Maintaining safe vehicles and drivers is worth the effort
Results from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) Roadcheck 2010 reveal the commercial motor vehicle industry is hovering close to the record low out-of-service (OOS) rates set during 2009. Additionally, while overall inspection totals are down from the previous year’s records, more inspectors participated at more locations in this year’s event. This seems to indicate during 2010 that there was a shift to an increasing focus on mobile roadside inspections. In 2010 roadside inspectors focused on the North American Standard (NAS) Level I inspection, safety belt enforcement, and motorcoach inspections.
Total inspections decrease
More than 9,856 CVSA-certified inspectors at 2,482 locations across North America performed 65,327 truck and bus inspections. Of that total, there were 48,970 NAS Level I inspections, the most comprehensive roadside inspection. The total inspection output is a 10.2 percent decrease over the previous record total, and the NAS Level I output is a 14.1 percent decrease over the previous record, both of which occurred in 2009.
“The number of CMV inspections is an indicator that, even in these continued tough economic times, state, provincial, local and federal agencies are committed to enforcing truck and bus safety standards,” says CVSA Interim Executive Director Stephen A. Keppler. “Roadside enforcement remains committed to this critically important role in saving lives on North America’s highways and helping to provide all travelers a safe and secure place to travel.”
Blitz inspections pull over 15 a minute
This year during Roadcheck approximately 15 trucks or buses were inspected, on average, every minute. During the 72-hour inspection blitz, which took place from Canada to Mexico from June 8-10, 2010, drivers were pulled over, asked to show their commercial driver’s license, medical examiner’s certificate, and record of duty status. Brakes, tires, lights, and every major component of the truck or bus were also examined during Roadcheck.
While Roadcheck has taken place every year since 1988, it is important to note that roadside inspections occur every day across North America, to the tune of more than 3.8 million in 2009. CVSA sponsors Roadcheck each year with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), Transport Canada, and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (Mexico).
“Roadcheck has once again successfully reinforced the critical importance of safety, compliance, and crash prevention, “ says FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “Lives depend on both safe and well maintained vehciles and safe and well trained drivers.”
Data from 2010 show the overall vehicle compliance rate at 80.0 percent (80.4 percent in 2009), with an overall driver compliance rate of 95.6 percent (unchanged from last year). For NAS Level I inspections, the compliance rates were 76.7 percent for vehicles (77.8 percent in 2009) and 96.3 percent for drivers (96.1 percent in 2009). In addition, there were 189 more safety belt violations in 2010 than there were last year (1,159 vs. 970), a 19.5 percent increase.
Inspections encourage compliance
Inspections of passenger-carrying vehicles resulted in an increased vehicle compliance rate (91.0 percent in 2010 vs. 88.5 percent in 2009) and a driver compliance rate in 2010 that was unchanged from last year (96.4 percent). Hazardous materials inspections resulted in a vehicle compliance rate of 83.7 percent (83.0 percent in 2009) and driver compliance rate of 97.5 percent (97.0 percent). There were 26,605 CVSA decals issued to vehicles that passed the inspection, which was down from the number issued in 2009 (29,972).
“Brake-related defects continue to account for half of all out-of-service violations,” said CVSA Region V (Canada) President Steve Callahan. “As such, we strongly encourage governments, industry associations, owner-operators, motor carriers and drivers alike to take an active part in the upcoming 2010 Brake Safety Week, September 12-18. We need all industry players to continue working together to achieve a further sustained drop in the OOS rate in the years ahead.”
“All inspectors have it in the back of their minds that what I’m doing will save a life,” says CVSA President Buzzy France. “The people we read about in the news are essentially our family members and we are here to protect them. There is no one person, agency or organization that can achieve zero fatalities alone. The CVSA needs partners to solve this complex problem and everyone has an important role to play.”
CVSA and its associate members
CVSA is an international not-for-profit organization comprised of local, state, provincial, territorial, and federal motor carrier safety officials and industry representatives from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Its mission is to promote commercial motor vehicle safety and security by providing leadership to enforcement, industry and policy makers.
The Alliance actively monitors, evaluates, and identifies solutions to potentially unsafe transportation processes and procedures related to driver and vehicle safety requirements most often associated with commercial motor vehicle crashes. In addition, CVSA has several hundred associate members who are committed to helping the Alliance achieve its goals; uniformity, compatibility and reciprocity of commercial vehicle inspections, and enforcement activities throughout North America by individuals dedicated to highway safety and security. For more on CVSA, visit www.cvsa.org.
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ROADCHECK 2010 FACT SHEET
Driver results for the vehicle types:
All inspections: 95.6 percent of drivers passed, and 4.4 percent were placed out of service (4.4 percent were out of service in 2009).
- All Level I inspections: 96.3 percent of drivers passed, and 3.7 percent were placed out of service (3.9 percent were out of service in 2009).
- HazMat: 97.5 percent of drivers passed, and 2.5 percent were placed out of service (3.0 percent were out of service in 2009).
- Passenger carrying vehicles: 96.4 percent of drivers passed, and 3.6 percent were placed out of service (3.6 percent were out of service in 2009).
Vehicle results:
- All inspections: 80.0 percent of vehicles passed, and 20.0 percent were placed out of service (19.6 percent were out of service in 2009).
- All Level 1 inspections: 76.7 percent of vehicles passed, and 23.3 percent were placed out of service (22.2 percent were out of service in 2009).
- HazMat: 83.7 percent of vehicles passed the inspection, and 16.3 percent were placed out of service (17.0 percent were out of service in 2009).
- Passenger carrying vehicles: 91.0 percent of vehicles passed the inspection, and 9.0 percent were placed out of service (11.5 percent were out of service in 2009).