N.M. Inspector Wins Inspection Championships

NEW ORLEANS - An inspector from the New Mexico Motor Transportation Division swept the North American Inspectors’ Championships.

David Abeita won first place in the Level 1 inspection competition, obtaining the highest score of the 47 participants from the United States and its territories. He then went on to be named grand champion.

Abeita was among more than 50 inspectors from 43 states, four U.S. territories and five Canadian provinces who competed during the Aug. 8-12 championship. The contestants from police, public safety and transportation agencies raced the clock in probing vehicles, and were judge on how well they found flaws while looking over the trucks for defects and driver logbooks for errors. They also were evaluated based on personal interviews and written examinations.

In 1999, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, which represents truck inspectors throughout North America, took over as the main administrator of the meet, ending the the Federal Highway Administration’s six-year handling of the contest. As in the past, when it was known as the “Challenge” series, the event was held in conjunction with National Truck Driving Championship.

Albeita shared the spotlight with two other first-place winners, several runner-ups and award recipients.