Roadcheck numbers show nearly 96% of drivers passed inspection

Over 48,000 inspections were conducted during this year’s International Roadcheck safety blitz, with nearly 96% of commercial motor vehicle drivers passing with no out-of-service violations.

Conducted annually by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, International Roadcheck is a 72-hour high-visibility, high-volume commercial motor vehicle inspection and enforcement initiative. This year’s event took place May 14-16.

According to the agency, 48,761 commercial motor vehicles were inspected in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. during this year’s campaign. From those inspections, 77% of the commercial motor vehicles and 95.2% of the commercial motor vehicle drivers inspected did not have any out-of-service violations.

Each year during the safety enforcement effort, the agency awards CVSA decals to commercial motor vehicles with no critical vehicle inspection violations. The agency said this year, decals were applied to a total of 17,395 power units, trailers and motorcoaches/buses.

Of course, not all the vehicles and drivers inspected over the three-day blitz were cleared by CVSA. According to the agency, Of the 40,458 Level 1, 2 and 5 inspections conducted, 9,299 vehicle combinations were placed out of service.

Data from CVSA shows the top five vehicle out-of-service violations were for:

• Defective service brakes – 3,387 violations
• Tires – 2,821 violations
• Other brake violations – 2,486 violations
• Lights – 1,569 violations
• Cargo securement – 1,303 violations

The agency said a total of 47,743 drivers were inspected during the event. Of those, 2,290 (4.79%) were found to have at least one out-of-service driver violation, as identified in the CVSA North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria.

The top five driver violations, according to CVSA, were for:

• Hours of service – 870 violations
• No commercial driver’s license – 688 violations
• No medical card – 304 violations
• False logs – 297 violations
• Suspended license – 138 violations

Each year, the agency highlights particular aspects of roadside inspections during International Roadcheck.

For 2024, inspectors were focusing on tractor-protection systems, which include the tractor-protection valve, trailer-supply valve and anti-bleed-back valve. Inspectors discovered 564 violations related to tractor-protection systems during the blitz.

Also this year, inspectors were instructed to place an emphasis on alcohol and controlled-substance possession with drivers. According to CVSA, inspectors issued 78 drug and 26 alcohol possession/use out-of-service violations throughout North America during International Roadcheck.

Seat belt usage during International Roadcheck continued to be high, despite data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that suggests 14% of commercial motor vehicle drivers do not wear a seat belt.

During the event, just 1.1% of all drivers inspected were not wearing one, resulting in 535 violations being issued. During last year’s event, roughly 98% of all drivers inspected had buckled up.

A complete list of this year’s results, along with International Roadcheck results from previous years, can be found here. LL