News

Sgt. John Samis of the Delaware State Police is the new president of the Alliance. Capt. John Broers with the South Dakota Highway Patrol is CVSA’s vice president. Maj. Jeremy “Chris” Nordloh with the Texas Department of Public Safety was elected by the membership to the position of secretary.

CVSA held its annual conference, providing the opportunity for government officials, law enforcement personnel and industry members to work together to address the topics and issues affecting the commercial motor vehicle community in an effort to improve commercial motor vehicle inspections, enforcement and safety throughout North America

On Sept. 15-21, CVSA-certified enforcement personnel will be conducting roadside inspections, which include thorough investigation of brake systems on commercial motor vehicles. Inspectors will also pay special attention to brake hoses/tubing, which must be properly attached, undamaged, without leaks and appropriately flexible.

During Operation Safe Driver Week, July 14-20, 2019, officers issued 46,752 citations and 87,624 warnings to drivers for traffic enforcement violations, ranging from speeding to failure to wear a seatbelt.

On June 4-6, 2019, inspectors conducted 67,072 inspections on commercial motor vehicles as part of CVSA’s International Roadcheck. During those three days, 12,019 vehicles were removed from roadways due to critical vehicle inspection item violations and 2,784 drivers were placed out of service for driver-related violations. That’s a 17.9% overall vehicle out-of-service rate and a 4.2% driver out-of-service rate.

CVSA is pleased to announce that Sgt. Benjamin Schropfer with the Nebraska State Patrol earned the 2019 Jimmy K. Ammons Grand Champion Award, the highest honor for the commercial motor vehicle roadside inspector, at the 2019 North American Inspectors Championship.

The CVSA Board of Directors approved a new Inspection Bulletin regarding Dodge Ram 2500/3500 drag link assembly welds.

On May 15, 2019, CVSA’s law enforcement members conducted 10,358 commercial motor vehicle inspections focused on identifying brake system violations. Of those inspections, 16.1% of vehicles had brake-related critical vehicle inspection items. Those 1,667 vehicles were placed out of service until the violations could be corrected.

From July 14-20, law enforcement personnel will identify, pull over and issue warnings or citations to commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors, such as speeding, distracted driving, following too closely, improper lane change, etc.

CVSA awarded $1,000 scholarships to five deserving high school seniors to attend the college of their choice this fall. Brendan Dowling will attend Biola University; William Farris was accepted to the University of Alabama; Kathryn Kelley will attend Southwest Baptist University; Reagan Miller plans to attend Dallas Baptist University; and Marissa Snapp was accepted to Emory and Henry College.

Enforcement officials will conduct roadside safety inspections on commercial motor vehicles throughout North America. Vehicles with critical brake violations, or other critical vehicle inspection item violations, will be restricted from traveling until those violations are corrected. Vehicles without critical vehicle inspection item violations are eligible to receive a CVSA decal indicating that the vehicle passed inspection.

On June 12, 2019, CVSA Past President Deputy Chief Mark Savage with the Colorado Highway Patrol testified on behalf of the Alliance and the enforcement community at the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit hearing, titled “Under Pressure: The State of Trucking in America.”

Commercial motor vehicles and their drivers will be checked at inspection sites, weigh stations, strategic locations and roving patrol locations on public roadways in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Law enforcement personnel will be on the lookout for commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in dangerous driver behaviors July 14-20 as part of CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Week. Drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors will be pulled over by law enforcement and may be issued a warning and/or citation.

More than 500 enforcement personnel, government officials and industry representatives attended the CVSA Workshop, March 31-April 4, 2019, in St. Louis, Missouri. Participants attended membership, region, committee and program meetings, as well as informational sessions, aimed at improving uniformity and reciprocity in commercial motor vehicle safety and enforcement by sharing information, developing best practices, and enhancing roadside inspection program activities and services.

CVSA’s 2019 North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria is now in effect. The 2019 out-of-service criteria replaces and supersedes all previous versions. The North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria is the pass-fail criteria for roadside safety inspections.

International Roadcheck will take place June 4-6. Over that 72-hour period, commercial motor vehicle inspectors will conduct inspections on commercial motor vehicles and drivers. This year’s focus is steering and suspension systems.

On March 5, 2019, Senators Gillibrand and Rubio and Representatives Cohen and DeSaulnier introduced the Stop Underrides Act, which seeks to improve underride protection on commercial motor vehicles by improving performance standards.

CVSAs proud to announce professional driver Timothy Dean of Werner Enterprises as the winner of the 2019 International Driver Excellence Award. Dean has been with Werner for more than 30 years and safely driven more than 4 million miles without incident.

Christopher Turner, a former captain with the Kansas Highway Patrol, joined CVSA on Feb. 19, 2019, as director of crash and data programs.