CVSA International Roadcheck 2026: what inspectors found
Roadcheck 2026 is over and CVSA has published the numbers. They show where carriers got caught, and every violation written that week now sits on a carrier's safety record.
Written by Rigo Diaz
Roadcheck 2026 in numbers
CVSA International Roadcheck 2026 ran May 12-14 across Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., with a focus on ELD tampering and cargo securement. Inspectors completed 54,575 inspections and placed 10,350 vehicles and 3,184 drivers out of service, mostly for brakes, tires, and missing medical certification.
I spent more than six years in risk management before I founded Simplex, and I have led it for more than 25 years since. When CVSA publishes Roadcheck results, I read them for one thing: where controls failed, and what that failure costs afterward.
A Roadcheck inspection is the same inspection your trucks can get on any day of the year, and its violations land on your record the same way. Here is what the 2026 numbers show, and what they mean for yours.
The full briefing, read aloud
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Generated with AI text-to-speech from this article's key insights, in order, rather than reading it word for word. Chapter times come from a transcript of the audio. The article itself was written and reviewed by Rigo Diaz.
Key takeaways
Roadcheck 2026 ran May 12-14
CVSA released the results on August 25, 2026, and says it will post the 2027 dates at the end of this year.
The focus areas were ELD tampering and cargo securement
Cargo securement ranked fourth among vehicle out-of-service violations, and ELD tampering drew 146 driver out-of-service orders.
Brakes still caused the most out-of-service orders
Brake-related problems made up 39.1% of vehicle out-of-service violations, followed by tires at 20.9%.
Medical certification became the top driver problem
No medical card led driver out-of-service violations at 27%, with 1,072 cases, more than double the 493 recorded in 2025.
Every violation counts on your CSA record
FMCSA's Safety Measurement System uses roadside violations for two years, weights the last six months three times, and adds extra weight for out-of-service violations.
In this articleContents
What was CVSA International Roadcheck 2026?
CVSA International Roadcheck 2026 was a 72-hour inspection and enforcement event held May 12-14, 2026, across Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) sponsors it, with participation from FMCSA, PHMSA, and Canadian and Mexican transport agencies.
Inspectors at weigh stations and pop-up sites mainly ran the North American Standard Level I Inspection, a 37-step check of the driver's operating requirements and the vehicle's mechanical fitness. In CVSA's words, they conduct "the same inspections as any other day of the year." Our guide to CVSA inspection levels explains what each one covers.
A vehicle that passed a Level I or Level V inspection with no critical violations could receive a CVSA decal, valid for up to three months. Inspectors applied 17,680 decals in the U.S. and Canada; Mexico does not issue them.
Roadcheck is one of several CVSA campaigns that drivers call blitz weeks. Our DOT blitz week guide covers the full 2026 calendar and a preparation checklist.
What were the CVSA Roadcheck focus areas?
Each Roadcheck puts special emphasis on one driver violation category and one vehicle category. In 2026, the driver focus was electronic logging device (ELD) tampering, falsification, or manipulation, and the vehicle focus was cargo securement.
Driver focus: ELD tampering
Inspectors reviewed each driver's record of duty status as usual, with special attention to false or manipulated entries. CVSA chose the topic because false records of duty status were the second most-cited driver violation in 2025, at 58,382, and five of the top ten driver violations involved hours of service or ELDs.
Federal rules bar drivers and carriers from disabling, jamming, reprogramming, or otherwise tampering with an ELD so it stops recording accurately (49 CFR 395.8(e)). Since April 1, 2026, CVSA's out-of-service criteria also put a driver out of service when tampering makes it impossible to tell what events occurred. Our ELD compliance guide covers the device rules.
