Category: CVSA

CVSA Transitions to New Leadership for 2023-2024

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CVSA Transitions to New Leadership for 2023-2024

Photo property of CVSA

As of Oct. 1, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has transitioned to new leadership for 2023-2024. Col. Russ Christoferson, with the Montana Department of Transportation, is the new president of the Alliance. Capt. John Hahn, of the Colorado State Patrol, is CVSA’s vice president. And Maj. Chris Nordloh, from the Texas Department of Public Safety, moves into his three-year term as past president.

On Sept. 20, CVSA Class I Members and Class II Local Members elected Maj. Erick McGuire, with the Florida Highway Patrol, to the position of CVSA secretary. Maj. McGuire will serve one year as secretary of the Alliance, while concurrently serving as chair of the CVSA Election Committee. Then, he’ll serve one year as vice president of the Alliance and chair of the CVSA Finance Committee. The year after that, he will become CVSA’s president. After one year as president, Maj. McGuire will then serve three years as past president – making the entire obligation a six-year commitment.

In addition to the executive leadership transition, the following region changes were made:

  • Tpr. Brian Pfarrer, with the New Jersey State Police, is president of Region I. Sgt. Abraham Rosario, from the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, is vice president.
  • Region III’s president is Lt. Mike Maytum, with the Nebraska State Patrol, and Lt. Christopher Keller, with the Michigan State Police, is vice president.
  • Krista Cull, from Newfoundland and Labrador, is Region V president. From the Saskatchewan Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety, Sgt. Mathew Austin will serve as vice president.

Continue reading “CVSA Transitions to New Leadership for 2023-2024”

AutoZone Driver Wayne Hayes Is CVSA’s 2023 International Driver Excellence Award Winner

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is pleased to announce that professional driver Henry “Wayne” Hayes, with AutoZone, has been named this year’s International Driver Excellence Award (IDEA) winner. Hayes has driven 4.1 million safe miles during his 38-year professional driving career.

Hayes is an AutoZone regional driver who carefully navigates tight loading docks and parking lots in business districts to safely deliver auto parts to company stores. He drives, on average, hundreds of miles per day, thousands of miles a week, making deliveries in the southeast region. Hayes has made thousands of store deliveries without ever having a preventable collision, safety violation or even a speeding ticket.

“It is such an honor to receive CVSA’s International Driver Excellence Award,” said Hayes. “I realize there are many deserving drivers out there with great career records – drivers who prove their excellence in safety each and every day out on the road. I was honored to be a nominee and truly overwhelmed to be the recipient of this year’s award.”

Hayes added, “This means so much to me and my family. What an honor it is, and I am truly grateful and humbled for this opportunity.”

Hayes began his career 38 years ago when he went to work for Turner Dairy Company hauling milk and ice cream. This is where he received the driving handle, “Milkman.” Ten years later, in 1994, Hayes joined AutoZone, where he has been ever since, achieving more than 3 million safe-driving miles hauling auto parts to stores.

Continue reading “AutoZone Driver Wayne Hayes Is CVSA’s 2023 International Driver Excellence Award Winner”

More Than 7,500 Vehicles Transporting Hazardous Materials/Dangerous Goods Were Inspected During CVSA’s Unannounced Five-Day Inspection and Enforcement Initiative

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Washington, D.C. (Aug. 24, 2023) – Trained professional inspectors in Canada and the U.S. inspected 7,572 commercial motor vehicles transporting hazardous materials/dangerous goods (HM/DG) during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) annual five-day unannounced HM/DG inspection and enforcement initiative.

Thirty-seven jurisdictions participated in this year’s HM/DG Road Blitz, which was June 12-16. A total of 8,395 packages were inspected, and inspectors discovered 2,578 HM/DG violations, of which 701 were HM/DG out-of-service violations.

Vehicles that had out-of-service HM/DG violations were removed from roadways until those violations could be corrected. Vehicles that passed a North American Standard Level I Inspection without any critical inspection violations or specification cargo tank vehicle violations were eligible to receive a CVSA decal and permitted to continue to their destination.

View the rest of the news release for much more data and information.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Original article published by CVSA

CVSA’s Brake Safety Week Is Underway

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Photo property of CVSA

Today is the first day of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) weeklong brake safety inspection, education and enforcement initiative. Commercial motor vehicle inspectors in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will conduct inspections of commercial motor vehicles and provide brake-related inspection and violation data to CVSA. The Alliance will gather and analyze that data and release the results later this year.

In addition to brake-system inspection and violation data, inspectors will also report data on brake lining/pads and violations, the focus area for this year’s Brake Safety Week. Although some brake lining/pad issues are not automatically out-of-service vehicle violations, brake lining/pad violations still affect a motor carrier’s safety rating.

