Dive Brief:

• Hours of Service (HOS) was the most common driver violation discovered during this year's International Roadcheck by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). During the three-day event in early June, 67,502 inspections were conducted. 
• More than 2,600 drivers were put out of service, and among those, 43.7% were due to HOS violations. "Of the total number of inspections conducted during International Roadcheck, less than 2 percent of drivers were placed out of service for hours-of-service violations," CVSA noted.
• Inspectors found 11,897 vehicles with out-of-service conditions — brake systems and tires/wheels were the most common problems. 

Dive Insight:

With enforcement of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate going into effect earlier this year, the 2018 International Roadcheck "served as the perfect opportunity to highlight the importance of hours-of-service regulations and compliance," CVSA said. 

While inspectors looked at several criteria — a 37-step process that checks everything from mechanical conditions to driver's licenses — during the three-day safety blitz from June 5 to 7, this year's specific focus was on HOS compliance.

The issue is consistently the most common reason drivers are put out of service during the safety blitzes. In four of the past five years, more than 40% of driver out-of-service cases were marked as HOS violations.

In general, however, only 2% of all inspections resulted in such a violation.

While CVSA's data illustrates the vast majority of drivers are complying with HOS regulations, not all carriers and truckers are on board with the rules.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking public comment on rules related to HOS and the ELD mandate. The agency planned to hold a public listening session on the regulations Friday, although the event was postponed due to potentially inclement weather from Hurricane Florence. So far, the proposed rule has 1,722 comments, with many respondents advocating for more flexibility in hours and breaks. 

Current HOS rules "greatly restrict and cause a lot of logistic problems in the movement of our freight," James Hoisington, who works with a carrier in Wisconsin, wrote in a comment. "This impact has affected the manufacturers, wholesalers, transporters, sellers and consumers. Supply Chain is a huge part of America's successes and failures, so if something isn't fixed with this ongoing issue, we all lose!"