This year’s International Road Check is scheduled by the CVSA (Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance) for May 16-18, 2023. According to their website, the organization will check an average of fifteen vehicles every minute over a 72-hour period across North America.
The initiative was started to reduce the number of unsafe drivers operating on the road and involves checks on driver logs, breaks, speed, and other equipment.
Road Check Week = Fewer Trucks
Failed inspections can result in fines or other penalties for the drivers, such as out-of-service orders. These require a driver to stop driving by order of the CVSA until their equipment is brought up to standard. In the face of these penalties, many drivers will opt to stay parked during this week to avoid the risk of failing an inspection.
A combination of drivers opting out of a week of work and a percentage of those that do drive being ordered off the road will result in shippers having fewer options in choosing who hauls their freight.
Fewer trucks mean tighter capacity, rising rates, and other difficulties for shippers. One of Zipline’s mid-sized carrier partners reported 30-40% of their drivers elected to not drive during inspection week in previous years. In fact, those numbers are standard for the industry.
Shippers should prepare for higher rates and increased transit times on loads shipped during or close to the third week of May. Service failures are also probable if you are not partnered with an experienced transportation provider.
Zipline Knows Market Fluctuations
Zipline Logistics has years of experience dealing with capacity fluctuations of all sorts. Reach out to a Zipline Logistics representative today to get help preparing for CVSA inspection week.