Vehicle focus: cargo securement
Inspectors physically checked tiedowns, chains, and straps for strength, damage, and placement, and confirmed that cargo and dunnage were secured and immobilized. In 2025, inspectors wrote 18,108 violations for cargo not secured against leaking, spilling, blowing, or falling, and 16,054 for unsecured vehicle components or dunnage.
| Year | Dates | Focus areas |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | May 12-14 | ELD tampering, falsification, or manipulation (driver); cargo securement (vehicle) |
| 2025 | May 13-15 | False records of duty status (driver); tires (vehicle) |
| 2024 | May 14-16 | Alcohol and controlled-substance possession (driver); tractor protection systems (vehicle) |
| 2023 | May 16-18 | Anti-lock braking systems and cargo securement |
Cargo securement returned as a focus three years after 2023. Logs have been a driver focus two years running.
What did the 2026 Roadcheck data show?
Most trucks and drivers passed: 81% of vehicles and 94.2% of drivers had no out-of-service violations, according to CVSA's results, released August 25, 2026. Still, 10,350 vehicles and 3,184 drivers were ordered off the road until their violations were fixed.
Measured against the inspections that examine a vehicle (Levels I, II, and V), the vehicle out-of-service rate was 23.5%. Against the inspections that examine a driver (Levels I, II, and III), the driver rate was 6%.
| Measure | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Inspections | 56,178 | 54,575 |
| Vehicle OOS rate (Levels I, II, V) | 22.6% | 23.5% |
| Driver OOS rate (Levels I, II, III) | 6.1% | 6% |
| Brake-related share of vehicle OOS violations | 41.1% | 39.1% |
| Cargo securement OOS violations | 1,549 | 1,724 |
| Hours-of-service OOS violations | 1,076 | 929 |
| False log OOS violations | 332 | 266 |
| No medical card OOS violations | 493 | 1,072 |
| CVSA decals applied | 16,521 | 17,680 |
Three findings stand out:
- Brakes still lead. Brake systems (24.3%) and 20% defective brakes (14.9%) made up 39.1% of vehicle out-of-service violations. Tires were second at 20.9%.
- The focus areas mattered, but did not dominate. Cargo securement ranked fourth among vehicle out-of-service violations at 12.4%. ELD tampering drew 146 driver out-of-service orders (3.7%), the seventh most cited.
- Driver credentials moved to the top. No medical card led driver out-of-service violations at 27%, and English proficiency entered the top five with 361 (9.1%). Hours of service, the top driver problem in 2025, fell to second.
What does the medical card finding mean for your drivers?
It means the paper card is no longer the thing to check. Since June 23, 2025, CDL and commercial learner's permit holders with a current medical certificate no longer have to carry it, and when a paper copy conflicts with FMCSA's electronic information, the electronic information controls (49 CFR 391.41). Drivers who do not need a CDL must still carry the certificate or a copy.
An interstate CDL holder whose CDLIS motor vehicle record shows no medical certification status is designated "not-certified." For CDL drivers, carriers meet the medical file requirement by pulling that record from the driver's current licensing state (49 CFR 391.51).
CVSA did not say why the count more than doubled, and I won't guess. The practical step is the same either way: track every driver's certification expiration date, and confirm the new certification shows on the state record, not just in the driver's hands. Our DQF checklist lists what else belongs in the file.
How do Roadcheck violations affect your CSA scores?
The same way as any roadside violation, because a Roadcheck inspection is a regular inspection. FMCSA's Safety Measurement System (SMS) uses violations recorded on an inspection report whether or not the officer also writes a ticket, and it looks back two years.
Three rules in FMCSA's SMS methodology decide how much a Roadcheck violation weighs:
- Recent violations count triple. Violations from the last six months get a time weight of 3, from six to 12 months a weight of 2, and from 12 to 24 months a weight of 1. A violation written May 12-14, 2026 carries full weight until mid-November 2026 and stops counting in May 2028.
- Out-of-service violations weigh more. In the Vehicle Maintenance, Hours-of-Service Compliance, and Driver Fitness BASICs, an out-of-service violation gets 2 extra severity points. That covers the brake, lighting, load securement, log, and medical qualification findings above.
- Clean inspections count too. Those three BASICs divide your weighted violations by your weighted inspections, including inspections with no violations, so a clean inspection improves your measure.
