On April 1, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) published its 2020 North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (OOSC).
The new criteria supersede all previous iterations.
The OOSC is intended to identify critical safety violations and provide guidelines for officers to use when conducting a roadside safety inspection on a vehicle or driver. Out-of-service violations can be
particularly costly, as they force the driver, vehicle or motor carrier to cease operations until the issues are fixed.
The 2020 OOSC was ratified Nov. 1, 2019, with an additional ballot regarding clarification of one item that was later ratified on Dec. 20, 2019.
This year’s edition of the OOSC includes 16 total changes. Some of the important highlights to be aware of include the following:
- Passenger vehicles will now be put out of service for having obstructions around marked emergency exits, even if the exits are not required.
- Drivers will be put out of service if they have a disqualifying entry in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.
- References to automatic on-board recording devices (AOBRDs) were removed from the OOSC. Inspections that reveal the use of an AOBRD instead of an electronic logging device (ELD) will result in an out-of-service violation for the driver.
- Drivers in Canada who do not have a log will no longer be automatically placed out of service for 72 hours. Instead, drivers can now resume their duties once they provide a log with proof of compliance.
- Drivers in Canada are now required to have their logs up to date on a daily basis. Previously, it was allowable to be behind by one day.
- Defects involving sway bars that are not involved in axle positioning are no longer an out-of-service violation.
Out-of-service violations can be particularly costly, as they force the driver, vehicle or motor carrier to cease operations until the issues are fixed.
Go to www.cvsa.org/news-entry/2020-oosc-in-effect/ for a full list of this year’s OOSC changes.