International Roadcheck will be May 14-16 this year, a few days earlier on the calendar than it was in 2023.

Legend holds that many truck drivers park their rigs for a few days to avoid stepped-up police activity during the event, which the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), which administers Roadcheck, describes as 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.”

Each year’s inspections have a particular area of emphasis. This year the focus will be on tractor protection systems and the possession of alcohol and controlled substances.

CVSA describes the tractor protection systems as the tractor protection valve, trailer supply valve and anti-bleed back valve, “which may be overlooked during trip and roadside inspections.”

Referring to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, CVSA said the number of drivers with failed tests in that database has been increasing. “This year’s International Roadcheck will serve as a reminder to motor carriers to establish and strictly enforce clear policies to prevent controlled substance and alcohol possession or use in the workplace,” CVSA said in announcing dates for this year’s Roadcheck.

The standard inspection conducted is a 37-point procedure that CVSA spells out on its website. Last year, law enforcement authorities working under CVSA Roadcheck direction conducted 59,429 inspections during 72 hours. Of those, 36,021 were the full 37-point check.

During 2023’s Roadcheck May 16-18, the largest number of violations that resulted in an out-of-service (OOS) order was for brake systems, with 4,412 vehicles taken off the road. That represented 25.2% of all OOS violations. In the category of driver violations that led to an OOS order, 2,169 drivers were taken off the road for hours-of-service violations, 41.1% of all driver orders that led to an OOS declaration.

There is some evidence that International Roadcheck results in drivers staying home. Last year, the SONAR Outbound Tender Reject Index for the U.S., which had been flat to declining in the weeks before Roadcheck, took a notable move upward as Roadcheck was beginning. After a few days of elevated numbers — though at historically low levels given the state of the market — the OTRI began moving back to pre-Roadcheck numbers. OTRI is a percentage measurement of the number of contract loads rejected by contract carriers; a higher number suggests that capacity is tightening.

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