The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Roadcheck 2005 reported lower violation rates and a record 60,562 inspections performed.
The truck and bus inspection was held June 7-9 at 1,348 points throughout North America.
CVSA reported that both vehicle and driver out-of-service violation rates fell for the first time in three years, from 23.9 percent in 2004 to 22.6 percent for vehicles, and from 5.0 percent to 4.5 percent for drivers.
In the United States, the vehicle out-of-service rate fell to 23.3 percent from 25 percent last year, and the driver out-of-service rate fell to 4.7 percent from 5.3 percent. In Canada, the vehicle out-of-service rate fell to 17.4 percent from 20.5 percent in 2004, and the drivers’ rate fell to 3.0 from 3.1. CVSA has not released the figures from inspections performed in Mexico.
Brake adjustments or other brake system problems were the main cause of out-of-service orders.
While most violation rates fell, the violations of hazardous materials increased. Of 5,241 hazardous materials inspections, 19.6 percent of vehicles and 2.4 percent of drivers were placed out of service, an increase from 19.1 percent and 2.3 percent in 2004, respectively.
Motorcoach violations increased from 9.6 percent in 2004 to 11.7 percent of vehicles. The percentage of motorcoach drivers placed out of service, 2.7 percent, was unchanged from last year.
