Omnitracs' Road Ahead blog

Hit the road with ease during International Roadcheck 2021

Michael Ahart
Michael Ahart
Vice President of Regulatory Affairs
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International Roadcheck 2021 is here, and inspections are in high gear!

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) designated May 4-6 as the official dates for this year’s initiative. For 72 hours, commercial motor vehicle inspectors in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will conduct driver and vehicle inspections to promote road safety and regulatory compliance.

In February, the CVSA confirmed the official dates, giving fleet leaders sufficient time to concentrate on planning and preparedness efforts. Although the event is only three days, transportation professionals can remain vigilant and conquer International Roadcheck every year, informing future individual and business decisions around driver and vehicle safety.

The details surrounding’s this year initiative

CVSA President Sergeant John Samis reiterated that International Roadcheck is a data collection endeavor. The conducted inspections are the same as they are throughout the year, but inspectors will compile data for future release to help inform and shape industry insights and future inspection priority areas.

As is the case every year, inspectors will focus on one safety category for drivers and vehicles, respectively. Given that the pandemic is still in full force and vaccine rollout is more critical than ever, carriers transporting vaccine shipments will be exempt from participating unless there is evidence of a severe violation or hazard. To ensure drivers and inspectors remain safe, law enforcement personnel will carry out inspections in accordance with designated COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Shifting the focus to driver compliance

Hours of Service (HOS) compliance will be the primary category focus this year for drivers. Last year, the top driver out-of-service violation category was HOS compliance. Prioritizing this year’s focus around the imperativeness of federal HOS regulations emphasizes how critical compliance standards are for fleets. This centralized emphasis comes just in the nick of time, as Canada will soon be joining the U.S. on the ELD regulatory front.

Drivers can conquer exceptional inspection scores all year long with dedicated Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) that simplify the HOS logging process, so drivers can remain compliant without breaking their time bank or navigating through unnecessary hassle with unreliable ELDs. ELDs are most effective when drivers are easily able to receive compliance warnings before violations happen. Additionally, with near-instant log saving, drivers that work with you can eliminate surprises during their trips by always remaining cognizant of how many hours and minutes they have left on their HOS clocks.

Illuminating vehicle health

On the vehicle side, the CVSA is shedding some light on lighting. Like last year’s leading HOS violation for drivers, inoperable lamps were the number one vehicle violation.

To help drivers meet and exceed their daily vehicle inspection requirements, fleet teams can invest in a configurable vehicle maintenance inspection and reporting application. With an enhanced solution, you can configure vehicle reports and send proactive notifications to drivers and maintenance teams when a vehicle is due for maintenance. Furthermore, you can utilize an enhanced solution to capture any lighting or additional maintenance issues you encounter while conducting pre- and post-trip inspections. These inspections are not only critical in ensuring your vehicles are working safely and efficiently for drivers, but they also electronically capture maintenance issues, like lighting errors. With a reliable solution, your teams can rest easy with full-range visibility into vehicle metrics and simultaneously move away from manual, paper-based maintenance logs that are both error-prone and time-consuming.

Take a look at the CVSA’s results from International Roadcheck 2020 to prepare your fleet for further success. You can also read and share this informative flyer from the CVSA to bring additional awareness to the event. Happy inspecting!