Inspectors will report data on the condition of brake lining/pads, such as cracks/voids (as per the regulations), loose or missing brake lining/pads, worn (as per the regulations) or contaminated brake lining/pads, etc.

Commercial motor vehicles that pass a Level I or V Inspection are eligible to receive a CVSA decal. A CVSA decal signals to roadside inspectors that the vehicle has been recently inspected and passed inspection (decals are valid for up to three consecutive months). This allows inspectors to focus their time on vehicles that have not been recently inspected.

Conversely, when an inspector performs an inspection and identifies critical vehicle inspection item violations, as outlined in the CVSA North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria, that vehicle will be placed out of service until those violations have been corrected.

View CVSA’s inspection procedures.

Brake Safety Week is part of CVSA’s Operation Airbrake Program, which is dedicated to improving commercial motor vehicle brake safety throughout North America.

View the results from previous brake safety campaigns.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Original article published by CVSA

CVSA Releases 2023 International Roadcheck Results

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On May 16-18, 59,429 commercial motor vehicles were inspected in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. as part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) 72-hour International Roadcheck inspection and enforcement initiative. Eighty-one percent of the commercial motor vehicles and 94.5% of the commercial motor vehicle drivers inspected did not have any out-of-service violations and continued en route to safely complete their runs.

Roadcheck

Photo: CVSA

Commercial motor vehicles without any critical vehicle inspection violations are eligible to receive a CVSA decal. During this year’s International Roadcheck, decals were applied to 14,032 power units, 5,814 trailers and 305 motorcoaches/buses, for a total of 20,151 decals throughout North America.

Conversely, CVSA-certified inspectors discovered at least one out-of-service violation on 19% of the vehicles inspected and, in turn, removed those 11,270 commercial motor vehicles from roadways until the out-of-service (OOS) violations were corrected. There were 17,479 vehicle out-of-service violations in total.

Inspectors also restricted 5.5% (3,256) of the commercial motor vehicle drivers inspected who were found to have at least one out-of-service driver violation, as identified in the CVSA North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria, from operating their vehicle. Those drivers were restricted from commercial travel until their out-of-service violations were addressed. There were 5,280 driver out-of-service violations in total.

A total of 116,669 violations were identified throughout the effort, which included all driver and vehicle out-of-service violations and violations that were not out of service, combined.

Each year, CVSA highlights certain aspects of the roadside inspection. This year, inspectors focused on anti-lock braking systems (ABS) and cargo securement. There were 2,975 cargo securement violations and 4,127 ABS violations – four were discovered on motorcoaches, 1,426 on power units and 2,697 on trailers.

Note: Not all cargo securement violations are out-of-service violations. The cargo securement total noted above is for all cargo securement violations – out-of-service and non-out-of-service violations combined. The cargo securement violations in table 1 are out-of-service cargo securement violations only. In addition, ABS violations are not out-of-service violations, which is why those violations are not included in table 1.  

A total of 949 safety belt violations were issued during this year’s International Roadcheck. Meaning, 1.6% of commercial motor vehicle drivers inspected were not wearing their safety belt.

Inspectors also checked commercial motor vehicles carrying hazardous materials/dangerous goods (HM/DG) to ensure they were being transported safely and compliant with federal regulations. During International Roadcheck, 2,853 HM/DG inspections were performed, and inspectors discovered 236 HM/DG-related out-of-service violations.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Original article published by CVSA

CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Week is Underway

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Washington, D.C. (July 9, 2023) – Today is the first day of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) weeklong driver safety traffic-enforcement initiative, Operation Safe Driver Week.

Safe Driver

Photo: CVSA

Officers, troopers and inspectors throughout North America will take to roadways with keen attention to passenger vehicle drivers and commercial motor vehicle drivers who are driving unsafely. Law enforcement personnel will be alert for individuals who are speeding, driving aggressively, ignoring roadway signs, using a handheld device, intoxicated, driving distracted, etc. Drivers engaging in such behaviors will be pulled over by law enforcement and given a warning or issued a citation/ticket.

This year, the focus area for Operation Safe Driver Week will be on speeding because it continues to be a major factor in traffic deaths and injuries.

  • There were 11,258 fatal crashes in the U.S. where at least one driver was speeding, 29% of the total traffic fatalities for 2020.
  • Speeding/driving too fast accounted for 25.3% of all fatal roadway crashes in Canada in 2020.
  • In 2020, 16.4% of road crashes on Mexico’s federal highway network were attributed to excessive speed.

CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Program aims to reduce unsafe driver behaviors through focused traffic-enforcement, driver interactions with law enforcement, and by educating commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers about ways to share the roads safely.