Your out-of-service rates are also public. A carrier's SAFER Company Snapshot shows its vehicle and driver out-of-service rates over the last 24 months next to national averages, which were 22.26% for vehicles and 6.67% for drivers as of August 28, 2026. Roadcheck 2026 landed close to both.
Tampering carries weight beyond the roadside. If an FMCSA investigation finds it, the methodology treats tampering under 49 CFR 395.8(e)(2) as an acute violation, a single occurrence severe enough to require immediate corrective action. False logs, by contrast, become a critical violation only when they form a pattern.
If a violation was recorded in error, you can request a review through DataQs. Otherwise, the carrier must certify that every violation was corrected within 15 days of the inspection (49 CFR 396.9). How underwriters read the resulting record is its own topic: see how CSA scores affect truck insurance.
When is the next CVSA International Roadcheck?
CVSA has not announced it. As of September 24, 2026, its International Roadcheck page says the dates for next year's event will be posted at the end of this year.
Roadcheck fell in mid-May in each of the last four years, which tells you roughly when, but not what. The 2027 focus areas will come with CVSA's announcement.
For a checklist, start with CVSA's own driver inspection cheat sheet and vehicle inspection cheat sheet, which list what inspectors check. But preparing for May is the wrong goal. The same inspection, and the same weight on your record, applies every other week of the year, and our CSA program support helps you work on the violations behind your scores.
How Simplex helps you keep a clean inspection record
Roadcheck findings become CSA data, and CSA data follows you into audits and insurance renewals. We work on all three.
Help with high CSA scores
Our CSA program support helps you understand the inspection violations behind your scores and work to improve them.
Monitoring that runs all year
Our compliance programs include driver qualification file management, CSA monitoring, mock audits, and HOS management.
Insurance placed by the same team
As a broker, we quote and place commercial truck insurance, from liability to cargo and physical damage, and a licensed agent follows up.
Frequently asked questions
When was CVSA International Roadcheck 2026?+
What were the 2026 Roadcheck focus areas?+
What were the results of Roadcheck 2026?+
Is there an official Roadcheck inspection checklist?+
When is International Roadcheck 2027?+
Do Roadcheck violations count on my CSA scores?+
Where this information comes from
The dates, focus areas, and results below come from CVSA, and the rules and scoring from FMCSA and federal regulation, checked on September 24, 2026.
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1
CVSA — 2026 International Roadcheck results
Inspection counts, out-of-service rates, top violations, focus-area results, and decals for 2026.
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2
CVSA — International Roadcheck 2026 announcement
The May 12-14 dates, the Level I scope, the two focus areas and why CVSA chose them.
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3
CVSA — 2025 International Roadcheck results
The 2025 figures used in the year-over-year comparison.
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4
CVSA — International Roadcheck program and results archive
Sponsors and participating agencies, and the statement that 2027 dates come at the end of 2026.
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5
FMCSA — SMS Methodology (PDF)
Time weights, out-of-service severity weights, how clean inspections count, and acute versus critical violations.
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6
FMCSA SAFER — Company Snapshot
Public out-of-service rates and the national averages as of August 28, 2026.
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7
eCFR — 49 CFR 391.41
Why CDL holders no longer carry a medical card, and the electronic record that controls.
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8
eCFR — 49 CFR 395.8
The ban on false duty-status reports and ELD tampering.
Written by
Rigo Diaz
Founder & CEO, Simplex Group
Founder and CEO of Simplex Group, with more than 25 years leading the company and helping trucking entrepreneurs navigate compliance, insurance, and the day-to-day demands of running a carrier. Before founding Simplex, he spent more than six years in risk management, experience that continues to shape how he approaches insurance, compliance, and carrier risk today.
Published · Updated
Related articles and services
Roadcheck lasts three days. Its violations last two years.
The inspection that found brake, tire, and medical card problems in May is the same one your trucks can get any day, and every violation it records weighs on your scores long after the event.
If you want a second look at your inspection history and the violations behind your scores, talk to our team.