05/16/2022
Blitz Week May 17th through May 19th
Every year around this time (May-June), motor carriers and truck drivers across Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are audited on their adherence to governmental commercial vehicle rules and regulations. These audits are administered by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Administration — a close companion of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
At their core, International Roadchecks are administered to promote the safety of all pedestrians, drivers and shipments while on International highways.
By partnering with local highway patrol and commercial motor vehicle inspectors from across the U.S., Canadian Provinces and Mexico, the CVSA conducts International Roadchecks at various inspection/weigh stations via roaming patrols and at temporary inspection checkpoints.
Administered for a 72-hour window of time, during which truckers are flagged down and checked for vehicle maintenance and driver compliance practices, International Roadchecks assess drivers in areas that may include any of the following:
The mechanical health of their vehicle, including but not limited to:
Brakes
Engines
Lights
Steering functions
Fuel systems
Driver credentials
Hours of service (HOS) adherence and documentation
Drug/Alcohol impairment
Proper permitting (where applicable)
Although trucks may be checked for any number of these — depending on the discretion of administrative officers — the overarching goals of these checks are typically narrowed down to a main area of focus each year, targeting a single or pair of roadside inspection elements. Doing so helps the CVSA, and its partners, expedite their compliance checks, turning them into routine investigations of a truck's core functions.
When operating at maximum efficiency, yearly International Roadchecks have historically been able to pull over and assess 15 semi-trucks every. single. minute.