CVSA out-of-service criteria: what puts a truck out of service

What the out-of-service criteria are and who writes them

The North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (often shortened to OOSC) are published by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), a nonprofit made up of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal commercial vehicle safety officials and industry representatives. CVSA describes the criteria as the pass-fail criteria for inspections. Their purpose is to identify critical violations, and those violations put the driver, the vehicle or the cargo out of service until the condition is corrected.

The criteria change every year. CVSA updates them annually, effective April 1, with that year’s edition of the handbook. For 2026, the member jurisdictions approved 17 changes, which took effect on April 1, 2026. CVSA sells the handbook in print and electronic form and publishes it in its out-of-service criteria app; the summary of each year’s changes is posted on its website.

The handbook is organized in four parts:

• Part I, driver: licences, medical certificates, hours of service, records of duty status and similar items.
• Part II, vehicle: brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, tires, wheels, lighting and the other mechanical systems.
• Part III, hazardous materials and dangerous goods: placards, shipping papers, loading and markings.
• Part IV, administrative: items such as US federal out-of-service orders.

An out-of-service line is not the same as the legal standard. The criteria are set at the point where a defect is an imminent hazard, so they can be looser than the regulation. When CVSA changed the 2026 lining measurement for hydraulic and electric brakes, it said the new figure sat below the US and Canadian regulatory requirements and that this was appropriate for the criteria. Tires are a good example: 49 CFR 393.75 requires at least 4/32 inch of tread on the front tires of a truck or truck tractor, while a CVSA inspection bulletin quotes the criteria as putting a steering-axle tire out of service below 2/32 inch. A steer tire at 3/32 inch does not park the truck, but it is still a violation on the report.

Inspection levels: what the inspector looks at

CVSA defines the levels of inspection that certified inspectors carry out across North America. The level decides how much of the truck and the driver is examined, and only some levels can put the vehicle out of service for a mechanical defect.

A vehicle that passes a Level I or Level V inspection with no critical violations under the out-of-service criteria can receive a CVSA decal. The decal applies to the vehicle, not the driver, and stays valid for no more than three consecutive months. Inspectors generally do not re-inspect a vehicle with a valid decal, although nothing prevents them from doing so, and CVSA says a vehicle with a current decal will be re-inspected if an obvious defect is noticed.

The violations that most often put trucks out of service

CVSA’s International Roadcheck is a three-day inspection blitz across Canada, Mexico and the US, and its published results give a useful public picture of what parks trucks. In 2026, inspectors conducted 54,575 inspections and placed 10,350 commercial vehicles (19%) and 3,184 drivers (5.8%) out of service. Of the 44,047 Level I, II and V inspections that examined the vehicle, 23.5% ended with the vehicle or combination out of service.

“20% defective brakes” means that 20% or more of the brakes on the vehicle or combination have an out-of-service condition. Counted together with brake systems, brake-related violations made up 39.1% of all vehicle out-of-service violations in 2026.

The order is a little different in Canada. Canadian inspectors recorded brake systems first (28.7% of vehicle out-of-service violations), then cargo securement (14.9%), tires (12.2%) and 20% defective brakes (11.5%). Cargo securement was the vehicle focus of the 2026 event.

Two cautions when you read these numbers. The percentages are shares of out-of-service violations, not shares of trucks, and one truck can carry several. And Roadcheck is a three-day snapshot. Still, the top of the list was the same in 2025, when the vehicle focus was tires: brake systems first (24.4% of vehicle out-of-service violations) and tires second (21.4%).

For a plan to get your trucks and drivers ready for the event itself, see TruckerPro’s International Roadcheck fleet prep guide.

What 49 CFR 396.9 requires after a US out-of-service order

In the US, 49 CFR 396.9 covers inspections of vehicles in operation. Inspectors declare and mark “out-of-service” any vehicle that, because of its mechanical condition or loading, would likely cause an accident or a breakdown, and they use an “Out-of-Service Vehicle” sticker to mark it. From that moment:

• No motor carrier may require or permit anyone to operate the vehicle, and no one may operate it, until all repairs required by the out-of-service notice have been satisfactorily completed.
• Operating includes towing, with one exception: an out-of-service vehicle may be towed away by a vehicle using a crane or hoist.
• No one may remove the out-of-service sticker before all of the required repairs are complete.

