From June 5 to 7, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance held its annual International Roadcheck. Taking place across North America, the spree resulted in 67,502 commercial truck and bus drivers being stopped and inspected for vehicle- and driver-related compliance. Truck drivers in West Virginia may be interested to know what the results were.

A total of 11,897 vehicles and 2,664 drivers were put out of service during the three-day event. 43.7 percent of driver out-of-service violations were related to hours-of-service compliance: the major focus of this year’s road check. However, less than 2 percent of drivers were ordered out of service for HOS violations.

Following HOS non-compliance were cases of drivers having the wrong class license (21.4 percent) or falsifying their work log (10.1 percent). The top three vehicle-related violations concerned brake systems (28.4 percent), tires and wheels (19.1 percent) and brake adjustment (16.3 percent).

45,400 of the inspections were Level I inspections, which are the most comprehensive available. 21.6 percent of trucks subjected to Level I inspections were put out of service. 3.9 percent of drivers who underwent a Level I, II or III inspection met with similar results.

While more inspections were conducted this year than in the previous year, the number of out-of-service orders issued decreased. The CVSA has planned its next event, Brake Safety Week, for September 16 to 22.

The purpose of the International Roadcheck is to ensure that truckers are safe on the road. Negligence is an ever-present issue and can lead to semi-trucking accidents; when it does, though, victims could be able to file a claim for damages. West Virginia negligence laws simply require them to be less than 50 percent responsible for the crash. Actually receiving damages is another matter, so victims may want a lawyer on their side, especially for the negotiation phase.