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I was listening to 1060 AM radio station KLMO the other day and I heard an introduction for a regional program, and it started something like this: "Okay folks; hold onto your hats, it's show time!"

Well, hold onto your hats, it's now show time for all truckers! This year, the 72-hour safety Roadcheck 2008 program is scheduled to occur in North America from June 3 to 5. More than 10,000 specially trained and certified officers will blanket North America's roadways to prevent truck and bus crashes and save lives.

Drivers, seat belt laws are mandatory, not optional. One main thing that will trigger an inspection is not wearing your seatbelt! Professional drivers must set the example for all other drivers. Although the percentage of drivers wearing seat belts has increased from 48 percent in 2004 to 69 percent in 2007, it is still too low. The adage, "Click it or Ticket" is effective to a degree. The owners and safety representatives of trucking companies must enforce all infractions of this type to the strongest company disciplinary degree on the first occurrence.

Another item that may trigger an inspection is having a dirty vehicle. California is especially bad for this, but other states are beginning to follow their lead on dirty, unkempt looking trucks.
If you cannot maintain an outward clean appearance, are you properly maintaining your equipment? Dirty equipment will spark a need to look and inspect.

Last year, J.J. Keller placed an article on the internet last November titled, "Check Your Antilock Brakes Before a Trooper Does." This can be found on Keller's Roadcheck Resource Center site. The Keller company reports:
Antilock brake systems (ABS) began appearing on commercial vehicles more than a decade ago. When working properly, ABS are designed to prevent skidding and wheel lockup and help drivers maintain control during emergency and low-traction stops. This in turn helps prevent jackknifing and loss of vehicle stability.

But according to a recent analysis of 1,000 vehicle inspections by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), one of every six power units and one of every three trailers is operating with defective ABS.
Considering this news, drivers, maintenance personnel, and owner-operators had better check and repair faulty items at the home base of operations, rather than face a shut down and forced out of service (OOS), or require an expensive roadside repair.

A major driver area of interest was infractions in the hours-of-service (HOS). A whopping 65.9 percent of drivers in 2007 were placed OOS due to log violations. Lesser driver violations included false logs, false driver qualifications, improper endorsements, license suspensions, expired licenses, revoked licenses, withdrawn or cancelled licenses, drug or alcohol involvement and underage driving in interstate operations.

Additionally, the most major equipment violation was brakes out of adjustment (about 27.7 percent). Other lesser equipment violations included improperly operating brake systems, improper lighting, improper load securement, faulty tires and wheels, suspension issues, steering component problems, frame issues, Hazmat infractions, flawed coupling devices, using dyed fuel on the highways, and exhaust leaks.

Drivers, it is relatively simple to perform these inspections and document problems on a Daily Vehicle Inspection Report (DVIR) as required by law. Do these things to protect yourself. If you are at a company that will not fix equipment problems, maybe it is time to move on to a company that does invest in a good maintenance program. It is not just the safety of others on the road at stake but yours as well.

Mechanics, you must look over equipment thoroughly when a piece of equipment comes in the shop. Your training gives you an edge to detect problems when they are still small. Don't focus only on what is written up on a DVIR, take a look at the entire piece of equipment and determine the true mechanical condition for road readiness.
Owners, please understand your maintenance budgets and give your maintenance personnel the authority to take needed actions when problems are small and before they become huge. Roadside OOS not only hurts your safestat ratings, it kills your maintenance budget too.

This year, like last year, there will probably be an increase in the OOS factors-and this is good. Removal of unsafe equipment or drivers from the nation's highways will increase the safety factor for everyone.
According to another J. J. Keller report:

In June 5-7, 2007, 7708 Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Certified Inspectors at 1449 locations across North America performed 62,370 truck and bus inspections - the highest number of inspections ever conducted in the 20 year history of the International Roadcheck event. Equally as impressive was a record number of the most comprehensive roadside inspections conducted, the North American Standard Level 1 - 49,454 of the total (79%).

CVSA sponsors the annual Roadcheck with participation by FMCSA, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), Transport Canada, and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (Mexico). CVSA is an international not-for-profit organization comprised of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal motor carrier safety officials and industry representatives from the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The trucking industry has had many black eyes in the light of bad press over the past year. Everyone can be better prepared for the upcoming inspection event. A little preplanned maintenance, pre-trip inspections with documentation, updating paperwork, and operating safe equipment will increase the reliability of many companies, enhance the positive public image of trucking, and could augment a little more "pride in the ride" mentality.
For more on CVSA visit www.cvsa.org. Additionally, look at Appendix G to Subchapter B - Minimum Periodic Inspection Standards in 49CFR Parts 350-399.

Remember, it's your time to perform so "hold onto your hats, it's show time!"