Breaking down CVSA’s 2016 Roadcheck results

A total of 62,796 inspections were conducted during this year’s Roadcheck enforcement campaign, of which 42,236 were Level I inspections, CVSA said. The organization said 21% of vehicles and 3.4% of drivers were placed out of service (OOS) due to critical item violations found during those 42,236 Level I inspections.

Of vehicles placed out of service, brake adjustment and brake system violations combined to represent 45.7% of all OOS vehicle violations. The top driver OOS violations were for hours of service (HOS) and false logs, representing 46.8% and 16.4%, respectively.

The 29th annual Roadcheck effort put a particular focus on tire and wheel safety. For the 2016 Roadcheck campaign, tire and wheel violations accounted for 18.5% of the total percentage of OOS violations. In the U.S., tire violations represent 13.7% of OOS vehicle violations, CVSA said.

As part of that tire and wheel focus, CVSA said inspectors measured tire tread depth, checked the tire pressure, checked to ensure no solid objects were lodged between dual tires and examined the overall condition of the tire to make sure no deep cuts or bulges were found on tire sidewalls.

Where truck drivers were concerned, out of all the Level I, II and III inspections conducted, 96% of drivers had no OOS violations. Where just Level I inspections are concerned, CVSA said, 96.6% of drivers did not receive any OOS violations. Also 98.3% of drivers carrying hazardous material loads had no OOS violations, according to CVSA’s data.

In terms of vehicles, out of all the inspections (Levels I, II and III) 82.2% had no OOS violations. Where just Level I inspections are concerned, 78.5% of vehicles had no OOS violations. For vehicles hauling hazardous materials, 87% had no OOS violations.

Brake adjustment violations was the top vehicle issue this year, according to CVSA’s data, hitting 18.3% in 2016 compared to 15.5% in 2015 and 16.7% in 2014. Yet overall brake system OOS designations dropped slightly to 27.4% compared to 27.5% in 2015 and 29.5% in 2014.

In terms of driver-related violations, CVSA said HOS remained the biggest issue at 46.8% in 2016, up from 46% in 2015 and 46.5% in 2014. False logbooks were a bigger problem, too, at 16.4% this year versus 12.6% in 2015 and 13.7% in 2014.

Where hazardous material (HM) shipments were concerned, placard and marking violations were combined in CVSA’s Roadcheck data analysis this year and represented 33.8% of overall HM OOS violations this year. Shipping paper violations came next at 27.6% with loading and securement at 26.2%.