  • Drivers’ actions contribute to 94% of all traffic crashes.
  • In 45% of fatal passenger vehicle crashes, the drivers were engaged in at least one of the following risky behaviors: speeding, alcohol impairment or not wearing a seat belt.
  • From 2019 to 2020, fatalities in speeding-related crashes increased 17%, fatalities in alcohol-impaired driving crashes went up 14%, and unrestrained passenger vehicle occupant fatalities were up by 14%.
  • The top driver-related factors in fatal crashes involving commercial motor vehicles were speeding, impairment and distraction/inattention.

Throughout Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel will provide warning and ticket/citation data to CVSA for each traffic-enforcement interaction. CVSA will gather that data and report the results later this year.

Another important aspect of Operation Safe Driver Week is driver-safety education, awareness and outreach. In the days leading up to and during the week, jurisdictions in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will provide safe-driving seminars, information and resources to passenger vehicle drivers, commercial motor vehicle drivers and motor carrier safety personnel. CVSA also offers safe-driving public service announcements and resources and materials for teen and new drivers and commercial motor vehicle drivers.

View the results from previous years of Operation Safe Driver Week.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Original article published by CVSA

CVSA’s Brake Safety Week Scheduled for Aug. 20-26

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by CVSA

CVSA’s Brake Safety Week Scheduled for Aug. 20-26

Photo: CVSA

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has scheduled this year’s Brake Safety Week for Aug. 20-26 with a focus on brake lining/pad violations.

During Brake Safety Week, commercial motor vehicle inspectors highlight the importance of brake systems by conducting inspections of their components and removing commercial motor vehicles found to have brake-related out-of-service violations from our roadways until those violations are corrected.

Throughout Brake Safety Week, CVSA-certified inspectors will conduct their usual inspections; however, in addition, they will be reporting brake-related inspection and violation data to the Alliance. CVSA will compile that data and publish a press release this fall with the results.

“The focus of this year’s Brake Safety Week is on the condition of the brake lining and pad,” said CVSA President Maj. Chris Nordloh with the Texas Department of Public Safety. “Brake lining and pad issues may result in vehicle violations and could affect a motor carrier’s safety rating.”

When inspectors conduct the brake portion of a Level I or Level V Inspection, they will:

  • Check for missing, non-functioning, loose or cracked parts.
  • Check for contaminated, worn, cracked and missing linings or pads.
  • Check for S-cam flipover.
  • Listen for audible air leaks around brake components and lines.
  • Check that slack adjusters are the same length (from center of S-cam to center of clevis pin) and the air chambers on each axle are the same size.
  • Ensure the brake system maintains air pressure between 90-100 psi (620-690 kPa) and measure pushrod travel.
  • Inspect for non-manufactured holes (e.g., rust holes, holes created by rubbing or friction, etc.) and broken springs in the spring brake housing section of the parking brake.
  • Inspect required brake system warning devices, such as anti-lock braking system (ABS) malfunction lamp(s) and low air-pressure warning devices.
  • Inspect the tractor protection system, including the bleedback system on the trailer.
  • Ensure the breakaway system is operable on the trailer.

Brake safety awareness, education and outreach are major elements of the Brake Safety Week campaign. CVSA has outlined the brake-system inspection procedure (noted above) so that drivers and motor carriers know exactly what inspectors will be checking during roadside inspections. This transparency aims to remind drivers and motor carriers to take proactive steps to ensure their commercial motor vehicles are safe and compliant with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Improperly installed or poorly maintained brake systems can reduce the braking capacity and stopping distance of trucks or buses, which poses a serious safety risk.

CVSA’s  is dedicated to improving commercial vehicle brake safety throughout North America. The goal is to reduce the number of highway crashes caused by faulty braking systems on commercial motor vehicles by conducting roadside inspections and educating drivers, mechanics, owner-operators and others on the importance of proper brake inspection, maintenance and operation.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

CVSA Releases 2023 Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative Results

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Original article published by  CVSA

CVSA Releases 2023 Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative Results

Photo: CVSA

All three of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) member countries – Canada, Mexico and the U.S. – participated in this year’s Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative (HTAI), a five-day awareness and outreach campaign to educate commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officers and the general public about human trafficking.

Forty-five jurisdictions took part in this year’s Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative, with participation from 3,020 individual law enforcement officers/troopers/inspectors. There were 218 human trafficking awareness and preventions events, and 219 presentations were delivered. In addition, there were 8,352 media contacts throughout North America.CVSA collaborated with  to offer human trafficking identification and prevention training and reference materials to the motor carrier industry and law enforcement. During the five days of HTAI, 45,972 wallet cards and 21,763 window decals were distributed.After the successful launch of CVSA’s HTAI in 2022 and positive feedback from jurisdictions, CVSA  the initiative from three days to five for 2023. Different dates were set for each country to align existing human trafficking awareness days with CVSA’s five-day Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative. In the , the initiative took place Jan. 9-13. In , it was Feb. 20-24. And in , it was March 13-17.Next year’s HTAI dates are Jan. 8-12, 2024, in the U.S.; Feb. 19-23, 2024, in Canada; and March 11-15, 2024, in Mexico.If you suspect someone is in a human trafficking situation or you are the victim of human trafficking:

  • In the U.S., call 888-373-7888.
  • In Canada, call 833-900-1010.
  • In Mexico, call 800-5533-000.

