The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) International Roadcheck is scheduled for May 13-15. International Roadcheck is a high-visibility, high-volume commercial motor vehicle inspection and regulatory compliance enforcement initiative that takes place over three days in Canada, Mexico and the United States. 

This year’s International Roadcheck will focus on false records of duty status and tires. Hours-of-service (HOS) regulations are in place to safeguard transportation safety by limiting driving hours and mandating adequate rest breaks to ensure commercial motor vehicle drivers have the opportunity to get the rest they need, thereby preventing crashes and incidents caused by fatigue. 

To ensure compliance with HOS regulations, drivers must accurately reflect their times and duty statuses in their RODS, which is a log that a commercial motor vehicle driver must maintain to record their driving activity. Failure to record, complete or retain the log, or knowingly falsifying logs or other related reports, is not only a driver out-of- service violation, it also makes the driver and/or carrier liable to prosecution. 

The importance of proper tire maintenance cannot be overstated. Tire failure while in transit is a hazard to all motorists. It is also far more expensive and time consuming for motor carriers to repair an in-transit tire failure versus proactively maintaining tire health and addressing tire issues before the vehicle is on the road. During International Roadcheck, inspectors will check tires’ tread depth and proper inflation. They will also be on the lookout for tire damage, such as air leaks, tread separation, cuts, bulges, sidewall damage and improper repairs.