Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1002866
Voices 2 | Overdrive | July 2018 The Roadcheck event, the all-hands-on-deck inspec- tion push by the Commer- cial Vehicle Safety Alliance, hits around the nation every year in early June. It's no secret that it tends to give the month an outsize presence in inspection numbers recorded in the federal database. Many owner-opera- tors respond to this extra scrutiny by taking time off during Roadcheck. Accord- ing to an Overdrive poll, about a third do so. If all the 300,000 or so inspections in a typical June somehow could target only rigs in the one-truck own-authority population exclusively, they all might well get an inspection or two during the month. Yet the reality is inspec- tion probability for all truckers remains low, even during Roadcheck. The three-day blitz in 2017 resulted in around 60,000 inspections. That's a lot, but even if you assume a third of some 3.5 million truckers in the United States sat out the blitz, that still leaves 2.35 million oth- ers operating. The 60,000 Roadcheck inspections affect just 2.6 percent of those on the road by such an accounting. Year after year, demand indicators such as spot-mar- ket rates and load-to-truck ratios on load boards typi- cally move in positive ways for truckers during the week that includes Roadcheck, lending credence to the idea that many are sitting it out. Yet given the strong freight demand and the slim chanc- es of an inspection, taking the week off might not be the wisest choice. For the pessimists who nevertheless expect an inspection, there's a way to boost your roadside confi- dence, noted owner-opera- tor Gary Buchs. Writing on the Overdrive Extra blog in May, he noted the confi- dence he has in his nearly two-decades-old equip- ment. It comes from having a full bumper-to-mudflaps inspection done by a trust- ed third party every few months, in addition to his daily pre-trips and walk- arounds at every stop. Buchs says he repeats the full inspection with his mechanic five to six times a year: "That additional $50 investment in safety and prevention is worth every penny to me." From poll results on this page, it might seem like just 12 percent of owner-opera- tors bother to do the same, but that number could be higher if we could include those who, like Buchs, characterize third-party inspections as "business as usual," the choice of the largest share of respondents to the poll. As notes "Old Feller," commenting under Buchs' story on the blog: "Every other month, every unit receives a full annual inspection at our company. Every time a unit goes into the shop, we request the mechanic to do a visual walk-around. An extra set of eyes other than the driver is just good insurance and money well-spent." Buchs says it's also key to confidence "that you won't get a roadside violation. … Observe the inspection process at your shop or at the scales, take pictures of the things that are brought to your attention or need repairing, and ask questions. "Sadly, my own observa- tion of drivers coming and going in truck stops, and anecdotes from truckers I've queried about it, tell me 5 percent or fewer do a daily walk-around looking for the simplest issues — a low tire, a light not working. This is where any roadside-viola- tion issue begins." Other voices on Roadcheck preparations: Todd Shoff, commenting under the poll shared to Overdrive's Facebook page: "Keep my truck clean, my logs cleaner, and be polite to [roadside inspectors]. Good prep defuses Roadcheck worries HOW DID YOU PREPARE FOR ROADCHECK THIS YEAR? Source: OverdriveOnline.com poll Nothing more than business as usual 37% Planned vacation for the week 32% Did my own inspection(s), well beyond typical pre-trip 11% All of the above 11% What's Roadcheck? 5% Washed the truck/cleaned cab clutter 3% Paid for full inspection(s) 1% Todd Dills