With many companies and people in Florida, commercial vehicles drive in and out of this state. Commercial vehicles often look safe on the surface. However, recent data from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) details many road safety violations.
Details about the 2023 International Roadcheck
Each year, the CVSA conducts a 72-block of inspections on large numbers of commercial motor vehicles. These inspections occur throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The CVSA inspected 59,429 commercial trucks and their drivers in just three days. After the inspections, 81% of inspected commercial vehicles reported no violations. However, the CVSA logged 116,669 breaches by the end of this inspection period.
The most common vehicle and driver violations
Starting with vehicles, the leading violation found by the CVSA was brake system issues. These violations accounted for 25.2% of out-of-service violations. The other leading violations were tire-related problems, defective service brakes and improperly secured cargo. Rounding out the top five commercial vehicle OOS violations were light-related offenses.
Faulty trucks aren’t the only cause of commercial vehicle accidents. The CVSA also released the leading causes of driver-related out-of-service violations. Nearly half (41.1%) of driver offenses pertained to hours of service violations. Another leading cause of violations was false logs, which accounted for 26.4% of driver violations.
Initially, hours of service violations being so common might not seem like an issue. However, truckers violating these laws can make the roads deadly places for themselves, other drivers, roadside workers and pedestrians. Hours of service violations happen when truckers drive longer than they’re safely supposed to.
The majority of commercial truck drivers are responsible people driving safe vehicles. However, considering the size and weight of semi trucks, it’s smart to use additional caution while sharing the road with them.