The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual “Safety Roadcheck 2007” recently conducted throughout North America has revealed improvements in the U.S. trucking industry when it comes to overall truck safety.  This includes an increase in the number of drivers wearing safety belts, as well as industry compliance with hazardous materials regulations.

Figures also showed slight increases in the number of drivers and vehicles parked for work and rest violations as law enforcement officials continue to do a better job of targeting drivers with previous violations.

“Safety on the nation’s highways and the safety of the motoring public continue to be the top priorities of the trucking industry,” said American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves. “ATA supports the removal of unsafe trucks from the road. CVSA continues to become better at targeting those drivers and vehicles that should be out of operation. We appreciate CVSA’s annual Roadcheck effort, which helps ensure that education and enforcement are having a positive impact on safety.”

The number of vehicles, including trucks and buses, placed out of service represented 21.5 percent of the vehicles inspected. This compared with 21.7 percent last year.

The number of safety belt violations during the recent enforcement blitz decreased significantly to 829 in 2007 from 1,223 a year earlier. The number of hazardous materials trucks placed out of service also declined to 17.7 percent from 18.2 percent in 2006. The number of trucks parked for brake defects also dropped.

Drivers placed out of service for non-compliance with hours-of-service rules increased slightly, as 4.9 percent of all inspections resulted in a driver being placed out of service for hours of service violations, up from 4.5 percent in 2006.

The CVSA points out that these figures do not mean that trucking is less safe, but that inspectors have improved their skill in selecting trucks and drivers for inspections.

The inspections were not performed at random. Trucks and drivers were targeted for inspection based upon the safety record or previous inspection records of the motor carrier or the driver, or upon the observation skills of the trained inspectors. The inspectors use a computerized Inspection Selection System (ISS) by entering the vehicle, company and driver identifying information into the computer. The ISS then gives the inspector one of three results: “inspect,” “inspection optional” or “don’t inspect.”

As part of its overall safety agenda, ATA said it would continue to promote safety belt use for all truck drivers by advocating primary safety belt laws in all states and increased safety belt enforcement efforts. ATA also said they will continue to work with its industry counterparts to educate drivers about driver work and rest rules to ensure compliance.