What are Road Check Days?

Originally published by Texas Attorney.

We have made several posts in recent weeks alluding to the most dangerous days of the year for Truck Wrecks. In particular, we have written about the dangers of being on the road in the days following Road Check days and how fatal truck wrecks are on the rise. Road Check period can be simply explained as a 72 hour period, sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, in which state and federal authorities across North America set up checkpoints and weigh stations to actively inspect and review all commercial trucks on the road.

Why Do We Have Road Check Days? 

The goal of Road Check period is to crack down on trucking violations that may otherwise go unnoticed in the hopes of making our highways safer. Each year during road check period, more than 10,000 inspectors from federal and state agencies will inspect nearly 17 vehicles every minute. They are checking every vehicle’s driving log, safety reports and looking for any safety violations by the truck driver, trucking companies, or of the actual truck. Some of the trucks stopped during road check days may be subject to a thorough 37-point inspection. In 2014, Road Check Period saw a total of 11,420 out-of-service vehicle violations, amounting to about 23% of all inspections. The three most common violations were: failure to secure vehicle equipment, failing to load/equip a vehicle to prevent load shifting/falling, and leaking/falling cargo.

What’s The Problem? 

Road Check days are a multi-national effort sponsored by every agency from the state Highway Patrols to the Department of Homeland Security. The initiative is designed to keep all of us safer on the roadways and it is an effort that is based in merit. The problem, as we have alluded to in previous post is that many truckers and trucking companies choose to stay off the roads completely during Road Check period and then rush to make up mileage and meet deadlines in the following days. This leads to higher instances of reckless or fatigued driving by truck drivers and thus more truck wrecks making the days following Road Check the deadliest of the year of the for truck wrecks, nationwide.

The best advice, then, is:

Avoid Heavy Traffic Areas on June 4, 5, and 6, 2015

 

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