After two years of virtual meetings due to the pandemic, nearly 500 transportation safety professionals attended the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) first in-person workshop since 2019. The CVSA Workshop took place April 3-7 in Bellevue, Washington.
At the CVSA Workshop, certified commercial motor vehicle inspectors, government officials, and motor carrier industry and trucking association representatives work together to improve roadway safety, commercial motor vehicle regulatory compliance, and roadside inspection consistency and uniformity throughout North America.
The Alliance’s standing committees – Crash Data and Investigation Standards; Driver-Traffic Enforcement; Enforcement and Industry Modernization; Hazardous Materials; Information Systems; Passenger Carrier; Policy and Regulatory Affairs; Size and Weight; Training; and Vehicle – all met at the CVSA Workshop. These committee meetings are open to law enforcement, government agency and industry members.
CVSA’s five regions, which consist of states, provinces and territories of Canada, Mexico and the U.S., also meet at the workshop. There is a local membership tier which consists of local law enforcement agencies represented by city or municipal police departments. Local members also met at the workshop.
In addition, CVSA’s Class III Associate Members met at the workshop. Associate members are companies, organizations, trade associations, trucking and bus companies, industry suppliers and vendors, training institutions, consultants, insurance companies, state or provincial trucking associations, large and small fleet owners and owner-operators.
In addition, the following programs met: Human Trafficking Prevention, International Driver Excellence Award, International Roadcheck, Level VI Inspections, Operation Airbrake, Operation Safe Driver, the North American Inspectors Championship and Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development. CVSA’s newest program, the North American Fatigue Management Program, which the Alliance adopted in November 2021, offered an information session to motor carriers on how to implement a fatigue management program.
The North American Cargo Securement Harmonization Public Forum was also held at the CVSA Workshop. Participants discussed cargo securement regulatory issues and differences; identified inconsistencies in the application of cargo securement enforcement policies; reviewed reports on research findings and securement equipment; and examined new technologies related to cargo securement. The forum will meet again in the fall in Canada.
Also of importance, Capt. John Hahn of the Colorado State Patrol was nominated for the international leadership position of CVSA secretary. The secretary position leads into the CVSA presidency. The individual elected into the secretary position will serve one year as secretary, one year as vice president and one year as president, followed by three years as past president. Capt. Hahn is running unopposed. The secretary election will take place in September at the CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Rapid City, South Dakota.
The CVSA Board of Directors met on the first and last days of the workshop to discuss and vote on action items submitted by committees and programs. A webinar will be offered in May to go over the approved action items and other important information from the workshop.
All of CVSA’s major events this year are back on as in-person events. The next event is the long-awaited return of the North American Inspectors Championship (NAIC), after two years of cancellation. NAIC will be Aug. 15-19 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Also, in Indianapolis that week, CVSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will offer Data Quality and Systems Training, Aug. 16-18. Lastly, the CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition will take place Sept. 18-22 in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Next year’s CVSA Workshop is scheduled for April 23-27, 2023, in Memphis, Tennessee.