WASHINGTON D.C. Encouraged by the success of the largest motorcoach inspection operations ever, federal safety regulators are gearing up for more roadside strike force activity this year.

Although no one will say when and where the Federal Motorcoach Carrier Safety Administration will send its motorcoach strike force next, the results of the most-recent operation, conducted in late November, make further surprise inspections of over-the-road buses a certainty.

"We recognize them as an effective and valuable enforcement tool and plan to utilize them in the future," said agency spokesman Duane DeBruyne.

There have been reports the strike force could hit again this month or next.

The value of the strike forces that FMCSA Administrator John Hill promised early last year showed up in the results of the late fall operation, a two-week assault that targeted motorcoaches from Maine to Virginia and involved inspectors from the FMCSA and 22 state and local police departments.

Working together, they conducted more than 1,200 inspections in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

The crackdown resulted in 101 coaches and 50 drivers being ordered off the road for serious safety violations.

Total violations resulting from the mixture of full inspections, to walk-arounds, totaled 1,306 and included 1,018 issued for the coaches and 288 for the drivers. The total was higher than the number of coaches that were inspected because numerous buses and drivers were issued multiple violations.

Not surprisingly, the top out-of-service violations for the coaches were brakes that were defective or out of adjustment, followed by general maintenance issues, steering system troubles and defective emergency exits.

Drivers who were ordered out of service were cited most for logbook violations, either for not having their seven-day reports up to date, not having any reports or having false reports.

Other high-number violations that forced drivers off the road were for driving without a commercial driver's license and not being able to speak or communicate in English.

The inspectors also clocked the speed of motorcoaches as part of the operation and 20 drivers were ticketed for speeding.

The strike force operation was part of a general plan Hill put together to put more emphasize on passenger safety and compliance reviews. The plan includes a commitment to conduct a compliance review on every unrated passenger carrier and a measure requiring states to submit a motorcoach inspection program as part of their annual commercial vehicle safety plan.

Several months before conducting the strike force operation in the busy Eastern corridor, the FMCSA and state and local police worked two dozen similar operations in the south, covering states from Texas to North Carolina. More than 700 motorcoaches were inspected in those operations.

Additionally, federal, state and local authorities routinely conduct inspections along the U.S. boarders and at popular destination spots, including national parks, casinos, resorts and amusement parks.

Nationwide, the number of safety inspections and compliance reviews in the past year have more than doubled, and many new entry audits are being done on an average of 4.5 months, much sooner than the required 18 months.