Starting today, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) 2021 North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria are now in effect. Commercial motor vehicle enforcement personnel use the criteria to identify commercial motor vehicle and driver violations that result in the vehicle or driver being placed out of service. The 2021 out-of-service criteria replace and supersede all previous versions.
The voting members of the Alliance approved four changes to the out-of-service criteria, which are now in effect. In accordance with the CVSA Bylaws, the proposed changes were communicated to the voting members of the Alliance on Oct. 15, 2020, and ratified on Oct. 30, 2020. The out-of-service criteria are updated annually, effective April 1 of each year.
The following changes were made to the out-of-service criteria:
- Footnote 10 in Part I, Item 9. DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – U.S. – Footnotes for Driver’s Record of Duty Status – U.S. was amended. Also, footnotes 5 through 8 were removed and reserved. However, they were not completely deleted because other documents refer to these footnotes and renumbering them could cause confusion.
- Language was added to Part I, Item 10. DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – CANADA, h. No Daily Log (See Footnote 2) and i. False Log (See Footnote 1) for record of duty status.
- Additional language for record of duty status and a footnote were added to Part I, Item 10. DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – CANADA – Footnotes for Driver’s Record of Duty Status.
- Language was added to Part II, Item 9. LIGHTING DEVICES (HEADLAMPS, TAIL LAMPS, STOP LAMPS, TURN SIGNALS AND LAMPS/FLAGS ON PROJECTING LOADS) – b. At Any Time – Day or Night (1) on center high-mounted stop lamp(s).
The CVSA Training Committee, the Education Quality Assurance Team in Canada and the U.S. National Training Center’s Technical Review and Update Specialist Team will incorporate these changes, as appropriate, into North American Standard Inspection Program training materials, along with updated inspection bulletins, inspection procedures, operational policies and training videos.
There are several versions (print, electronic, other languages, etc.) of the 2021 out-of-service criteria available for purchase through the CVSA online store. The 2021 out-of-service criteria app is available for purchase by searching “CVSA Out-of-Service Criteria” in the App Store or Google Play store.
The out-of-service criteria are different from federal, state and territorial regulations. Regulations are the minimum requirements (developed by federal, state, provincial or territorial regulatory authorities) for the operation of commercial motor vehicles in interstate/interprovincial commerce. CVSA’s North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria ensure uniformity, consistency and reciprocity among the states, provinces, territories and countries in determining whether or not drivers or vehicles present an imminent hazard and should be placed out of service. Together, the federal regulations and CVSA’s out-of-service criteria provide the standards drivers, motor carriers and law enforcement personnel use to ensure the commercial motor vehicles and drivers on North America’s roadways are safe and in compliance.
CVSA hosted a webinar outlining the changes to the 2021 out-of-service criteria. The webinar is available to CVSA members through the online CVSA member portal. Once logged in, click on the CVSA Learning tab, then click on “Roadside” to view all past webinars.
For questions about the criteria, contact CVSA Director of Roadside Inspection Program Kerri Wirachowsky via email or at 301-830-6153.