Glossary

International Roadcheck

International Roadcheck is the world's largest targeted enforcement program for commercial motor vehicles. See below for more details and how the program may affect your shipments.

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What is International Roadcheck?

International Roadcheck is an annual three-day event in which CVSA (Commercial Vehicle Safety Association) inspectors examine as many trucks as possible. They’re looking for anything that doesn’t meet their safety standards for motor carriers, vehicles, or drivers.

International Roadcheck is the world’s largest targeted enforcement program for commercial motor vehicles. During the three-day period, nearly 17 trucks or buses are inspected, on average, every minute in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The truck is inspected thoroughly, as are all documents and licenses, as part of the 37-step inspection procedure.

Since the program began in 1998, more than 1.5 million roadside inspections have been conducted. In 2016, the CVSA conducted 62,796 inspections. Of these, 21.5 percent of vehicles and 3.4 percent of drivers were taken out of service due to critical violations -- ranging from brake adjustment and brake system violations (for vehicles) to issues with hours of service and false logs (for drivers).

How will International Roadcheck affect my shipments?

International Roadcheck may lead to delays and/or increased costs, for a few reasons:

Some FTL carriers and drivers choose not to operate during the week of International Roadcheck. This constrains overall capacity.
Non-compliant drivers and vehicles taken out of service will cause reduced capacity and delays.
All drivers must wait in lines (which are sometimes long) until they are inspected. The inspection itself takes about an hour.