Out-of-Service Rates Decline During 2013 Roadcheck Blitz

This story appears in the Sept. 16 print edition of Transport Topics.

A record-tying low number of drivers were placed out of service for rules violations during the recent national safety inspection blitz known as Roadcheck, according to figures released last week by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.

Data from CVSA’s June 4-6 event showed that violations that resulted in truck or bus drivers being pulled off the road fell to 4.2% this year from 4.6% in 2012, matching the record low set in 2011.

At the same time, vehicles’ overall out-of-service rate declined to 20.6%, down from 20.9% last year.

Vehicle violations largely include mechanical issues, while those for the driver involve logs and certifications.

This year’s Roadcheck emphasized cargo securement, and inspectors reported an 11.7% out-of-service rate in that category, down from last year’s 12.3%, CVSA said in a Sept. 11 statement.

“The strong enforcement presence involved in Roadcheck and throughout the year is a critical component in our safety efforts across North America,” said CVSA President Mark Savage, who is also a major in the Colorado State Patrol. “Inspectors are making a huge impact, and they are to be commended for their efforts.”

Anne Ferro, who runs the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, praised CVSA’s efforts.

“Improving safety on our highways and roads is a product of everyone doing their part — truck and bus operators, commercial vehicle inspectors, law enforcement officers [and] the motoring public,” she said in a statement.

Of the 73,000 total inspections, federal and local officers conducted almost 48,000 Level I checks — the standard, comprehensive commercial vehicle inspection that includes hours of service, seat belts, brakes, exhaust systems and driver licenses.

Level I inspection figures were mixed, showing that 4.3% of drivers were placed out of service, down from last year’s 4.6%, while 24.1% of vehicles were placed out of service, up from 22.4% in 2012.

“Level I inspections are the most detailed and basically the barometer we use,” said Stephen Keppler, CVSA’s executive director.

“While overall driver and vehicle out-of-service rates were relatively low, the Level I’s were up a little bit compared to the last couple of years,” he said. “The out-of service rates reasonably track with crash data, and obviously that’s one of the things that’s concerning to us.”

CVSA’s members — North American law enforcement personnel who conduct truck safety inspections in the United States, Canada and Mexico — also conduct Level II inspections, involving truck walkarounds, and Level III inspections, for inspections of drivers.

Keppler said CVSA personnel conducted more Level II and III inspections this year, in part to check drivers’ compliance with hours-of-service rules. This year’s Roadcheck took place just before revised federal HOS rules took effect in July.

HOS violations as a percentage of drivers placed out of service were generally in the range of the past few years — at 51.8% this year compared with 50.2% last year and 52.5% in 2011. Following that were false logs (13.2%), then disqualified (10.2%) or suspended (5.2%) drivers.

Brakes dominated the percentage of out-of service truck equipment violations, about half of the total. Brake systems violations rose to 30.5% from 27.8% last year, while brake adjustments increased to 19.5% from 17.5%.

“We did see a little movement on the brake side,” Keppler told Transport Topics.

Dave Osiecki, American Trucking Associations senior vice president for policy and regulatory affairs, said, “Roadcheck is a meaningful annual enforcement effort that ATA supports.” Using a random method to select trucks and drivers for inspections, he added, would yield safety results that can be compared year-to-year.

“Collectively, we need to use our safety resources as effectively as possible,” he told TT. “The results are tough to evaluate because [inspections] are not conducted randomly.”

“And Level I inspections are not as effective as inspections that are coupled with traffic enforcement activity,” Osiecki said.

“When an officer or commercial inspector stops a driver for speeding or any unsafe operating behavior, and couples it with a limited inspection, that enforcement activity is four times more effective at reducing crashes and traffic fatalities than a Level I inspection,” Osiecki said, citing a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration report from April 2013.