Roadcheck is sponsored each year by Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). The event calls on federal, state, provincial and local officers to conduct North American Standard Inspections and offer drivers educational materials on various aspects of commercial vehicle, driver and hazardous materials safety.
The inspections involve a comprehensive 37-step procedure with items related to vehicle, driver and cargo safety. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) gives an overview of some of the items covered in each inspection.
Driver Inspection:
- License and endorsements
- Record of duty status
- Hours of service
- Possible use of alcohol and drugs
- Seat belts
Vehicle Inspection:
- Brake system
- Coupling devices
- Exhaust system
- Frame
- Fuel system
- Lights
- Safe loading
- Steering mechanism
- Suspension
- Tires
- Van and open-top trailer bodies
- Wheels and rims
- Windshield wipers
- Emergency exits on buses
2007 Results
During Roadcheck 2007, 7,708 inspectors at 1,449 locations across North America performed a record 62,370 inspections – the highest number of inspections ever conducted in Roadcheck’s 20-year history.
Driver inspections resulted in 6.2 percent of drivers placed out of service, an increase from 2006’s 5.6 percent. This is the highest Roadcheck driver out-of-service rate since 1999. The majority of drivers were placed out of service for hours-of-service violations, followed by falsification of duty status records.
Drug and alcohol out-of-service violations represented 1.5 percent of the total driver violations, an increase of more than half a percent from 2006. Seat belt safety violations, however, significantly were reduced from 1,223 in 2006 to 829 in 2007.
Of the vehicles inspected in 2007, 21.5 percent were placed out of service for mechanical problems. Hazmat vehicle and motorcoach inspections resulted in 17.7 and 12.3 percent of vehicles placed out of service, respectively.
Brakes continue to be the dominating vehicle out-of-service defect, comprising 54 percent of the total vehicle defects. The vehicle-related out-of-service defects that increased in 2007 included the distribution of lighting, load securement and tires/wheels.
Past statistics indicate that from 2001 to 2003, roadside inspection and traffic enforcement activities on trucks and buses conducted by these certified officers saved 2,241 lives and helped to avoid 37,424 injuries and 49,126 crashes. Between 1998 and 2003, there was a 48 percent increase in the number of lives saved from these activities.
CVSA sponsors the annual Roadcheck with the participation of FMCSA, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), Transport Canada, and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (Mexico).
J. J. Keller's Roadcheck Resource Center also offers information to help drivers prepare for Roadcheck 2008.