Definition
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance describes itself as a nonprofit association of commercial motor vehicle safety officials and industry representatives. Its members include enforcement agencies and companies, and its stated aim is uniformity, compatibility and reciprocity in commercial vehicle inspections and enforcement.
What CVSA publishes
- North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (OOSC): the pass-fail criteria inspectors use to decide whether a driver, vehicle or cargo must be placed out of service until a condition is corrected. CVSA updates the criteria annually, effective April 1.
- North American Standard inspection procedures: the step-by-step methods used at roadside inspections.
- Inspection programs and campaigns: including enforcement events focused on specific areas such as brakes.
How it relates to federal rules
CVSA is not a government agency, and its criteria are not the same document as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Federal and state agencies adopt and use the criteria. FMCSA's definition of an out-of-service order in 49 CFR 390.5 refers to the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria, which is how a CVSA document gains legal effect at the roadside. The DOT annual inspection, by contrast, follows Appendix A to 49 CFR Part 396.
For repair shops
Shops meet CVSA standards mostly through their customers: a truck placed out of service at a roadside inspection becomes an urgent repair, and the carrier must certify the correction. Keep a current copy of the OOSC handbook if you do much roadside work, and write repair orders that name the violation and the correction. See out-of-service criteria and FMCSA.