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Inspection Spree for Buses and Trucks Begins June

Across Kentucky and the rest of the United States, commercial trucks and buses will soon be subject to an inspection spree known as the International Roadcheck. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance conducts this event once a year over a 72-hour period in order to see where drivers are compliant and where they aren’t; the agency has recently stated that this year’s event will take place from June 5 to 7.

Drivers should understand that most rigs will undergo a Level I inspection, which is the most thorough as it covers both driver- and vehicle-related compliance. The CVSA has made hours-of-service violations a special focus for this year’s International Roadcheck. There are two main reasons for this.

First is the electronic logging mandate that the U.S. Department of Transportation implemented in December 2017. According to the mandate, all commercial truckers must install ELDs in their vehicles. ELDs record hours of service accurately and cannot be falsified as with paper logs.

Second is the fact that hours-of-service violations were a top reason for truckers being put out of service during last year’s road check. Out of the 63,000 drivers who were inspected in the 2017 International Roadcheck, 15,000 were issued out-of-service orders with 12,000 for vehicle-related non-compliance and 3,000 for driver-related violations.

When commercial vehicle accidents are caused by negligent behavior like drowsy driving, victims may be eligible for compensatory damages. This might include medical expenses, vehicle repair costs, and pain and suffering.

Accident attorneys may hire investigators to find out how the trucker was negligent. For example, the trucker may have become fatigued through overwork that violated the hours-of-service regulations. Attorneys may then bring that proof of negligence to the trucking company’s lawyers in order to negotiate for a fair settlement.