canada, as well as the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation in Mexico, to crack down on non-compliant trucks, buses and drivers during our Roadcheck campaign."

Last year, 9,683 CVSA and FMCSA certified inspectors at 2,145 locations across North America performed a record 72,255 truck and bus inspections. Of that total, there were 56,486 NAS Level I inspections.

Roadcheck 2009's record total of overall inspections and Level I inspections showed significant declines in vehicle and driver OOS rates, as well as a significant drop in safety belt violations. Data show the highest overall vehicle compliance rate - 80.4 percent - since 1996, and the highest overall driver compliance rate - 95.7 percent - ever. For NAS Level I inspections, the compliance rates of 77.8 percent (vehicles) and 96.1 percent (drivers) were both records for Roadcheck, and represented 7.1 and 20.4 percent improvements respectively over 2008's totals. In addition, safety belt violations were reduced in 2009 by 276 (1,246 to 970), a 22.2 percent improvement over 2008.

Inspections of passenger carrying vehicles resulted in a vehicle compliance rate of 88.5 percent and a driver compliance rate of 96.4 percent, both improvements (5.7 percent for vehicles and 20 percent for drivers) over 2008. There were 29,972 CVSA decals issued to vehicles that passed the inspection.