As of April 1, 2024, a little over a month before 2024’s International Roadcheck, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has updated the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (OOSC). The updated guide will be used during this year’s International Roadcheck, from May 14-16, to determine if violations found during inspections are serious enough to place a vehicle out-of-service (OOS).
Primary among the changes for this year’s safety event is that non-steering tires with a leak in the tread area are no longer counted as an OOS violation, as long as they have an automatic tire inflation system (ATIS) keeping the tire’s air pressure above 50% of the rating on the tire’s sidewall.
“Allowing an ATIS-equipped vehicle to travel to a safe location (next dispatch – end of trip) with a small puncture in the tread area of the tire when the air pressure is being maintained, reduces the potential for rear-end collisions or other roadside incidents without affecting the safe operation of the vehicle,” said Kerri Wirachowsky, director of Inspection Programs, CVSA.
However, if the tire’s leak is in the sidewall or the tire with the leak does not have ATIS, the vehicle will still be placed OOS, Wirachowsky noted. Overall, the new ruling is meant to increase road safety for both drivers, inspectors, and others on the road with the help of this technology.
“If you can keep a unit off the side of the road, that's crucial,” said Bob Davis, VP of business development, Drōv Technologies, which produces the ATIS system Drōv SI. “With these systems, [drivers] get alerted well ahead of time to pull off the road and go to a safe spot instead of on the side of the road.”
Other OOS violations
Additional changes to CVSA’s OOS standards include adding missing brake cam shaft bushing to CVSA’s 20% criteria for Drum and Air brakes, increasing the likelihood of a brake OOS violation. This criterion states that if 20% of a vehicle and/or vehicle and trailer’s service brakes are defective, then the vehicle is OOS.
Additional changes to the OOSC include greater clarification in the guide on what constitutes a 20% violation and what is a stand-alone violation, and an update to the coupling section. With the coupling section update, pintle hooks that are not locked or not in use, i.e., the eye on the trailer drawbar is not inside the pintle hook, and mismatched ball and receiver couplers, also constitute an OOS violation.
Read more: International Roadcheck 2023: Bendix tips for getting ready
The Criteria updates also clarified that a vehicle that has gone OOS due to a performance break test may be rested, instead of requiring a retest. Also, drivers that forget to turn on lights when lights are necessary has now been reclassified as a traffic violation instead of an OOS one, and functional lights that are either the wrong color or placed too high or low are no longer an OOS violation, but a standard one.
Preparing for 2024’s International Roadcheck
With these new OOS violations in mind, drivers and technicians must also stay alert to the regular violations that could place a vehicle OOS. The focus for this year’s International Roadcheck is tractor protection systems, meaning that fleets must ensure no air is escaping from either the supply or emergency or service and control gladhand lines of an air brake-equipped trailer. To avoid an OOS violation, be sure to check the tractor’s protection valve, trailer supply valve, and anti-bleed back valve.
As well as this, brake systems and tires were the top two most common vehicle violations during 2023’s International Roadcheck. To avoid these issues, technicians should be sure to check tire condition and pressure, with a sharp eye toward underinflation.
Brakes, too, should receive extra scrutiny, to ensure that there are no loose hoses or damaged components, such as air chambers or pushrods. Fleets should also check slack adjusters for any brake adjustment issues, ensuring that the adjusters are not extended at different angles on the same axle.
Finally, shops should verify general brake application, measuring chamber stroke at each wheel-end, examining friction for good condition, and measuring and inspecting rotor and drum wear, heat cracking, and leopard spotting.
