The 2026 CVSA International Roadcheck runs May 12–14. In that 72 hour window, inspectors will conduct tens of thousands of Level I inspections: a rigorous 37-step examination of both driver qualifications and vehicle mechanical fitness. Drivers who fail go out of service on the spot. Vehicles with critical violations do not move until repairs are made.
For carriers, that means a truck sitting on the shoulder instead of making a delivery. For shippers, it means a missed appointment, a scrambled load plan, and a phone call you do not want to make.
⚠ Key Dates
The 2026 CVSA International Roadcheck runs May 12–14, 2026
Violations may result in immediate out-of-service orders that stops freight cold.
What Is International Roadcheck?
Every year, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) coordinates a concentrated 72-hour enforcement campaign across Canada, Mexico, and the United States called International Roadcheck. During this window, certified inspectors at weigh stations and pop-up inspection sites conduct a high volume of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) inspections simultaneously, generating one of the largest road-safety datasets in North America.
For shippers, Roadcheck is more than a regulatory event, it creates immediate pressure on truckload capacity, increases the cost per mile, and can introduce avoidable supply chain disruptions. When a driver or vehicle is placed out of service during an inspection, it can lead to delayed pickups, missed delivery appointments, and last-minute replanning to secure compliant replacement capacity. Compounding this, this week also aligns with a common vacation period for many carriers and drivers, which further reduces the available capacity pool while increasing competition for trucks.
To help minimize disruption and control transportation costs, TLI kindly asks customers to provide as much advance notice as possible on any upcoming full truckload (FTL) shipments. Early visibility allows our team to proactively source capacity, secure more competitive rates, and position reliable carriers before the market tightens further. With proper planning, we can help ensure your freight continues moving efficiently despite temporary market constraints caused by Roadcheck and seasonal capacity reductions.
Enforcement personnel primarily conduct the North American Standard Level I Inspection,1 a rigorous 37-step procedure that evaluates both the driver’s qualifications and the vehicle’s mechanical fitness. A vehicle that passes a Level I Inspection without critical violations may receive a CVSA decal valid for up to three months, a visible signal to other enforcement personnel that the vehicle was recently inspected and cleared.
DOT Blitz Week 2026 Focus Areas
Each year CVSA designates one driver category and one vehicle category for heightened scrutiny. In 2026, inspectors will pay special attention to:
Driver Focus: Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Compliance
This year’s driver emphasis targets ELD tampering, falsification, and manipulation. Federal regulations require property-carrying drivers to use certified ELDs to record hours-of-service (HOS) data automatically and accurately.2 Inspectors will review each driver’s record of duty status for false or manipulated entries, including instances where driving time was concealed with no edit notation, as required by law.
The stakes are significant. In 2024, falsification of record of duty status ranked as the second most-cited driver violation nationally, with 58,382 violations recorded. Five of the top ten driver violations were HOS- or ELD-related.3
Inaccurate ELD entries sometimes stem from a driver’s misunderstanding of exemptions or regulations. In other cases, however, records are deliberately manipulated to conceal HOS violations. Inspectors trained on the 2026 out-of-service criteria will now specifically flag situations where tampering makes it impossible to determine what events occurred, a new out-of-service condition added effective April 1, 2026.4
“Five out of the top 10 driver violations were related to hours of service or ELDs” — FMCSA Enforcement Inspection Data, 20245
Vehicle Focus: Cargo Securement
The 2026 vehicle focus is cargo securement. Federal regulations specify detailed requirements for how loads must be contained, immobilized, or secured to prevent shifting during transport.6 Improper securement affects vehicle maneuverability and can cause loads to fall or become dislodged, creating roadway hazards and increasing crash risk for the driver and the public.
Inspectors will assess tie-down systems, blocking and bracing, and load distribution. The 2026 out-of-service criteria added a wire rope damage chart and incorporated the ExTe Com90 securement system for log loads,7 giving inspectors clearer guidance on what constitutes a defect.8 Shippers who load their own trailers potentially share responsibility for securement compliance and should audit their loading practices before the blitz begins. It is important that drives ensure their load is safely loaded prior to hauling the freight.
The Full Level I Inspection: What Inspectors Examine
Driver Examination
Inspectors verify the following driver requirements during a Level I Inspection:
- Valid commercial driver’s license (CDL) with appropriate class and endorsements
- Medical Examiner’s Certificate and Skill Performance Evaluation Certificate (if applicable)
- Accurate record of duty status (hours of service)
- Seat belt usage
- Vehicle inspection report
- Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse status (U.S. operations)
- No signs of alcohol or drug impairment
Vehicle Examination
The vehicle portion of the Level I Inspection covers:
- Brake systems (service, parking/emergency brakes, air lines, hoses, and fittings)
- Cargo securement (tie-downs, blocking, bracing, load containment)
- Coupling devices and driveline/driveshaft
- Exhaust and fuel systems
- Frames and suspensions
- Lighting devices (headlamps, tail lamps, stop lamps, turn signals)
- Steering mechanisms and tires
- Wheels, rims, and hubs
- Windshield wipers
- For buses and motorcoaches: emergency exits, seating, and electrical systems
The Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse: A Hidden Out-of-Service Risk
One inspection item that shippers often overlook is a driver’s status in the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse is a secure federal database that records drug and alcohol violations by CDL holders.9 Drivers who have violations on record are prohibited from operating a CMV until they complete the return-to-duty process, which includes an evaluation by a Substance Abuse Professional and negative follow-up tests.10
Since the Clearinghouse launched in January 2020, hundreds of thousands of drivers have accumulated prohibited status, with some industry estimates placing the figure as high as 300,000 drivers11 currently restricted from operating. An inspector who queries the Clearinghouse roadside and discovers a prohibited driver has immediate grounds to place that driver out of service, regardless of whether the driver’s employer was aware of the violation.
