Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, June 18, 2025:
One-day brakes-focused inspection blitz sidelines 400 trucks
Inspectors in 45 jurisdictions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico conducted 4,569 inspections and placed 398 vehicles (8.7%) out-of-service (OOS) due to brake-related violations as part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s unannounced one-day brake-safety inspection and enforcement blitz.
CVSA’s Brake Safety Day is an unannounced brake-safety inspection and regulatory compliance enforcement initiative when inspectors conduct their routine roadside inspections with a focus on brake systems and components, and provide brake-related inspection and violation data to CVSA.
Of the 4,569 inspections conducted on April 22, 4,171 commercial motor vehicles did not have any brake-related out-of-service violations -- 91.3% of the total number of vehicles inspected. Conversely, inspectors identified 398 (8.7%) commercial vehicles with brake-related critical vehicle violations. Those trucks were immediately OOS until the violations were addressed.
This year, emphasis was placed on vehicles’ drums and rotors -- the same focus area as the upcoming Brake Safety Week in August. Thirty-two of the trucks (8%) had drum/rotor violations during the one-day event. Of those violations, 14 resulted in the vehicle or combination being placed OOS.
[Related: Brake Safety Week dates announced]
Inspectors identified 237 (59.5%) of the OOS trucks that met the 20% defective brakes criterion, which is when 20% or more of the vehicle’s (or combination of vehicles’) brakes have an OOS condition.
In addition, inspectors identified 77 out-of-service violations related to brake hoses and/or tubing; 48 trucks had steering axle OOS violations; 38 failed an air loss rate test; and there were 112 other OOS brake violations, such as worn brake lines/hoses, inoperative tractor protection system, inoperative low-air warning device, air leaks, hydraulic fluid leaks, etc.
In nine U.S. jurisdictions, inspectors utilized a performance-based brake tester (PBBT) on Brake Safety Day and conducted 100 PBBT Inspections. A PBBT is a machine that assesses the braking performance of a vehicle. U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and CVSA’s North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria require a minimum braking efficiency of 43.5%. Eight trucks tested with a PBBT failed to meet the required 43.5% minimum braking efficiency rate and were placed out of service.
[Related: The 20% rule: How brake-adjustment violations alone can put you out of service]
Oversize/overweight trucking group’s HOS waiver provisionally renewed
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is renewing a waiver that exempts certain oversize/overweight (OS/OW) truck drivers from the required 30-minute break in the hours-of-service (HOS) regulations.
The exemption has been held by the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) since June 2015 and was last renewed in June 2020 and officially expired on June 17. FMCSA, in a Federal Register notice publishing Friday, June 20, provisionally renewed the exemption for six months.
The exemption covers drivers working for specialized carriers transporting loads that exceed normal weight and dimensional limits and require a permit issued by a state or local government agency. According to SC&RA, the 30-minute break uniquely affects OS/OW loads and has exacerbated the number of instances in which drivers have had to park these loads at roadside, consequently impacting the safety of both the general public and the driver.
Because hours in which an OS/OW load can travel are restricted by permit requirements, those hours often conflict with the timing of the required 30-minute rest break. SC&RA specifically cited four instances demonstrating this conflict.
“Finding suitable parking for trucks with OS/OW loads is particularly difficult as SC&RA pointed out, and the default option is likely to be parking on the shoulder of a highway, with the load sometimes extending into the lanes of traffic,” FMCSA noted in its provisional renewal. “No matter how well marked, trucks parked at roadside, especially at night, are too often mistaken for moving vehicles and struck, frequently with fatal consequences, before an inattentive driver can correct his or her mistake.”
The agency added that if evidence of insufficient safety is not provided during the six-month provisional renewal period, it anticipates granting a full five-year exemption on or before the provisional exemption expires. FMCSA will accept comments on the provisional renewal and potential full five-year renewal beginning June 20 at www.regulations.gov by searching Docket No. FMCSA-2014-0420.
[Related: CVSA to petition FMCSA to limit 'personal conveyance' use in the hours of service]
Colorado police investigating theft of $1.4 million worth of video game consoles
The Arapahoe County (Colorado) Sheriff’s Office (ACSO), which includes suburbs of Denver, are asking for information on a $1.4 million cargo theft of Nintendo Switch 2 video game consoles.
According to the sheriff’s office, patrol deputies were dispatched to the Love’s Travel Stops location in Bennett, Colorado, along I-70 east of Denver. The driver of a tractor-trailer there told deputies that he just discovered during his pre-trip inspection that his trailer had been broken into and several pallets of the newly-released console had been stolen -- 2,810 of them, to be exact -- valued at $499 each. He said he didn’t know what was in the trailer, just that it was games or toys.
The driver told deputies he was en route from Nintendo of America headquarters in Redmond, Washington, to a GameStop store in Grapevine, Texas.
Investigators said they are not sure whether the heist occurred in Bennett or in another city where the truck stopped.
If caught, the suspect(s) could face charges of felony theft valued at $1 million or more, as well as Criminal Mischief.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the ACSO Investigations Tipline at 720-874-8477.
[Related: California cargo thief's 'No Name Given' CDL, explained]
Texas police discover 25 people inside box truck
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) recently discovered more than two dozen illegal immigrants crammed inside a box truck during a crash investigation in Live Oak County.
On Wednesday, June 11, just after 9:30 a.m., a DPS Trooper was approached by a concerned citizen at a truck stop along IH-37 in George West, Texas, regarding a minor crash that occurred in the parking lot. The Trooper made contact with the driver of a white 2005 International box truck. The driver indicated that she was driving to Houston after picking up mattresses in Alton, Texas.
During the interaction, the Trooper suspected inconsistencies in the driver's travel plans and requested consent to search the truck. The Trooper, with assistance from the George West Police Department, then discovered 25 people crammed inside a small corner of the box truck attempting to conceal themselves behind 30 mattresses and inside a crawl space within the box truck wall. There was little-to-no ventilation, Texas DPS said.
The group of 25 illegal immigrants included 12 males, 12 females and an 11-year-old child. Those involved were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, India, Cuba, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. The 25 were immediately removed from the truck for medical evaluation and then referred to U.S. Border Patrol.
The driver, Silvia Patricia Santamaria, 43, of Houston, was arrested and charged with 25 counts of smuggling of persons.
[Related: Hundreds of CDLs sold for cash to illegal immigrants: Florida AG]
