Inspectors Vie to Be the Best in New Orleans
Trucking’s safety inspectors are used to judging whether a driver and his or her carrier are following the rules. This week, the tables are turned, as 51 inspectors from the United States, U.S. protectorates as well from Canada and Mexico are carefully scrutinized in their own right by stern, impartial judges.
The inspectors from police, public safety and transportation agencies will compete in the North American Inspection Championships. They will crawl over and under parked trucks and trailers looking for defects that are typical of what they find on the roadside.
NAIC is the successor to the “Challenge” competitions for inspectors, staged annually since 1993 by the Federal Highway Administration in conjunction with the National Truck Driving Championships. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance took over administration of the competition in 1999.
For the full story, see the Aug. 7 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
 |  Michael James - Transport Topics |
| Defects planted by championship organizers will test inspectors, who will crawl and climb in hot pursuit. |
The defects are not always easy to find, especially when working against the clock. Inspectors have 50 minutes to examine a driver’s records as well as his or her vehicle. The defects are planted by judges from state and federal agencies, truck and bus companies and the insurance industry.
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