Drug-positive CDL drivers were reportedly paying between $100 and $500 to have federal drug and alcohol violations removed from the FMCSA Clearinghouse through a fraudulent network of fake Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs) operating under a multi-level marketing-style scheme.12 In response, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced a major crackdown on April 27, 2026, aimed at tightening security and protecting the integrity of the Clearinghouse system. As part of this initiative, all new registrations for key Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse roles will now require identity verification through IDEMIA, the same biometric security provider used by the Department of Homeland Security at airports nationwide. FMCSA stated that strengthening identity verification will help close exploitable gaps, protect data integrity, and reinforce trust across the commercial driver safety ecosystem.
Effective April 27, 2026, new registrants in several Clearinghouse roles, including Employers Without a Portal Account, Consortium/Third-Party Administrators (C/TPAs), Medical Review Officers (MROs), Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs), and invited Assistants, must all complete a new identity verification process before account activation.14 After logging in through Login.gov, users select their role and are prompted to verify their identity via a secure web application. This includes scanning a QR code on a mobile device and completing the process through the FMCSA Identity Verification app powered by IDEMIA. This policy change introduces a new compliance layer for the trucking industry and is expected to impact driver qualification workflows and capacity trends over time as enforcement and account verification standards tighten.15
Out-of-Service Orders: The Real Cost to Your Supply Chain
When inspectors find critical violations, they issue out-of-service orders.16 A driver placed out of service cannot operate until the violation is resolved. A vehicle placed out of service cannot move under its own power until repairs are made and, in some cases, re-inspected.
The 2026 out-of-service criteria, effective April 1, 2026, introduced 17 changes across driver, vehicle, and hazardous materials categories. For shippers, the most operationally relevant new provisions include:
- ELD tampering that makes it impossible to determine events is now an explicit out-of-service condition
- Clearer standards for hydraulic and electric brake lining thickness measurements
- New language on rim cracks and missing rim pieces for wheels and hubs
- Refined placarding rules for hazardous materials carriers missing placards for multiple divisions within a class
- A new chart clarifying the seven types of federal out-of-service orders
2026 Compliance Calendar: Remaining Enforcement Events
International Roadcheck is the most visible enforcement event, but it is not the only one. The following table outlines the major CVSA enforcement initiatives for the remainder of 2026. Shippers and carriers should treat each event as an independent compliance audit of their operations.
| Event | Date | DOT Focus |
|---|---|---|
| International Roadcheck | May 12–14, 2026 | ELD compliance & cargo securement; full Level I inspections |
| Operation Safe Driver Week | July 12–18, 2026 | Driver behavior: speeding, distracted driving, drug driving, seat belt use, following distance |
| Brake Safety Week | Aug. 23–29, 2026 | Brake system condition across all CMV types; brake adjustment & components |
| HM/DG Road Blitz | Unannounced (Anytime in 2026) | Hazardous materials & dangerous goods placarding, packaging, and documentation |
Citations:
- Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. (2025). All inspection levels. CVSA. https://cvsa.org/inspections/all-inspection-levels/ ↩︎
- 49 C.F.R. § 395.8 (2024). Driver’s record of duty status. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-395/subpart-B/section-395.8 ↩︎
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. (2025). Enforcement programs: Inspection violations data, 2024. U.S. Department of Transportation. https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/EnforcementPrograms/Inspections ↩︎
- Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. (2026, April 1). CVSA’s 2026 out-of-service criteria now in effect. CVSA. https://cvsa.org/news/2026-oosc/ ↩︎
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. (2025). Enforcement programs: Inspection violations data, 2024. U.S. Department of Transportation. https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/EnforcementPrograms/Inspections ↩︎
- 49 C.F.R. Part 393, Subpart I (2024). Protection against shifting or falling cargo. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-393/subpart-I ↩︎
- Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. (2025, February). Inspection bulletin 2025-02 [PDF]. https://cvsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025-02-Inspection-Bulletin.pdf ↩︎
- Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. (2026, April 1). CVSA’s 2026 out-of-service criteria now in effect. CVSA. https://cvsa.org/news/2026-oosc/ ↩︎
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. (2024). Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. U.S. Department of Transportation. https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov ↩︎
- 49 C.F.R. § 382.701 (2024). Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse: General requirements. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-382/subpart-G/section-382.701 ↩︎
- Wingfield, A. (2026, March 17). The industry is focused on 200,000 non-domiciled CDLs—but there is another 200,000-driver story nobody is covering. FreightWaves. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-industry-is-focused-on-200000-non-domiciled-cdls-but-there-is-another-200000-driver-story-nobody-is-covering ↩︎
- Carpenter, R. (2026, March 25). Clearinghouse fraud putting drugged drivers back on the road. FreightWaves. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/clearinghouse-fraud-putting-drugged-drivers-back-on-the-road ↩︎
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. (2026, April 27). Cracking down on fraud: New identity checks for FMCSA Clearinghouse. U.S. Department of Transportation. https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/Learn/News/Item/ID-verification ↩︎
- Wasson, T. (2025, May 29). FMCSA moves to close the door on Clearinghouse fraud. FreightWaves. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmcsa-moves-to-close-the-door-on-clearinghouse-fraud ↩︎
- Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. (2026, April 1). CVSA’s 2026 out-of-service criteria now in effect. CVSA. https://cvsa.org/news/2026-oosc/ ↩︎
