The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) recently released results from its 2026 International Road check, held May 12-14 across North America. The three-day inspection and enforcement initiative evaluates commercial motor vehicle (CMV) and driver compliance while recognizing eligible vehicles with a CVSA decal.
Inspectors conducted 54,575 inspections. Approximately 81% of the CMVs examined had no out-of-service (OOS) violations. However, inspectors removed 10,350 vehicles, or 19%, from roadways for OOS violations and placed 3,184 drivers, or 5.8%, OOS.
A vehicle or driver placed OOS cannot resume operations until the violation is corrected. These violations may also affect a motor carrier’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability scores and Safety Fitness Determination rating.
2026 Inspection Focus Areas
Each year, CVSA selects specific vehicle and driver compliance areas for added emphasis. The 2026 vehicle focus was cargo securement. Inspectors identified 1,724 cargo securement violations, representing 12.4% of all vehicle OOS violations and making cargo securement the fourth most-cited category. Brake system safety was the leading vehicle OOS issue.
The driver focus was on electronic logging device (ELD) tampering, falsification or manipulation. Such practices involve altering, obscuring, falsifying or interfering with ELD data to conceal hours-of-service violations. Because falsified records may allow fatigued drivers to remain behind the wheel, ELD manipulation can increase the risk of severe crashes.
Inspectors identified 266 ELD-related violations, accounting for 6.7% of all driver OOS violations in North America. They issued 146 OOS orders for ELD tampering, making it the seventh most-cited driver OOS violation.
Most-cited OOS Violations
The five most-cited vehicle OOS violations found during U.S. inspections were:
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Defective service brakes—3,379 violations (24.3%)
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Tires—2,914 (20.9%)
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At least 20% defective brakes—2,072 (14.9%)
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Cargo securement—1,724 (12.4%)
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Lights—1,659 (11.9%)
The most-cited driver OOS violations included:
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No medical card—1,072 violations
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Hours-of-service violations—883
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No commercial driver’s license—614
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English-language proficiency violations—361
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False logs—241
Motor carriers can use these findings to guide vehicle inspections, preventive maintenance and driver training. Regular brake and tire checks, effective cargo securement training, accurate hours-of-service records and routine verification of driver credentials can help prevent OOS orders. Carriers should also reinforce policies prohibiting ELD manipulation and encourage drivers to report equipment or compliance concerns promptly.
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