International road check week is a 72 hour event in which the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) randomly inspects commercial motor vehicles. However, this road check week has passed in 2022 and ran through May 17th to May 19th.
Due to these inspections, road check week can impact truckers day-to-day duties and cause potential delays. It is important to keep up to date with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance to see when this week will be announced and what their key focus is for next year.
How Does International Road Check Week Work?
Members of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance will conduct an in-depth inspection on commercial vehicles to promote safe driving practices. This is a three-day period.
On average, 15 trucks are inspected every minute. This inspection process started in 1988 and now has inspected more than 1.4 million vehicles since this week started.
Why Is This Week Important?
When CVSA conducts these inspections, they are ensuring that the truckers’ vehicles are adhering to safety requirements. International Road Check Week is intended to promote and educate both truckers and the general public alike on all things roadside safety.
However, it is important to note that throughout 2021, 16.5% of inspected vehicles went out of service, along with 5.3% of drivers, as a direct result of the CVSA safety standards failing to be passed. That said, typically speaking, carriers are subjected to either fines or a downgrade in their overall safety rating.
Where Do These Checks Take Place?
These checks happen all across North America in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Additionally, they happen on major highways throughout these countries to ensure the majority of commercial vehicles are being inspected. It is less likely that regional or local hauls will be subjected to inspection due to this.
Does This Week Have Inspection Focuses?
Every year for this international road check week, CVSA decides on an inspection focus through member jurisdiction data. This is to help bring awareness to a specific safety violation.
Moreover, these focuses tend to be on safety violations that are on the rise. In 2022, the inspection focus was on wheel ends. It has not been announced yet what the 2023 inspection focus will be.
How Does This Impact Truckload Capacity?
Due to the possibility of getting in trouble with CVSA on the safety of one’s vehicle, many truckers opt to take these days off. This is due to the fact carriers are subjected to fines or downgrade a safety rating if a state trooper finds anything amiss.
However, the majority of truckers do not have to fear these inspections. That said, due to the lack of drivers on the road, there will often be a dip in truckload capacity.
What To Expect With International Road Check Week
Since this three-day event averages around 40,000 inspections per year, it has a large impact on the trucking industry and daily operations. Here are some things to expect when international road check week is happening.
Routing Guide Compliance Issues
Since a vast majority of drivers will be taking these few days off, there is a higher probability that a carrier could potentially give back a load. This may not be applicable to regional or local hauls.
However, hauls over 500 miles should acknowledge that this is a possibility. Since routing guides are essential within these logistics, be aware there may be more obstacles in delivering these products than usual.
Delays
If a driver is going on a highway, it is highly likely they will be stopped for an inspection. Moreover, these inspections can range from 15 minutes to an hour, though at times, it will exceed sixty minutes if need be.
Due to this, you can usually expect delays since less truckers will be on the road and inspection times can fluctuate. However, since everyone will be aware of these checks, it is expected that these shipments will be delayed.
Tighter Deadlines
Many retailers know that international road check week can cause delays and less truckers on the road. Due to this, the week prior tends to have stricter and tighter deadlines.
This is intentional because it ensures that important products are delivered before international road check week. There tends to be less leniency on these shipments since retailers want to avoid the delays that are bound to happen during this week.
Rise in Spot Rates
Expect there to be a high rise in spot rates. This is because the demand from shippers will remain the same while there are less carriers willing to deliver goods during this time. Due to this, the spot market becomes more expensive as a result of this.
Tips to Limit Inspection Disruption
Although this week may seem overwhelming to those who are new to the trucking industry, these checks are nothing to be concerned about if you plan out your week wisely.
Here are some of our top tips to limit the disruption in your daily operations within international road check week:
- Confirm that your transits are DOT-compliant.
- Discuss what the payment will be if you are stuck at an inspection.
- Schedule non-critical shipments after this event is over.
- Plan to move sensitive freight prior to the start of this week.
- Relax!
Preparing For International Road Check Week
International road check week was set in place to ensure that truckers are following the safety requirements instilled by the CVSA and the DOT. It is crucial that these requirements are taken seriously both for the sake of the public and the driver.
Although these inspections may cause shipment delays and have some impact on daily operations, they are important to conduct. Stay safe and keep yourself in the loop regarding what International Road Check Week will look like next year!
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