This article was originally posted in the National Transportation Consultants August newsletter.

An average of 15 trucks and buses were inspected every minute of the 72 hour event for a total of 65,327 inspections, about 10% less than 2009. Of those, over 48,000 were Level I, the most comprehensive roadside inspection. These numbers include inspections done in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. During a stop drivers were asked to show their CDL, medical examiner's certificate and record of duty status. Trucks were inspected for mechanical compliance, safety and cargo securement.

"Roadcheck has once again successfully reinforced the critical importance of safety, compliance, and crash prevention - lives depend on both safe and well maintained trucks and safe and well trained drivers," said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro.

• Overall vehicle compliance rate: 80% versus 80.4% in ‘09.
• Overall driver compliance rate of 95.6%, unchanged from last year.
• For Level I inspections, the out of service rate was 23.3% for vehicles (22.2% in ‘09) and 3.7% for drivers (3.9% in ‘09).
• There were 189 more safety belt violations in 2010 than there were in ‘09 (1,159 vs. 970).
• Hazardous materials inspections resulted in a vehicle compliance rate of 83.7% versus 83% in ‘09) and driver compliance rate of 97.5 versus 97% in ‘09.

Overall, there wasn't much movement in the statistics compared to last year's results. However, the number of hours of service violations increased 18% over the previous year and there was a marked increase in the number of vehicle violations relating to brakes, lights and tires. Nearly one quarter of the trucks were placed out of service after a Level I inspection. The major causes were items that are easy to manage and inspect: condition of tires, adjustment of brakes and operation of lights.

"Brake-related defects continue to account for half of all out-of-service violations," said CVSA Region V (Canada) President Steve Callahan. "As such, we strongly encourage governments, industry associations, owner-operators, motor carriers and drivers alike to take an active part in the upcoming 2010 Brake Safety Week, September 12-18. We need all industry players to continue working together to achieve a further sustained drop in the Out of Service rate in the years ahead."

As the Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) program ramps up, it becomes even more important to avoid roadside inspection defects and out of service designations. Work with your drivers and mechanical department to identify and correct these defects before your truck passes through a roadside inspection.