5,046 inspections in five days. The paperwork failed more often than the trucks.

CVSA has published the results of its 2026 Hazardous Materials/Dangerous Goods Road Blitz: 5,046 inspections across the United States and Canada in five days, with 5,805 packages from Class 1 to Class 9 checked at the roadside.

The findings deserve a slow read:

• 265 shipping paper violations, 57 of them serious enough to put the vehicle out of service
• 197 placarding violations, 64 marking violations, and 32 labeling violations
• 29 packages found leaking
• 5 undeclared hazmat packages in the U.S. and 24 misdeclared in Canada
• 70 training certification violations in Canada
• 128 vehicles put out of service for cargo securement

Almost none of this is mechanical failure. Shipping papers are written by people. Placards are chosen by people. A package leaks because somebody packed it, closed it, or accepted it without the knowledge the job requires.

Every one of these numbers traces back to the same root: a hazmat employee whose training was expired, incomplete, or never documented. In the United States that duty sits in 49 CFR 172.704, and it covers everyone who prepares, handles, or transports the shipment, not just the driver holding the paper.

Roadside enforcement is not getting softer. The cheapest inspection your company will ever pass is the one your own trained team runs before the truck leaves the dock.

Natalia Pérez

International Hazardous Materials Transportation Instructor and Specialist

Hazardous Control Inc.