Vehicle out-of-service criteria

Scope

If a vehicle is placed out of service, the motor carrier and driver are prohibited from driving or operating it for a specified period of time or until the condition is corrected.

Regulatory citations

• None

Key definitions

• None

Summary of requirements

Out-of-service criteria for drivers and commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) was originally created under the former Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety, which was a part of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

The out-of-service criteria are now developed and maintained by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). Each year committees of the CVSA consider and recommend modifications to the out-of-service criteria, which are accepted or rejected by a vote of the CVSA member jurisdictions. An annual edition of the out-of-service criteria is issued each year on April 1. The CVSA document is called the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria. It is a comprehensive list of items that roadside enforcement personnel look at when performing a roadside inspection on a CMV.

The document contains a listing of violations that are so unsafe that they must be corrected before operations can resume. During roadside inspections, federal, state, and local safety inspectors use the Out-of-Service Criteria as a guide in determining whether to place CMVs or drivers of CMVs out of service.

North American standard vehicle out-of-service criteria. The Vehicle segment of the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria contains sections on the following vehicle components:

• Brake system
• Coupling devices
• Exhaust syste
• Frame
• Fuel system
• Headlamps, tail lamps, lamps on projecting loads, stop lamps, and turn lamps
• Safe loading/tie-downs
• Steering mechanism
• Suspension
• Tires
• Van and open-top trailer bodies
• Wheels, rims and hubs
• Windshield wipers
• Emergency exits (buses)

Specific points of inspection are included in the individual sections of the criteria. Inspectors will use the detailed requirements when completing an inspection.