The 20th annual continentwide Roadcheck, June 5-7, will focus on Level One truck inspections, the most comprehensive, as well as motor coach inspections and seat belt enforcement. Steve Keppler, director of policy and programs for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said 10,000 inspectors are expected at 1,000 sites for 72 continuous hours.
The CVSA believes it’s time to increase seat belt enforcement. “We did a lot of outreach on seat belts the past two years,” Keppler said. During last year’s Roadcheck, 59 percent of all truckers were found to be wearing seat belts.
Roadcheck’s purpose is take unsafe drivers and vehicles off the road, increase awareness of inspections and their function, educate drivers about maintenance and gather data. Nearly all Canadian provinces and U.S. states participate in Roadcheck as their budgets allow, said Keppler, who did not know whether any U.S. states would not participate this year.
During the 2006 Roadcheck, 8,522 inspectors at 1,850 locations across North America performed a near-record 60,357 truck and bus inspections. The number of vehicles placed out of service and “parked” because of serious defects decreased in 2006 in all major categories.
A record number of CVSA decals, 30,950, were issued to vehicles passing inspection with no defects in 13 critical areas. The number of drivers placed out of service, however, increased from 4.4 percent in 2005 to 5.6 percent in 2006. “Last year there was more emphasis on driver behavior, and it had impact on the numbers,” Keppler said.
Most years, Mexico also participates in Roadcheck, and CVSA expects to hear soon whether it’s in for 2007, Keppler said. CVSA has not received last year’s data from Mexico, so the ’06 numbers reflect only American and Canadian results.