To find out what your local jurisdiction is doing to increase human trafficking awareness and prevent human trafficking throughout the year,  the agency/department responsible for overseeing commercial motor vehicle safety within your state, province or territory.

CVSA’s  seeks to reduce human trafficking through coordinated enforcement and investigations and educational awareness.

Operation Safe Driver Week Is July 9-15

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has announced July 9-15 as this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week. Throughout that week, law enforcement officers in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will be on the lookout for commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors. Those exhibiting unsafe driving behaviors will be pulled over and given a warning and/or issued a ticket/citation by law enforcement.

Safe Driver Week

Photo: CVSA

This weeklong driver safety traffic enforcement and awareness campaign aims to identify unsafe drivers, deter dangerous driving behaviors and prompt positive driving habits through officer interactions with drivers.  shows that traffic stops and interactions with law enforcement help reduce problematic driving behaviors.

Examples of unsafe driver behaviors are speeding; improper lane changes, passing or turns; driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol; using a handheld device; failure to wear a seat belt, etc.

Each year, Operation Safe Driver Week focuses on a specific unsafe driving behavior to call attention to the dangers of that behavior. This year, the focus will be on . CVSA has continued to focus on speeding because it remains a persistent problem on our roadways. Speeding increases the frequency and severity of crashes, and unsafe speeds are a well-documented factor in fatalities and injuries.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched its , a comprehensive approach to significantly reducing serious injuries and deaths on highways, roads and streets. Part of the department’s Safe System Approach is to promote  in all roadway environments through targeted education, outreach campaigns and enforcement. CVSA’s  supports this strategy through its focus on speeding, and other unsafe driving behaviors, during the weeklong traffic enforcement initiative and its continued commitment to improving roadway safety through driver safety education and interactions with law enforcement. Operation Safe Driver Week aims to improve roadway safety by reminding drivers via driver safety communication and education to manage their speeds, and by addressing speeding via responsive traffic enforcement.

In addition to traffic enforcement, driver safety education and awareness is a key component of the Operation Safe Driver Program. CVSA is offering Operation Safe Driver Week postcards at no cost to its industry and enforcement members. The postcards are available in English, French and Spanish. 

Operation Safe Driver is a CVSA program aimed at reducing unsafe driver behaviors through traffic enforcement and by educating all drivers about ways to safely share the roads.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Original article published by CVSA

Inspectors Remove More Than 750 Commercial Motor Vehicles with Brake Violations from Roadways During CVSA’s Unannounced Brake Safety Day

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by CVSA

Photo: CVSA
On April 19, 6,829 commercial motor vehicles were inspected throughout Canada, Mexico and the U.S. as part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Brake Safety Day. Inspectors found brake-related critical vehicle inspection items on 11.3% of the vehicles inspected, indicating those vehicles were unfit and unsafe for roadways. As a result, inspectors restricted those 773 commercial motor vehicles from travel until the violations were corrected.During this one-day unannounced inspection and enforcement campaign, certified commercial motor vehicle inspectors conducted their usual vehicle and driver inspections. They reported brake-related data to CVSA for a one-day snapshot of the state of brake systems on the commercial motor vehicles traversing our roadways every day.The top three brake-related out-of-service conditions were:
  1. 20% Brakes Violations – 479
    A vehicle or combination of vehicles is declared out of service when 20% or more of its service brakes have an out-of-service condition resulting in a defective brake, such as a brake out of adjustment, an audible air leak at the chamber, defective linings/pads, a missing brake where brakes are required, etc.
  2. Other Brake Violations – 368
    Examples of other out-of-service brake violations are worn brake lines, broken brake drums, inoperative tractor protection system, inoperative low air warning device, air leaks, hydraulic fluid leaks, etc.
  3. Steering Brake Violations – 81
    Examples of automatic standalone out-of-service steering axle brake violations are inoperative brakes, mismatched brake chambers, mismatched slack adjuster length, defective linings, etc.

CVSA’s membership consists of jurisdictions in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. All three countries participated in this year’s unannounced Brake Safety Day, for a total of 56 jurisdictions.

  • Canada – Ten percent (88 vehicles) of the 894 total commercial motor vehicles inspected were placed out of service for brake-related violations.
  • Mexico – Thirty-four commercial motor vehicles were inspected. Six (18%) had brake-related out-of-service violations and were placed out of service.
  • United States – Inspectors placed 679 (11.5%) of the 5,901 total commercial motor vehicles inspected out of service for brake-related violations.
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