The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) recently released the results of its 2026 International Roadcheck, which took place from May 12-14. This inspection and enforcement initiative highlights the work of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) inspectors throughout North America. It also acknowledges the compliance of motor carriers and professional drivers through the issuance of a CVSA decal on eligible vehicles.
In total, 54,575 inspections were conducted during the three-day initiative. Approximately 81% of the CMVs examined had no out-of-service (OOS) violations. However, 10,350 (19%) CMVs were removed from the roadways for OOS violations, and 3,184 (5.8%) drivers were placed OOS as well.
OOS violations mean that either the inspected vehicle or driver will not be allowed to perform their duties until the offenses in question are resolved. These violations can affect motor carriers’ Compliance, Safety and Accountability scores and their Safety Fitness Determination ratings.
Inspection Specifics
The CVSA places a different emphasis on the International Roadcheck each year. The specific focus in 2026 for vehicles was cargo securement, and the driver focus was electronic logging device (ELD) tampering, falsification or manipulation.
In total, 1,724 cargo securement issues were found on CMVs, accounting for 12.4% of all vehicle OOS violations. Cargo securement was the fourth most-cited OOS violation. The first was brake system safety.
ELD tampering, falsification or manipulation accounted for 266 or 6.7% of all driver OOS violations in North America. Inspectors issued 146 OOS orders (3.7%) for ELD tampering, making it the seventh most-cited driver OOS violation in North America. ELD tampering is the altering, obscuring, falsifying, interfering or reengineering of data on an electronic logging device to hide hours-of-service violations. Hiding actual driving time raises the risk of severe highway crashes due to driver fatigue.
The top reason a driver was issued an OOS order was for not having a medical card, accounting for 27% (1,072) of all driver OOS violations.
Top Cited Violations
The five most-cited OOS vehicle violations in the United States found during the International Roadcheck inspections were:
- Defective service brakes: 3,379 (24.3%)
- Tires: 2,914 (20.9%)
- 20% defective brakes: 2,072 (14.9%)
- Cargo securement: 1,724 (12.4%)
- Lights: 1,659 (11.9%)
Meanwhile, the five most-cited violations that resulted in a driver being put OOS included:
- No medical card: 1,0712 (28.2%)
- Hours of service: 883 (23.2%)
- No commercial driver’s license (CDL): 614 (16.1%)
- English Proficiency: 361 (9.5%)
- False logs: 241 (5.6%)
Contact Delmarva’s friendly Transportation Insurance experts at Deeley Insurance Group today for more risk management guidance. Call or text us at 410.213.5600.
