Public Resource Page

Roadside Inspections

Public information area for roadside inspection preparation and tracking concepts.

What a Roadside Inspection Is

Roadside inspections are conducted under the North American Standard Inspection Program, developed by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) in cooperation with FMCSA, Transport Canada, and Mexico's transportation authorities. Trained inspectors — usually state police, DOT enforcement officers, or CVSA-certified personnel — check driver credentials, hours of service, and vehicle condition against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and Hazardous Materials Regulations. Results feed directly into a carrier's CSA/SMS scores, so a single bad inspection can have consequences well beyond that one stop.

The CVSA Inspection Levels

Level	What It Covers
Level I — North American Standard Inspection	The most thorough inspection: driver credentials, medical certificate, hours of service, and alcohol/drugs, plus a detailed exam of brakes, cargo securement, coupling devices, lighting, steering, suspension, tires, and wheels.
Level II — Walk-Around Driver/Vehicle Inspection	Covers the same general items as a Level I but is limited to what the inspector can check without going under the vehicle.
Level III — Driver/Credential/Administrative Inspection	Focused on driver paperwork — license, medical certificate, hours of service, and other required records — without a vehicle mechanical exam.
Level IV — Special Inspections	A one-time, targeted check of a specific item, typically used to support a study or investigate a suspected trend.
Level V — Vehicle-Only Inspection	The vehicle portion of a Level I, performed without the driver present, and can be conducted at any location, including a carrier's yard.
Level VI — Enhanced NAS Inspection for Radioactive Shipments	A Level I inspection enhanced with additional radiological requirements, used for select shipments of transuranic waste and highway route-controlled quantities of radioactive material.
Level VII — Jurisdictional Mandated Inspection	A jurisdiction-specific inspection program (for example, covering school buses or limousines) that doesn't fit any of the other standard levels.
Level VIII — North American Standard Electronic Inspection	An inspection conducted electronically or wirelessly while the vehicle is in motion, without direct interaction between the driver and an enforcement officer.

Out-of-Service Criteria and CSA Impact

Every inspection level can result in a vehicle, driver, or cargo being placed out of service if inspectors find a condition that meets CVSA's North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria — for example, certain brake, tire, or lighting defects, or an hours-of-service violation. Even inspections that don't produce an out-of-service order still post violations to the carrier's record, and those violations feed the roadside inspection data behind the Safety Measurement System's BASIC scores.

CVSA Inspections program (cvsa.org)

Frequently Asked

What's the most common roadside inspection level?

Level I is the most comprehensive and one of the most frequently conducted, since it covers both driver credentials and a full vehicle mechanical exam in a single stop.

Do roadside inspection results affect my CSA score even without a citation?

Yes. Any violation documented on an inspection report — not just ones that result in a ticket or out-of-service order — is used in FMCSA's Safety Measurement System calculations.

Can a Level V inspection happen without the driver knowing?

A Level V is a vehicle-only inspection and can be performed at any location, including while the driver is elsewhere on-site, since it doesn't require driver credentials to be reviewed as part of the exam.

Free Resources

Roadside Inspection Operational Policies CVSA
Explains the standardized inspection levels (I-IX), violation documentation, and out-of-service criteria.
Roadside Inspectors and CSA FMCSA
Explains how roadside inspection results feed into a carrier's CSA safety scoring.