CVSA’s New 2020 North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria is Now in Effect

March 26, 2020

Starting today, April 1, 2020, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) 2020 North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria is now in effect. The 2020 out-of-service criteria replaces and supersedes all previous versions.

The North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (OOSC) is the pass-fail criteria for roadside safety inspections. The purpose of the criteria is to identify critical safety violations. Those violations render the driver, vehicle and/or motor carrier out of service until the condition(s) or violation(s) are corrected or repaired.

In accordance with CVSA Bylaws, the proposed changes were communicated to the voting members of the Alliance on Oct. 15, 2019, and were ratified on Nov. 1, 2019. There was an additional ballot clarification regarding OOSC Ballot Item #2 which was communicated to the membership on Dec. 10, 2019, and ratified on Dec. 20, 2019. The following changes were made to the out-of-service criteria:

  1. Modified the subtitle in Part I, Item 2. OPERATOR’S/CHAUFFEUR’S LICENSE OR PERMIT (NON-CDL), a. VEHICLE 26,000 LBS. OR LESS GVWR NOT DESIGNED TO TRANSPORT 16 OR MORE PASSENGERS OR PLACARDED LOADS OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS.
  2. Included information outlining a valid Canadian dangerous goods training certificate to Part I, Item 2. OPERATOR’S/CHAUFFEUR’S LICENSE OR PERMIT (NON-CDL), b. ENDORSEMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS and Part I, Item 3. COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE (CDL), c. ENDORSEMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS.
  3. Amended Part I, Item 7. DRUGS AND OTHER SUBSTANCES; AS IDENTIFIED UNDER SECTION 392.4(a) by adding OOSC regarding the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and removing “AS IDENTIFIED UNDER SECTION 392.4(a)” from the title.
  4. Removed the reference to an AOBRD in Footnote 14 and added a note for Footnotes 11-14. Part I, Item 9. DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – U.S. – FOOTNOTES FOR DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – U.S.
  5. Removed the out-of-service condition of 72 hours for no log from Part I, Item 10. DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – CANADA, h. NO DAILY LOG (See Footnote 2).
  6. Amended Part I, Item 10. DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – CANADA – FOOTNOTES FOR DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – CANADA, Footnote 2, to reduce the amount of time a driver can be behind on his/her daily log and not be declared out of service.
  7. Updated Part I, Item 11. DRIVER’S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS – MEXICO by replacing the OOSC for Mexico to reflect the requirements in the NOM-087-SCT-2-2017 and adding footnotes.
  8. Added the new SAE J2899 markings found on brake chambers to Part II, Item 1. BRAKE SYSTEMS, a. DEFECTIVE BRAKES, Brake Adjustment Reference Charts (Clamp Type).
  9. Clarified in Part II, Item 1. BRAKE SYSTEMS, e. PARKING BRAKE that a parking brake needs to be held by mechanical means.
  10. Amended Part II, Item 11. SUSPENSIONS, d. SUSPENSION CONNECTING ROD, TRACKING COMPONENT ASSEMBLY OR SWAY BAR COMPONENTS by removing sway bars from the OOSC.
  11. Clarified in Part II, Item 12. TIRES, a. ANY TIRE ON ANY STEERING AXLE(S) OF A POWER UNIT, (9) and b. ALL TIRES OTHER THAN THOSE FOUND ON THE FRONT STEERING AXLE(S) OF A POWERED UNIT that the condition refers to a wheel end of a vehicle.
  12. Amended Part II, Item 16. BUSES, MOTORCOACHES, PASSENGER VANS OR OTHER PASSENGER-CARRYING VEHICLES – EMERGENCY EXITS/ELECTRICAL CABLES AND SYSTEMS IN ENGINE AND BATTERY COMPARTMENTS/SEATING (TEMPORARY AND AISLE SEATS) by adding OOSC for emergency exits that are marked but not necessarily required.
  13. Amended Part III, Item 3. BULK PACKAGES, c. BULK PACKAGE AUTHORIZATION by modifying the title and out-of-service condition to include Canadian terminology.
  14. Added a note regarding manhole covers to Part III, Item 3. BULK PACKAGES, d. VENTING DEVICES, MANHOLE COVERS, FILL/INSPECTION OPENINGS AND DISCHARGE VALVES.
  15. Modified the title and condition in Part III, Item 6. NON-BULK PACKAGING to include Canadian terminology.
  16. Added a condition to Part III, Item 10. EMERGENCY RESPONSE ASSISTANCE PLAN (ERAP) (IN CANADA ONLY) by outlining that ERAP information must be on the shipping document.

For more information, CVSA provides a document that outlines each of the above-mentioned amendments, along with a detailed description of the rationale behind each change.

The CVSA Training Committee, the Education Quality Assurance Team in Canada and the National Training Center in the U.S. will incorporate these changes, as appropriate, into North American Standard Inspection Program training materials, along with updated inspection bulletins, inspection procedures, operational policies and training videos.

The North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria is updated annually, effective April 1 of each year. There are several versions (print, electronic, other languages, etc.) of the 2020 out-of-service criteria available for purchase through the CVSA online store. The 2020 out-of-service criteria app is available by searching “CVSA” in the Apple or Google Play stores.

CVSA hosted a webinar outlining the changes to the 2020 out-of-service criteria. The webinar/presentation is available to members to view at any time by logging in to the online CVSA member portal. Once logged in, click on the “My Video & Webinar Library” tab at the top of the page to view a listing of all past webinars.

For questions about the criteria, contact CVSA Director of Roadside Inspection Program Kerri Wirachowsky.