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What will CVSA inspectors be checking during annual safety blitz?

AskWaves: Inspectors to focus on lighting, hours of service

CVSA inspectors to focus on lighting, hours of service during International Roadcheck. Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

Truck drivers and fleets have a month left to prepare for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) annual 72-hour safety blitz, which is set for May 4-6.

CVSA said inspectors throughout North America will focus on two main inspection categories during the safety blitz: vehicle mechanical fitness, concentrating on lighting, and an examination of driver operating requirements, with an emphasis on hours of service (HOS).

According to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the top vehicle violation in the U.S. in 2020 was for having an inoperable vehicle lamp, which accounted for over 12% of all vehicle violations and more than 4% of all out-of-service vehicle violations. 

The top driver out-of-service violation category in North America was HOS, accounting for 34.7% of all driver out-of-service conditions during last year’s Roadcheck.


While the focus of the inspections will be on lighting and HOS, inspectors will still mostly be conducting full 37-point Level I inspections during the three-day blitz.

However, truckers hauling critical COVID-19 vaccines throughout North America will not be held up for inspection “unless there is an obvious serious violation that is an imminent hazard,” CVSA stated in its release. Last year, CVSA was forced to delay Roadcheck until September because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Approximately 4 million commercial motor vehicle inspections are conducted every year throughout North America, with 17 trucks or buses inspected, on average, every minute during the 72-hour blitz, according to CVSA.

International Roadcheck, sponsored by CVSA, is conducted in partnership with the FMCSA and with support from industry and transportation safety organizations, including the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, Transport Canada and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation of Mexico.


This is part of FreightWaves’ AskWaves series. If you have a question for our editorial team to explore, click here. For more AskWaves articles, click here.

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9 Comments

  1. Tommy

    20-30% of trucks inspected get a warning.

    4-7% of those get a ticket.

    You are all clues.

    Worst case that’s less than 3% of trucks inspected get a ticket. That little thing that actually generates revenue.

    Clearly sitting on your fat butt is blocking blood flow to your brain and not allowing you to think.

    But hey, listening to the other lovers at the truck stop had gotten you this far. Why strive for anything above mediocrity?

  2. Big dee

    What a joke but I guess they got to make the money some way so they will keep going to the well I wonder what’s going to happen when the industry is fully atonomous 😆 pull over robots 😆

  3. Reginald

    They need to find something better to do with themselves smh.
    How about getting people that’s cutting off truckers and speeders 🗣️

    1. The Phantom

      Guys keep your dash cams rolling and never back down from the truth of the matter. There will always be that moron on the roadway who wants to get a frivolous lawsuit.

    1. Tommy

      Get a clue. How many tickets are written?
      Oh, right. You have no idea.

      Try in the low single didgets of trucks inspected.

      If it’s a revenue blitz they are bad at it.

Comments are closed.

Clarissa Hawes

Clarissa has covered all aspects of the trucking industry for 16 years. She is an award-winning journalist known for her investigative and business reporting. Before joining FreightWaves, she wrote for Land Line Magazine and Trucks.com. If you have a news tip or story idea, send her an email to chawes@freightwaves.com or @cage_writer on X, formerly Twitter.