The paperwork has deadlines too:

1. The driver delivers the report. The driver gives a copy of the inspection report to the motor carrier on arrival at the next terminal or facility. If the driver is not due at one within 24 hours, the driver must immediately mail, fax or otherwise send it.
2. The carrier examines it and corrects every violation. Section 396.9 requires the carrier to correct the violations and defects noted on the report under the DVIR repair rule in 396.11(a)(3), not only the out-of-service items.
3. Certify within 15 days. Within 15 days of the inspection date, the carrier certifies that all violations have been corrected by completing the carrier official’s signature, title and date on the form.
4. Return and file. If the issuing state agency asks for it, the carrier returns the completed form to the address shown on it. In all cases the carrier keeps a copy at its principal place of business or where the vehicle is housed for twelve months from the inspection date.

A separate rule, 49 CFR 396.7, covers a truck a driver finds unsafe while on the road. It may continue only to the nearest place where repairs can safely be made, and only if that is less hazardous to the public than leaving it on the highway. That exemption is not a way around an inspector’s out-of-service order, which 396.9 governs.

Canada: the National Safety Code and the provinces

Canada applies the same criteria through the National Safety Code (NSC), a set of 16 standards developed by the member jurisdictions of the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA). NSC Standard 12, CVSA On-Road Inspections, is the standard that contains the CVSA on-road inspection criteria. CCMTA states that every province and territory uses the NSC as the cornerstone of its commercial vehicle rules, either adopting the standards by reference or mirroring them in provincial and territorial law.

That means the province that inspects the truck enforces it, and the follow-up after an out-of-service order runs under that province’s rules. Follow the instructions on the inspection report and check with the issuing province if anything is unclear.

Two other NSC standards sit around the roadside inspection. Standard 11 covers maintenance and periodic inspection. Standard 13 covers the daily trip inspection, and it lines up closely with the out-of-service categories:

• Trucks, tractors and trailers must be inspected under Schedule 1 every 24 hours when they are operated.
• The driver records every defect found and reports it to the carrier before the next required inspection. Major defects are reported immediately.
• No one may drive a commercial vehicle on a highway while a major defect is present.
• The carrier must correct previously reported defects before the next required inspection or within the time the jurisdiction sets, and keep each report and certification of repairs for at least six months.

Many Schedule 1 major defects are the same conditions inspectors write up at the roadside: a pushrod stroke beyond the adjustment limit, an inoperative service, parking or emergency brake, insecure cargo, failure of both rearmost brake lamps, a flat tire, tread worn below the wear limit, exposed cords, and wheels with loose or missing fasteners.

A pre-trip checklist that catches out-of-service defects

The cheapest out-of-service order is the one a driver prevents in the yard. Build the pre-trip around the categories that park trucks most often, and give drivers a way to report what they find before the truck leaves.

Brakes

• Listen for air leaks and watch the air pressure build-up rate.
• Check that the low air warning works and that the service and parking brakes hold.
• Build pushrod stroke measurement into each PM service, done by a person qualified to inspect brakes.

Tires and wheels

• No flats, no audible leaks, no tread or sidewall separation, and no cuts or wear that expose ply or belt material.
• Measure steer tire tread with a gauge; 49 CFR 393.75 requires 4/32 inch on the front tires of a truck or truck tractor and 2/32 inch elsewhere.
• Look for loose or missing wheel fasteners and cracked or damaged rims.

Lights, cargo and coupling

• Headlamps, tail lamps, brake lamps and turn signals all working, including on the trailer.
• Cargo secured, tiedowns in good condition and any load covering fastened.
• Coupler locked, no loose or missing fasteners on the fifth wheel or its mounting.

Paperwork

• In the US, under 49 CFR 396.13, the driver reviews the last driver vehicle inspection report and signs it to acknowledge that any required repairs were certified.
• In Canada, the driver carries the Schedule 1 schedule and the current trip inspection report.

If the driver finds a major defect, the truck stays in the yard until the shop has fixed it and recorded the repair. That single rule targets the same defects the roadside numbers describe.