Source: The Truckload Carrier Report

Roadcheck 2003 Numbers Released

For the fourth consecutive year, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA)-sponsored Roadcheck resulted in an increase in roadside commercial vehicle inspections. This 16th annual event, conducted on June 3-5, resulted in 55,784 inspections performed by state and provincial personnel on commercial vehicles. That number represents 6,405 more inspections than last year, and 43.5% more than the 38,864 completed in 1999.

Of the inspections, 43,583 were Level I, the most comprehensive vehicle/driver inspection conducted by CVSA. The inspectors placed 24,171 CVSA decals on vehicles found to be free of critical safety defects (43.3%).

Roadcheck 2003 saw a slight increase in vehicles being placed out-of-service (OOS) for mechanical problems- up to 22.7% from 22% in 2002. There was a decrease in the OOS rate for drivers - down to 5% from 5.7% last year. For hazardous materials inspections in 2003, the OOS rates for vehicles increased over 2002, 17% to 20.2%, and remained the same for drivers at 2.4%.

In addition, approximately 600,000 pieces of educational safety information and guidance were distributed to commercial drivers during Roadcheck 2003. Drivers received outreach materials on complying with the new hours-of-service rules that take effect January 4, 2004, cargo securement regulations, and information on proper tire maintenance and hazardous materials safety and security. CVSA President, Peter Hurst from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation expressed the following, "Roadcheck is a critical unifying presence for advancing commercial vehicle safety and reducing crashes across North America out there, and we are getting results."