MTO’s Chris Davies discusses this year’s RoadCheck with PMC Magazine
Q – What are the dates for International RoadCheck 2017?
A – International Roadcheck is an annual, internationally coordinated 72-hour truck safety event involving enforcement agencies from across Canada, the US and Mexico. This year, the event will run June 6, 7 and 8.
Q – How long have you been involved in International RoadCheck?
A – Ontario is a significant contributor to International RoadCheck and 2017 will be the 29th year participating in this truck safety event. I’ve personally been involved with RoadCheck, on and off, since 1991.
Q – Could you provide some Canadian stats from last year’s International RoadCheck?
A – In Canada (*Canadian stats obtained from CCMTA press release):
• 81.5% of commercial vehicles inspected at 146 sites across Canada met CVSA’s most comprehensive and stringent on-road inspection criteria
• Overall out-of-service rate of 18.5%, lowest since 2012
• Approximately 1700 commercial vehicle enforcement officers conducted 8117 North American Standard Level 1 inspections issuing 7736 decals to individual trucks, trailers and passenger-carrying vehicles
• In total, 1480 combined trucks and trailers, 24 passenger-carrying vehicles, and 159 drivers were placed out of service for various defects and violations
• Only 2% of drivers were placed out-of-service for hours of service or driver qualification violations
Ontario’s contribution:
• 3470 North American Standard Level 1 inspections conducted on trucks (42.7% of all full mechanical inspections conducted in Canada)
• 84% of commercial vehicles inspected passed
• 73 full mechanical inspections were conducted on motor coaches, 86% met CVSA’s on-road inspection criteria.
Q – What will be the focus of this year’s International RoadCheck?
A – The focus this year is cargo securement with officers raising awareness and highlighting the critical importance of sufficient cargo securement in overall truck safety. Ontario will also continue to conduct random inspections to assist with benchmarking safety performance and program effectiveness.
Q – Do you believe RoadCheck has a positive effect on trucking industry road safety beyond the three days of the event?
A – In Ontario, RoadCheck allows us to benchmark the safety performance of the commercial vehicle industry, monitor the effectiveness of our enforcement programs, increase awareness of commercial vehicle safety issues and remove any unsafe vehicles we encounter from the highway. All truck safety initiatives, such as RoadCheck, are intended to positively influence truck safety well
beyond the event itself.
Q – What are the major infractions you find in the annual inspections?
A – Both across Canada and internationally, brake system defects, including brake adjustment, accounted for the majority of out-of-service violations at approximately 46%. These violations were followed by tires/wheels and then lighting being the next highest out-of-service categories.
Q – Do you think the use of ELDs (Electronic Logging Devices) will help carriers and drivers become more HOS compliant?
Do you think it will help minimize the effects of driver fatigue?
A – It is important to note that ELDs are not yet mandatory in Canada, however Ontario is supporting the use of ELDs and believes an effective ELD mandate is one that is adopted nationally and applies to all carriers, regardless of whether they are federal or provincial carriers.
In the US, where ELDs are becoming mandatory, stringent standards have been developed mandating requirements such as devices being certified and registered with the FMCSA, accuracy, location reporting and information recording capabilities.
There are some great features such as how the driver’s records of duty status is to be displayed, which will assist drivers during their work day in understanding their current compliance with hours of service requirements. ELDs will make it easier and quicker for drivers to maintain their record of duty status.
The current US standard for ELDs requires the devices to keep record of the original information if any amendments have been made. This feature will reduce the ability and frequency of alterations being made to a driver’s record of duty status in order to make the driver ‘appear’ legal.
ELDs are an effective tool to provide fleet management benefits to carriers and for managing drivers’ compliance with hours of service requirements, which in turn, may help to prevent collisions.
Q – Do you have any tips for fleet managers to improve their RoadCheck experience?
A – Contact Bob Lickers (bob.lickers@ontario.ca) of the Ministry of Transportation to be an observer at a RoadCheck location near you. This opportunity allows fleet managers and other company representatives to see inspections being conducted and ask officers questions. Valuable information regarding the value in proper trip inspections, common defects found during MTO inspections, MTO inspection procedures, and more can be brought back to their company and assist drivers and maintenance staff in conducting their duties more effectively.
Q – What about a tip for drivers?
A – Regardless of RoadCheck, drivers should make sure all of their paperwork is up-to-date and that their cargo is secure. Take the time to complete a thorough, mandatory trip inspection, including brake components and wheel fasteners, for example. Be vigilant and put safety first. A proper trip inspection should detect most vehicle defects and could avoid a breakdown or collision – and even save a life.
Q – Do any incidents from your RoadCheck experience stand out in your memory?
A – For me, it’s the feedback from industry observers. They always have positive comments on the experience, including the professionalism of our officers and the first-hand information that they’ve obtained to take back to the office/terminal/yard and share with their drivers and maintenance staff. It’s also the unique opportunity for our staff to learn from industry representatives and better understand industry efforts to improve road safety.
Q – Do you have any final thoughts prior to the annual International RoadCheck?
A – In Ontario, RoadCheck is an opportunity to benchmark overall truck safety. We’ve seen significant improvement in compliance rates over the last 20 years and the industry is to be applauded for their efforts to improve truck safety. However, our officers are trained and certified each year to detect and inspect higher-risk trucks and drivers and have subsequently removed over 22,000 potentially unsafe vehicles and drivers from Ontario roads in 2016. This demonstrates there is more to be done. I would encourage interested truck safety personnel to attend a RoadCheck location to interact with our officers, observe vehicle and driver inspections being conducted, and share your experience with our officers as, collectively, we are making a difference in truck and road safety.
About the Interviewee:
Chris Davies is the Strategic Program and Policy Advisor for the branch responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement operations at the Ministry of Transportation.
