Ohio Officials Prep for Three-Day Semitruck Enforcement Effort

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio will participate in International Roadcheck, the world’s largest targeted enforcement program for commercial motor vehicles.

Scheduled for May 12-14 throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada, Roadcheck is a 72-hour inspection program in which transportation inspectors across North America will stop trucks and conduct inspections to ensure motor carriers are operating safely. During International Roadcheck, inspectors will primarily conduct the North American Standard Level I Inspection, a 37-step procedure that includes an examination of driver operating requirements and vehicle mechanical fitness.

This year, special emphasis will be placed on two focus areas: electronic logging device tampering and cargo securement. While ELDs were designed to automate hours-of-service tracking, manipulation can be used to conceal hours-of-service violations and has emerged as a concern for road safety.

The cargo securement focus is critical because shifted or falling debris remains one of the most preventable causes of highway fatalities and road closures. Improper or inadequate cargo securement poses a serious risk to the driver and other motorists.

PUCO inspectors enforce important safety regulations by conducting safety inspections of commercial motor vehicles on roadways across Ohio. Each safety inspection follows a thorough process to ensure that the driver and CMV meet the necessary state and federal safety requirements. Vehicles and drivers that fail to meet these requirements may be declared out-of-service and cannot continue operating until they comply.

During last year’s Roadcheck, PUCO and the Ohio State Highway Patrol conducted 1,245 inspections. There were 1,529 violations, of which 345 were severe enough to place either the driver or the vehicle out of service.

International Roadcheck is sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. Since its inception in 1988, roadside inspections conducted during International Roadcheck have numbered more than 1.5 million, with around 17 trucks and buses inspected, on average, every minute in Canada, the United States and Mexico during the 72-hour period.