Roadcheck, the annual inspection blitz done by a joint effort of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and others, is set to take place next week, June 2-4.This year’s special emphasis will be cargo securement, though inspectors will still be primarily performing full 37-step Level I inspections — the most thorough inspection — throughout the week. Roadcheck, as most of you well know, I’d wager, is coming up as usual the first week of June, the 2nd through 4th to be exact. The nationwide inspection blitz, as it’s typically described, this year takes as its theme a focus on cargo securement (flatbedders, look out!), though the general routine during Roadcheck is the full Level 1 truck/driver inspection. It’s a big time for inspections all around the country, but at once, judging by nationwide inspection numbers of the last couple years, the “Roadcheck effect” in the numbers overall looks minimal in month-to-month view. The more observant among readers over the years have routinely remarked that law enforcement’s telegraphing of the event with announcements months ahead of time may dampen its impact. Good week to take a little well-deserved R&R for many truckers, such that that’s possible. June, the month the blitz has taken place the last two years, showed actually smaller numbers than the month preceding it in 2013, lending credence to reader reports of some states “getting started early” on the blitz, to paraphrase more than one May dispatch we’ve gotten over the years. June inspection numbers in 2014 were only slightly higher than May last year. As a general rule, too, activity is certainly elevated on the inspections front this time of year, as the Spring freight season heats up with temps. Good weather brings the inspectors out, too, with greater regularity and frequency. In 2014, the month of June accounted for 9 percent of total inspections throughout the year, nearly a percentage point above the 8.3 percent that would be an normative month for the year if inspection numbers were consistent month-to-month. (Data here and in the chart above are from the federal system, analyzed by Overdrive and the folks at RigDig Business Intelligence, unless otherwise noted. Access more via OverdriveOnline.com/csa, updated through 2013, with 2014 inspection and violation numbers and rates, maps and charts coming soon.) Roughly 10,000 inspectors from state, local and federal enforcement agencies will perform nearly 70,000 inspections on trucks and buses over the 72-hour period. They will be stationed at 1,500 inspection points around North America
Leave a Reply