Medical cards and English tests reshape the roadside inspection scorecard

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance released full results this week from its three-day International Roadcheck blitz, and the reasons drivers are being pulled off the road have shifted markedly in a single year.

Inspectors conducted 54,575 inspections across the US, Canada and Mexico between 12 and 14 May, placing 10,350 vehicles (19 per cent) and 3,184 drivers (5.8 per cent) out of service. Most passed, and 17,680 vehicles earned a CVSA decal for a clean inspection. But the composition of driver violations tells the story of a year of federal enforcement.

Missing medical cards jumped to the top of the driver list at 28 per cent of out-of-service violations, up from 18 per cent in 2025, as states, carriers and drivers adjust to FMCSA's new electronic medical certification system. Two states have still not implemented it, and a temporary exemption allowing paper certificates runs until 11 October.

English-language proficiency appeared on the list for the first time, accounting for 9 per cent of US driver violations. It was not an out-of-service condition during last year's Roadcheck. FMCSA made it one in June 2025 by guidance, and earlier this month proposed a rule to write the requirement into regulation so a future administration cannot reverse it with a memo.

The violations that used to dominate fell away. Hours-of-service infractions dropped from 36 per cent of the total to 23 per cent, driving without a CDL from nearly 30 per cent to 16 per cent, and false logs, the designated driver focus of this year's event, from 9 per cent to under 6 per cent. ELD tampering drew 146 out-of-service orders.

On the vehicle side, little changed. Brakes accounted for 39 per cent of vehicle violations, followed by tyres, lights and cargo securement, the year's vehicle focus. Hazmat inspections produced 368 vehicle violations, led by placarding.

The results land as Brake Safety Week runs through Saturday, and as the industry absorbs a compliance regime that is now as much about paperwork and language as it is about drums and rotors.