| Truck inspectors will be out in force for Roadcheck 2009 |
|
|
 |
| ODOT News |
|
June 1, 2009
For more information, contact Sally Ridenour (503) 986-3359
From June 2-4, the Oregon Department of Transportation Motor Carrier Transportation Division will participate in Roadcheck 2009, an annual truck safety event sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. During the 72-hour event, trained inspectors conduct truck safety inspections and hand out safety information to drivers.
“Although inspectors perform this type of work every day, intensive inspection operations like Roadcheck help reinforce the message that safety is our number one priority,” said Howard Russell, ODOT Motor Carrier Safety Compliance Field manager. “Roadcheck also complements ODOT’s on-going initiatives to reduce truck-involved crashes.”
For the last few years, ODOT has been aggressively targeting unsafe commercial vehicles and drivers with enhanced enforcement and education initiatives. In an intensive inspection event along the Interstate 84 corridor in May, almost 36 percent of trucks and/or drivers were found to have a critical safety violation.
“Although the majority of drivers operating on Oregon highways are safety-conscious professionals operating well maintained trucks, these inspections are crucial to the identification of those who are not and keeping Oregonians safe,” said Russell.
Commercial vehicles and drivers are subject to strict federal and state safety regulations, including being subject to safety inspections of vehicles and drivers. During Roadcheck 2009, ODOT Motor Carrier staff certified to inspect commercial vehicles will be conducting level 1 inspections. A level 1 inspection is a comprehensive 37-step procedure that involves checking the vehicle, driver and cargo safety.
Last year, 67,931 inspections were conducted at 1,683 sites across North America during Roadcheck. In Oregon, 745 inspections were conducted during Roadcheck last year. ODOT Motor Carrier staff found 26 percent of trucks inspected and 16 percent of drivers inspected had critical safety violations requiring the truck and/or driver to be placed out of service until the violation could be corrected. The national out of service rate is 23.7 percent of vehicles and 7 percent of drivers.
The four most common vehicle defects were related to braking systems, brake adjustments, safe loading, and tires and wheels. Almost all driver problems were related to hours of service and logbook documentation.
“Oregon’s out of service rate is higher than the national average. One reason is Oregon has an excellent record keeping system that allows inspectors to check all available data thoroughly,” said Russell. “It’s important to understand that the inspections conducted are not random inspections. Rather, we scrutinize drivers and trucks using several sorting tools and select those who are more likely to be out of compliance.”
For more information about Roadcheck 2009 and commercial vehicle inspection efforts in the United States, Canada and Mexico, visit www.cvsa.org. For more information about ODOT Motor Carrier’s safety efforts visit http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/MCT
###ODOT###
|
|
|
|
