Fleet Focus: CVSA inspection events present learning opportunities for truck owners

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) conducted the 2024 Operation Safe Driver Week July 7-13. The focus of this year’s event was reckless, careless or dangerous driving.

The annual CVSA event is aimed at enforcement and education with a focus on sharing the roads safely. Unsafe driving behaviors by drivers of both passenger and commercial motor vehicles are targeted. The CVSA cited 42,795 fatal traffic crashes in the U.S. in 2022, the latest year that figures are available. There were another 15,979 reported fatal crashes in Mexico. Canada reported 1,768 in 2021.

The results of the event won’t be released until September or so, but drivers and owners of commercial vehicles can learn from CVSA goals and results of past years. Truck owners who purchase their own liability insurance know that the cost is a major business expense. Accident claims only drive those costs higher and can be prohibitively high for a small carrier with large or numerous claims on their record.

Results from 2023 Operation Safe Driver Week

In the 2023 event, 2,634 tickets were issued to commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers and 1,860 to drivers of passenger vehicles. Speeding was a focus area of the week, and the distribution of citations was interesting. While truckers received 58.6% of the total citations issued, they received 35.3% of the tickets issued for speeding.

The second-most tickets overall were written for “other state/local driver violations,” with the category being the number-one ticket getter for commercial vehicle drivers and the second-most for passenger vehicle drivers. The category includes such violations as no registration, no proof of insurance, size and weight violations, defective equipment and other violations inspectors might find after pulling a vehicle over.

Failure to wear a seat belt

As usual, a substantial number of drivers received warnings or citations for failure to wear a seat belt. 512 warnings and 553 tickets were issued, but the split says that too many truckers haven’t received the message. 455 warnings, 89% of the total, and 467 tickets, more than 84% of the total, went to commercial truck drivers. While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) estimates that about 14% of truck drivers don’t wear their safety belt, nearly 50% of truckers killed in crashes weren’t buckled in.

Truckers may have a reputation of being independent-minded people, but statistics that show that about one of every seven drivers don’t wear safety belts. That’s mind-boggling to some! No one plans an accident, of course, but it seems that the specter of bouncing around the cab like a BB in a rollover crash or being ejected in a direct collision would act as a deterrent to all but the most stubborn of people.

Improper use of handheld devices

One area that has seen some large swings in warning and citation numbers is the use of handheld devices. In the 2023 event, 243 warnings and 262 citations were handed out. Tickets were about evenly divided between commercial and passenger drivers, but about 65% of warnings went to truckers.

The prior year looked much different. In the 2022 event there were 876 warnings. More than three-quarters of those went to drivers of passenger vehicles. The 496 tickets issued, however, were more evenly divided with commercial vehicle drivers receiving 48% and passenger vehicle drivers 52%.

During the CVSA’s 2021 event, there were fewer warnings and more tickets. Of 917 tickets issued, 37.5% went to truckers. Differences may have been due to CVSA focus areas, local jurisdiction enforcement preferences or other reasons, but in the three years total warnings and tickets for handheld devices have dropped from 1,607 in 2021 to 505 in 2023. Perhaps that’s a result of education efforts or simply a difference in enforcement policy, but the fewer devices being used, the better.

For owners of trucks and small fleets, and especially those who hire drivers for their equipment, Operation Safe Driver Week is a look into the overall behaviors of drivers on the highways. If, for example, the driver you hire is the one of seven who doesn’t wear a seat belt, an accident could be more costly to you if it occurs. One benefit of wearing a seat belt is keeping the driver in the seat after an impact, possibly eliminating a second or third impact. A driver knocked out of the seat controls nothing.

Both drivers, motor carriers impacted by citations

Even if there’s no accident, if the driver has violations for not using seat belts listed on the Pre-Employment Screening report or on the Motor Vehicle Report, your insurance rates could be raised and your CSA (compliance, safety and accountability) score could be impacted.

Use of handheld devices has been compared with drunk driving in terms of what happens to a driver’s ability. At 70 mph, a five-second look to read a text message or social media post takes a vehicle nearly a tenth of a mile. Citations for use of handheld equipment are severe — and they should be. There are simply too many hands-free options, including Bluetooth headsets and dashboard “infotainment” screens for anyone to have a phone or tablet in hand while driving.

Violations in a driver’s record for using a handheld device while driving are a large red flag, especially if there are multiple instances. It’s a good idea to ask a driver you are considering for hire how they will handle incoming phone calls or text messages.

Equipment violations, especially warnings, may not show up on a driver’s MVR, but may appear on a PSP report. Repeated violations can be an indication of how well that driver will take care of your equipment. Unfortunately, some carriers take better care of tractors and trailers than others, and some violations may reflect lax inspection and maintenance schedules, but it’s always worth asking prospective drivers.

Events like Operation Safe Driver Week, when combined with other CSVA operations like Operation Roadcheck, help provide a view into what’s happening on the road as well as opportunities to correct unsafe behaviors. Those who complain about those “four-wheelers” and the trouble they cause can be glad that they’re being watched, too. After all, everyone wins when safety happens.

Cliff Abbott is an experienced commercial vehicle driver and owner-operator who still holds a CDL in his home state of Alabama. In nearly 40 years in trucking, he’s been an instructor and trainer and has managed safety and recruiting operations for several carriers. Having never lost his love of the road, Cliff has written a book and hundreds of songs and has been writing for The Trucker for more than a decade.

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