International Roadcheck Scheduled for June 5

The International Roadcheck should be a familiar event to commercial truck and bus drivers in Mississippi. This nationwide inspection spree, conducted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, takes place every year over the course of 72 hours, and its purpose is to ensure compliance with driver- and vehicle-related safety guidelines. Those found breaking the rules are handed out-of-service orders.

This year’s International Roadcheck will take place from June 5 to June 7. The CVSA has also stated that inspectors will be conducting Level I inspections on most rigs; these inspections cover both driver- and vehicle-related rules. The special focus will be on hours-of-service regulations, which have entered the spotlight due to the ELD mandate that was instituted back in December 2017.

In the mandate, the U.S. Department of Transportation required that all commercial truck drivers install electronic logging devices in their rigs. One benefit to these is that they prevent truckers from falsifying their duty hours, a practice that was previously possible with paper logs. Since hard enforcement of the ELD mandate began in April, inspectors will be checking for this.

Another reason for the focus on hours-of-service violations is that these, along with brake violations, were the top reason why truckers in the 2017 International Roadcheck were put out of service. More than 63,000 drivers were inspected during that event, and 15,000 were issued out-of-service orders.

Hours-of-service violations often go hand in hand with drowsy driving. When accidents are caused by such negligent acts, the victims can potentially file claims against the responsible trucking companies. A lawyer could hire investigators to strengthen the case and handle all negotiations, litigating only if a settlement cannot be agreed upon.