WASHINGTON - A record number of motorcoaches were inspected during International Roadcheck 2004 last month, with a slightly higher percentage being put of service for various safety violations.
This year's Roadcheck, conducted over a continuous three-day period by nearly 8,200 commercial vehicle inspectors, resulted in 589 motorcoaches and their drivers being checked for possible violations of out-of-service criteria and driver rules.
Last year, 515 coaches were inspected, up from 334 in 2002, 501 in 2001 and 433 in 2000.
The motorcoach out-of-service rate this year was 9.6 percent, up modestly from 9.5 percent last year. However, the number of drivers put out of service jumped by nearly one-third this year, going from a rate of 1.7 percent in 2003, to 2.7 percent this year.
Also, the number of violations discovered per motorcoach rose to 2.01, an increase over 1.78 violations in Roadcheck 2003.
Roadcheck is conducted annually under the aegis of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the leading commercial vehicle safety enforcement organization in North America. Its members include enforcement agencies and industry representatives in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
A total of 57,785 commercial vehicles were inspected this year, the vast majority of which are over-the-road trucks. Slightly more than 1 percent of the vehicles inspected were motorcoaches.
While the federal, state and provincial inspectors found fewer hours-of-service violations among all drivers this year, the vehicle out-of-service rates were higher - 23.9 percent this year, versus 22.7 percent in 2003 and 22 percent in 2002.
Those numbers would indicate that as the economy has improved the number of unsafe truckers on American highways has increased.
"Unfortunately, we continue to see that a portion of the (commercial vehicle) industry is not focused on making sure their equipment is properly maintained," said CVSA Executive Director Stephen F. Campbell. "However, inspectors are using all the tools available to them to find these offenders. We applaud those motor carriers and drivers who are improving highway safety by doing things right."
FMCSA Administrator Annette M. Sandberg said: "The roadside inspection program, and the emphasis placed on the international Roadcheck, are important activities in support of FMCSA's overall mission to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses."
There was good news out of Roadcheck 2004. Of the 57,785 driver and vehicle inspections conducted, a CVSA decal was placed on 27,749 commercial vehicles, indicating that no safety violations were found during the inspection. That is the highest number of vehicles with no violations discovered in the history of the 16 previous annual Roadchecks.
Inspectors also found that only 1.3 percent of all drivers inspected during Roadcheck 2004 were not wearing a safety belt.
CVSA sponsors Roadcheck with participation by the FMCSA, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, Transport Canada, the Research and Special Programs Administration and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (Mexico). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration also participated in Roadcheck 2004.