In June, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) member jurisdictions conducted a record 74,072 bus and truck inspections during the 25th Annual Roadcheck, a commercial vehicle safety enforcement and outreach event.

Of those inspections, 48,815 were North American Standard Level 1 inspections — the most comprehensive roadside inspection, of which 22.4% of vehicles and 3.9% of drivers were placed out of service (OOS). These vehicle and driver OOS rates for Level 1 inspections represent the second lowest achieved in 25 years, continuing its successful historic trend downward. For comparison, in 1991, the Level 1 OOS rates were 34.8% for vehicles and 5.6% for drivers.

The overall OOS rates for the entire event in 2012 (includes all inspection levels) were 20.9% for vehicles and 4.6% for drivers, both of which were higher than last year’s numbers. Despite the positive trend on the Level 1’s, this highlights that one in five vehicles selected for inspection was found with a violation serious enough to be considered an imminent safety hazard. These mixed results indicate that, while the attention paid by industry to maintenance and regulatory compliance generally is improving, more needs to be done by industry and enforcement alike.

Roadcheck 2012 emphasized a back-to-the-basics focus, with special attention paid toward braking systems and hours-of-service, the top ranking violation categories for vehicles and drivers, respectively. Even with these focus areas, the proportions of brake related and hours-of-service related violations relative to all out-of-service violations declined slightly.

In addition, seatbelt violations issued totaled 848, the fewest recorded since 2007. During the event, CVSA estimates that over 9,500 CVSA and FMCSA inspectors participated at approximately 2,500 locations across North America. Also during Roadcheck 2012, 10 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces engaged part of their enforcement activities to focus on vehicles serving oil field and natural gas production sites, where increases in commercial truck traffic have raised significant safety concerns.

Roadcheck 2012 took place June 5 through 7, with an average of more than 1,000 trucks or buses inspected every hour during the 72-hour campaign. The U.S., Canada and Mexico participated with inspections occurring either at fixed or temporary inspection locations.

Inspections included an examination of driver license and credentials, proper and complete records of duty status, safety belt use, driving behaviors and other driver safety conditions. Vehicles were examined for proper brake system maintenance, tire condition, function of lighting systems, properly secured loads, and other vehicle condition related violations.