On June 5-7, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) International Roadcheck will take place. This is the annual 72-hour period when commercial motor vehicle inspectors conduct inspections on motor vehicles and drivers.
It should come as no surprise that the focus of this year’s Roadcheck will be hours of service (HOS) compliance. With the recent full enforcement of the electronic logging device mandate, it makes sense that this is what CVSA chose as its focus. And while the ELD mandate did not change the hours of service rules, it did help shed light on compliance with the HOS regulations.
It’s also probably a result of what happened during last year’s safety blitz when violations for hours of service was the number one reason drivers were placed out of service. CVSA reported a whopping 32% of drivers placed out of service for violations related to hours of service.
Ensuring hours of service compliance is a fleet-wide responsibility. It goes without saying that fleets should already have ELDs installed on all their trucks and if they don't, they better get on that today.
Fleet management also needs to take time to reinforce to drivers and dispatchers that it expects adherence to hours of service rules and will not tolerate dispatchers pressuring drivers to drive past their legal hours nor drivers who violate the rules. Drivers’ hours should be meticulously tracked, making it easier for dispatchers to see which drivers have legal hours left to ensure they meet their customers’ need while staying in compliance.
Dispatchers need to make sure they review driver hours and only assign drivers to loads when those drivers can make those deliveries observing the rules of the road including speed limits, and drivers who had been gaming the system by fudging on paper logs need to review hours of service so they can stay in compliance.
The CVSA website reminds us that while hours of service are the focus of Roadcheck, inspectors will be conducting Standard Level 1 Inspections, the 37-step procedures that include an examination of the driver as well as the vehicle’s mechanical fitness. Now is also the time to insist drivers do their DVIRs and that your maintenance personnel pay attention to the issues drivers are bringing to their attention.
You still have time to prepare your drivers and vehicles for Roadcheck and ensure your trucks aren't the ones taken out of service June 5 through 7.
