More than 550 government officials, enforcement and industry representatives attended this year’s CVSA Workshop, which focused on quality, uniformity and consistency in commercial motor vehicle safety and enforcement.
The CVSA Workshop provides attendees the opportunity to continue their work toward advancing commercial vehicle safety, security and enforcement throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Workshop took place on April 12-16, 2015, in Jacksonville, Florida.
“The CVSA Workshop is where enforcement and industry come together to work collaboratively to develop and implement standards and best practices in the commercial vehicle industry,” said CVSA President Maj. William Reese of the Idaho State Police. “The true strength and value of our Alliance is in the successful implementation of commercial vehicle safety initiatives developed by an open and collaborative environment.”
Participants from all across North America and other parts of the world collaborated at the Workshop to affect meaningful changes to the overall culture of transportation safety. They attended various committee, membership, region and program meetings aimed at the ongoing progress of CVSA’s mission to promote commercial motor vehicle safety and security, and to achieve common goals of uniformity, compatibility and reciprocity. The Workshop resulted in 26 action items based on discussions during the meetings throughout the week.
The 2015 CVSA Workshop also featured informative and collaborative sessions on some of the most important topics for commercial vehicle safety, enforcement and industry, such as:
- Updates and training on the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) and the International Registration Plan (IRP)
- Best practices and needs in the fields of size and weight enforcement operations, regulations and the use of Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) technology
- Prospective solutions to improve work zone safety, effectiveness and efficiency of the core system components – driver, vehicle and highway
- Issues/concerns with the cargo securement regulations in pursuit of developing and implementing uniform regulatory and enforcement requirements for the securement of cargo on or within commercial motor vehicles
- Discussion on the status of US DOT’s vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure program and plans with respect to light vehicles and the approach for commercial vehicles
- Review of operational issues in the inspection process and discussion on improvement opportunities related to FMCSA’s Integrated Inspection Management System (IIMS) Program
- MAP-21’s requirement for exploring the feasibility of requiring state inspection programs for passenger carrying vehicles
Also of importance during the CVSA Workshop, the following members were nominated for the international position of CVSA Secretary:
- Capt. William Elovirta, Enforcement & Safety Division, Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles (Region I)
- Capt. Christopher J. Turner, Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, Kansas Highway Patrol (Region III)
Elections will take place at the 2015 CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition, Sept. 13-17, 2015, in Boise, Idaho.
“Hundreds of people came to this year’s CVSA Workshop to contribute to and help shape the current and future state of commercial vehicle safety throughout North America,” said CVSA Executive Director Stephen A. Keppler. “What we do and what we learn helps to improve both enforcement and industry safety and compliance and ultimately helps to save lives.”
Next year’s CVSA Workshop is scheduled for April 25-28, 2016, in Chicago, Illinois.