Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/358493
32 | Overdrive | August 2014 SHIFTING TARGET Driving Compliance, Safety, Account- ability BASIC (Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Category) this time, it was enough for Utterback to determine that the truck was going to be inspected before it ever hit the scales. A leaky wheel seal and inoperative lubricant-coated left drive wheel brake put the driver out of service. Actions such as this are becoming more common as enforcement depart- ments across the nation increasingly focus on drivers' on-highway behavior. With crash causation studies highlight- ing driver error and unsafe behavior – from both four-wheelers and truck drivers – expect more states' violation profiles to resemble Indiana's more closely, with most inspections conduct- ed not at a fixed weigh-station location but along the roadside, often after a traffic stop. Among all 48 continental states, 2013 saw 29 states increase their attention to moving violations, figured as a percent- age of each state's total violations. Also, 29 states boosted their focus on hours of service violations. Maintenance violations, however, showed more stability, with fewer states showing a rise in violations. While 2013 saw a slight decrease in overall viola- tions from prior years, both moving Inspections: Where the action is Total inspections nationwide fell by less than a percentage point last year, but in Pennsylvania, Georgia and other high-traffic areas, inspec- tors cranked up their activity. State rankings for inspection intensity are based on two mea- surements. One is the total truck and driver inspections performed during 2013. The other is total lane- miles of National Highway System roadway within each state. Following Overdrive's report on 2011-2012 data last year, many of the same states remain in the list for 2013, with Maryland once again at the top. New states in the top 10 include Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada, all of which climbed the rankings in a big way. Significantly, Pennsylvania and Nevada con- duct more than 60 percent of their inspections at roadside (indicated by the police car symbol on the map), which often indicates a strong focus on driver-only inspections and mov- ing and hours violations, rather than maintenance violations. Access an interactive version of this map and others plotting clean inspections and a bevy of viola- tions via OverdriveOnline.com/csa. There you'll also find downloads listing the 48 continental states' inspection numbers and violation priorities. MOST INTENSE ENFORCEMENT Maryland 18 11 Pennsylvania 11 1 California 11 1 Texas 10 1 Arizona 9 1 New Mexico 8 3 Missouri 8 22 Georgia 8 1 Indiana 7 9 Nevada 5 SOURCE: RigDig Business Intelligence (rigdig.com/bi, 866-237-7788) data from calendar year 2013. List excludes Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. LEAST INTENSE ENFORCEMENT 1 Vermont 2 New Hampshire 2 North Dakota 2 Oklahoma 2 Maine 2 Nebraska 2 South Dakota 2 Wyoming 3 Alabama 3 Louisiana More than 60 percent of inspections conducted at roadside. More than 60 percent of inspections conducted at a fixed location. NuMbER OF INSpECTIONS pER LANE-MILE Numbers indicate inspections per lane-mile. 1-18 Indicates number of places the state moved up or down in the intensity rankings compared to Overdrive's 2013 CSA's Data Trail analysis.