There’s some early buzz surrounding the new Level VIII inspection. While no enforcement units are currently conducting the inspections, and many details remain unresolved, plans are already underway for the adoption of the requirements.
In a nutshell, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) Level VIII Electronic Inspection is conducted electronically or wirelessly while a commercial motor vehicle is in motion without direct interaction with a roadside inspector/enforcement official, according to Ken Presley, Vice President, Legislative & Regulatory Affairs & Industry Relations/COO for the United Motorcoach Association (UMA).
The Level VIII inspection includes:
- A descriptive location (GPS coordinates)
- Electronic validation of who is operating the vehicle
- Appropriate driver’s license class and endorsement(s) for vehicle being operated
- License status
- Valid Medical Examiner’s Certificate and Skill Performance Evaluation (SPE) Certificate
- Current driver’s record of duty status; hours-of-service compliance
- USDOT or (Canada) NSC number; power unit registration
- Operating authority
- Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) compliance
- Federal out-of-service orders
Next step in the process
“I suspect in a few years this process, or something similar, will be routine,” said Presley, who attended the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Workshop meeting in Memphis, Tennessee this week, where he received an update on the inspection and new requirements. “Carriers with compliant drivers and well-maintained vehicles may welcome this type of intervention as it serves to improve their scores.”
The next step in the process is the various enforcement jurisdiction’s development of the information technology (IT) infrastructure to capture the information required. There is no deadline currently.
CVSA is a nonprofit organization comprised of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal commercial motor vehicle safety officials and industry representatives that includes the United Motorcoach Association.
The goal of this new electronic inspection is to help expand the roadside enforcement’s footprint, increasing the number of interactions an agency/department could have with the motor carrier industry and providing member jurisdictions with additional information to create unique compliance options and strategies, according to the CVSA. An electronic inspection option will assist roadside enforcement/inspection personnel to better focus their time on carriers with critical safety violations.
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