The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will hold its annual International Roadcheck commercial vehicle inspection blitz on May 13-15, focusing on tires and truck driver hours of service. Roadcheck is a high-visibility, high-volume commercial motor vehicle (CMV) inspection and regulatory compliance enforcement initiative that takes place over three days in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Law enforcement personnel will inspect CMVs and drivers at weigh/inspection stations, temporary sites and mobile patrols. Data from the 72 hours of inspections will be collected and the results will be released this summer.
Each year, International Roadcheck places special emphasis on a driver violation category and a vehicle violation category. During these checks, inspectors will primarily conduct the North American Standard Level I Inspection, a 37-step procedure that includes an examination of driver operating requirements and vehicle mechanical fitness. This year inspectors will pay special attention to hours-of-service compliance and tires.
In last year’s checks, hours-of-service were the top violation for drivers, making up 32% of the driver violations. To ensure compliance of driver hours-of-service regulations, drivers track their times and duty statuses in an electronic or paper log, what CVSA calls the record of duty status (RODS). Failure to record, complete or retain the log, or knowingly falsifying logs or other related reports, is not only a driver out-of-service violation, it also makes the driver and/or carrier liable to prosecution.
During the driver portion of an inspection, inspectors check the driver’s documents, license or commercial driver’s license, medical examiner’s certificate and skill performance certificate (if applicable), record of duty status, Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse status (in the U.S.), seat belt usage, and alcohol and/or drug impairment. If an inspector identifies any driver out-of-service violations, they place the driver out of service, restricting that driver from operating their vehicle.
This year, in addition to hours-of-service, CVSA is focusing on tires. “Tire failure while in transit is a hazard to all motorists,” CVSA said in its Roadcheck announcement. “It is also far more expensive and time-consuming for motor carriers to repair an in-transit tire failure versus proactively maintaining tire health and addressing tire issues before the vehicle is on the road.” During Roadcheck, inspectors will check tires’ tread depth and proper inflation. They will also be on the lookout for damage such as air leaks, tread separation, cuts, bulges, sidewall damage and improper repairs. Last year’s top vehicle out-of-service violation was for defective brakes, with 25% of the violations. It also was the top vehicle violation, but tire violations were a close second at 21%.
During the vehicle portion of the Level I Inspection, the inspectors ensure the vehicle’s brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, driveline/driveshaft components, driver’s seat, fuel and exhaust systems, frames, lighting devices, all steering mechanisms, suspensions, tires, wheels, rims, hubs, and windshield wipers are compliant with applicable regulations. A vehicle that successfully passes a Level I or V Inspection without any critical vehicle inspection item violations may receive a CVSA decal, which is valid for up to three months.
If out-of-service violations are found during an inspection, as outlined in the North American Standard of Out-of-Service Criteria, the vehicle is restricted from operating until all of the out-of-service violations have been properly addressed. As part of International Roadcheck, inspectors may also be available to answer questions about tire health and violations, and to help drivers navigate the HOS regulations in their area. CVSA is a nonprofit organization made up of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal CMV safety officials and industry representatives in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Its mission is to improve commercial motor vehicle safety and enforcement across North America.
Moving on to bad news for a longtime trucking outfit, Jack Cooper Transport recently shut its doors after nearly 100 years. Often, trucking company closures happen following a long trend of indications of trouble, but that wasn’t the case for Jack Cooper Transport, one of the biggest auto haulers, which is shutting down its business after losing its two largest customers in just six weeks. 2025 started with a bang (not a good one) for the unionized auto hauler, as Ford, believed to be its second-largest customer, invoked a clause in its contract to terminate its contract with Jack Cooper with a 30-day notice. Five weeks later, talks went sideways with its largest customer, General Motors, as the car hauler sought to renegotiate its contract with GM in the wake of Ford’s move.
According to the Detroit Free Press, as “intense negotiations” were happening, on Thursday, February 6th, GM ordered a temporary stop on all its vehicle shipments with Jack Cooper. This led to several Jack Cooper truck drivers unloading the brand-new Corvettes that they had just loaded at GM’s assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. By 11:00 PM on Friday, February 7th, those talks ended, according to the paper. On early Saturday, GM restarted shipments of its new vehicles to dealerships using other haulers. “As to who ended the 97-year relationship, both sides pointed at the other,” the paper reported.
The transportation advisers at investment firm Stifel told investors in an email Monday that this “could be an even more meaningful bankruptcy than 2023’s closure of Yellow Freight in the less-than-truckload world.” Ironically, last year Jack Cooper had sought to resurrect Yellow Freight, but its offer was refused in favor of liquidation. Other auto haulers stand to benefit from the demise of Jack Cooper, Stifel said, including Proficient Auto Logistics, “One of the few small-scale players in the business that has been investing in service and capacity.”
The auto transporter had been hauling vehicles for GM for nearly a century. The relationship between Ford and Jack Cooper had lasted for decades. Jack Cooper had approximately 2,500 employees, and about 1,700 of them were union members of the Teamsters. There has been speculation that being a unionized carrier has been a problem for the company. In 2019, the company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing difficulty competing with its mostly non-union industry competitors.
The carrier got its start in 1928 when Jack Cooper founded a carrier for General Motors in Kansas City, Missouri. Since then, Jack Cooper Holdings grew to include several businesses and a full range of automotive transportation and logistics services spanning the United States, Mexico, and Canada. It had one of the largest fleets of finished vehicle carriers in North America.