HIGHWAY HUNT BAGS LAME TRUCKS

The activities of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) are described, and the importance of inspection and maintenance of trucks to determine compliance with motor carrier safety laws and regulations is noted. The CVSA, comprised of 47 states and 10 Canadian provinces use special uniform procedures to inspect commercial vehicles on-highway to increase public awareness of enforcement efforts to ensure safety on the highways and reduce commercial vehicle involvement in crashes. While complete preventive maintenance programs are federally mandated, they can be enhanced for greater safety by carriers instituting the CVSA North America Standard Uniform Inspection at frequent intervals. These inspections are designed to evaluate quickly those items, found through accident investigation, to be most essential and critical to enable the driver to maintain control of a vehicle. The items inspected include the following: steering components; lamps and signals; windshield wipers; brakes; coupling; frame and body; suspension; wheels and rims; tires; fuel system; cargo securement; exhaust; and hazardous materials. Also inspected by CVSA is the driver. It is described how the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program legislation has unified the inspection and out-of-service criteria for greater uniformity and accomplishment. The roadside inspections also serve to educate drivers and carriers. The continued emphasis on roadside inspections is very appropriate, and has contributed to a decline in commercial vehicle involvement in accidents.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00410721
• Corporate Authors:

  National Safety Council

  444 North Michigan Avenue
  Chicago, IL  United States  60611
• Authors:
  • Fiste, W R
• Publication Date: 1989-9

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 16-19
• Serial:
  • Traffic Safety (Chicago)
  • Volume: 89
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: National Safety Council
  • ISSN: 0041-0721

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commercial vehicles; Compliance; Inspection; Laws; Legislation; Motor vehicles; Roadside; Safety; Traffic law enforcement; Traffic safety; Trucks; Vehicle maintenance
• Old TRIS Terms: Truck laws & regulations
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Maintenance and Preservation; Motor Carriers; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00488844
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-040 730
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 31 1989 12:00AM