Roadcheck 2017 - Are You Ready?

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) 30th annual International RoadCheck will take place June 6-8, 2017. Over a 72-hour period, CVSA-certified commercial motor vehicle inspectors will conduct inspections of commercial motor vehicles and their drivers. 

Drivers are required to provide items such as their driver’s license, hours-of-service documentation, motor carrier registration and shipping documentation.  Inspectors will be checking drivers for seat belt usage and the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. The vehicle inspection includes checking items such as the brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, driveline/driveshaft, exhaust systems, frames, fuel systems, lighting devices, steering mechanisms, suspensions, and tires.

Tips to help prevent FMCSR violations:

• Complete a proper pre-trip and post trip inspection.

• If it’s broken, call Road Service 24/7 to get it fixed. 

• Speeding is the number one reason drivers are stopped for road side inspections.  Watch your speed and increase your following distance.

• Be pleasant. Be courteous.

• Listen to what the inspector is saying.

• Stay quiet….as tough as it may be.  Accept what they say. Remember these inspectors are paid to do a job and enforce safety - not keep you happy. Professional drivers don’t like to be told how to do their job. Don’t try to tell a DOT inspection officer how to do theirs!

• Don’t try to impress the officer with your worldly knowledge. If you think they’re wrong, don’t argue with the officer. Take the issue to the Safety Department.

• Be familiar with the various documentation in your permit book binder. When the inspector asks to see your cab card, you should be able to identify and locate that document in your permit binder. Likewise, with your proof of insurance and IFTA.  Your daily pre-trip requires that your required documentation is up-to-date.  Be sure that it is and know what it looks like.

• Know how to pull up your logs on your Qualcomm. 

• Know where your Qualcomm Quick Reference Card is.  It is the last page of your permit book.

• Be aware and prepared. If the officer sees you parked on the off-ramp getting your ducks in a row, you can bet you’ll be pulled around back.

• If the tractor and trailer pass the inspection, politely ask for a CVSA sticker for each unit.

Click here if you wish to review the North American Standard Level 1 Inspection Procedure prior to the Roadcheck 2017 event.  

Contact the safety department after the inspection.  Take a bubble/scan sheet and put you tractor number and driver code in the correct boxes and fill in the bubbles.  In the white space of the bubble sheet write “attention safety”.  You can reuse this sheet over and over.  On the inspection sheet write the load number you were on at the time of the inspection. This is very important, DO NOT write the load number on the bubble sheet.  Thank you for everything you do!  

Submitted by Safety & Training Manager, Greg Edwards, CDS