International Roadcheck will turn 29 years this year. This time it will start on June 7, and as usual, will last for three days. International Roadcheck is the world’s largest targeted enforcement program with inspectors conducting the most thorough roadside inspections on commercial moto vehicles. During these 72 hours, approximately 17 commercial motor vehicles such as buses and trucks are inspected every minute, with about 10,000 certified inspectors performing 37-step inspections all across North America.
International Roadcheck is organized annually as a three day event during which CVSA-certified inspectors examine commercial motor vehicles, as well as drivers, who are also required to present documentation such as their license, medical cards and other types of documentation.
The first International Roadcheck happened in 1988 and over 1.4 million roadside inspections have been performed during these events. Another goal of International Roadcheck is to educate drivers and general public about the Northern America roadside inspection program and how important it is to safely operate a commercial vehicle.
The program is sponsored by CVSA (the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance) with the help by FMCSA (the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), Transport Canada, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation of Mexico and Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.
This is the good news that isn’t often seen in the popular media about commercial transport of materials, liquids, gases and people. There are always too many spills, calamaties and injuries related to shipments on our highways and roads, but keeping them to a minimum requires diligent and vigilant attention from both commercial drivers, agencies and watch-dog groups, such as those listed in this article. Let’s give it up for these 10,000 inspectors trying to make all of our roads safer for everyone.
Great to see that active steps are being taken by the CVSA to keep our roads safe!
I wasn’t aware that this program existed, but I’m really glad to know it’s out there. Since I travel a lot for work, and do most of it on the highway, I often wonder about some of the older tractor trailer rigs, especially the local jobs. Some of them look like the truck is struggling to haul the load, and it’ concerns me for the safety of all the others on the road. I think an annual inspection program like this can catch problems before they turn into something serious, so I’m happy that it occurs each year.