The annual Roadcheck inspection event is here -- almost, that is, set for next week, May 16-18 , and taking place across all North American jurisdictions to one extent or another. A lot of the preparation is over and done with, though last-minute and pre- and post-trip inspections no doubt will be ongoing throughout.
Count Mustang's Truckin owner-operator Mike "Mustang" Crawford among the solid fifth of operators who planned to be shut down to avoid the elevated possibility of a pull-in by either taking a little R&R (16%) or putting the rig in the shop for planned work (5%). The latter is longtime flatbedder Crawford's plan this year, as has been the case for him the last few.
"I’ve got my truck scheduled to be in the shop on the 16th," Crawford said, for some work, with other things to take care of around his Long Lane, Missouri, home. "I passed an inspection here recently" with his 1994 Freightliner, he added, so if a load calls him out before Roadcheck is done, "I'm not too worried about it this year."
His flatbed specialty has put him in a variety of securement scenarios over the years -- proper securement is of course one of two principal focus areas for the educational component of the Commercial Vehicles Safety Alliance-led Roadcheck event. A look at individual states' truck enforcement department's activity issuing securement violations points the way forward to identifying possible Roadcheck hotspots. In the map below, find the percentage of securement violations issued in 2022 by states among their broader violation total.
One of the top-ranking states, Wyoming (No. 4), hit Crawford last September with a violation for an inadequate securement device -- "It was my fault, definitely," Crawford said, given he'd failed to see a nick in one of the four-inch straps he'd used to secure the load. Depending on the length of the cut, inspectors apply a downgrade to the working load limit of each strap, and in this case it was a three-quarter-inch cut Crawford just failed to see.
