inside cover - Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

Guardian
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
2008 is a Special Year for CVSA
By Capt. John E. Harrison, CVSA President
This issue of the Guardian highlights
CVSA’s 25th anniversary. I’m very fortunate
and proud to have the opportunity
to serve as your president during this
time of celebration. I want to take a little
of your time to share with you what
CVSA has meant to me during my
CMV enforcement career. I’ll also share
some words of wisdom from my conversations
with several past presidents.
I started my career as a CMV enforcement
officer in 1980 before CVSA was
formed. However, even as a wet-behindthe-ears
21-year old rookie I could see the
need for uniformity in areas such as
inspector training and regulatory compatibility.
Back then, training for the most
part was obtained in the field by riding
with and observing older officers conducting
inspections—with each providing
their own interpretations as to how something
should be applied or be performed.
The first classroom training I received
regarding the motor carrier safety regulations
was in 1981 and was conducted by
the old Bureau of Motor Carriers, then
under the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA). That course,
32 hours in duration, was loosely constructed
and included little or no materials
(other than a “reg” book) or visual aids
and was not conducted by instructors
“certified” under the rigorous standards
we now have today under CVSA.
One of the first major accomplishments
of CVSA, in conjunction with
FHWA, was a standardized training
course we now know as the “North
American Standard (NAS) Inspection
Course.” I was fortunate enough to have
served as a NAS instructor in 1989 and
1990 working with John Youngblood,
who most of you know was killed in the
bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal
Building in 1995.
Capt. John E. Harrison
CVSA was born out of some meetings
held between several western states
and British Columbia in the early 1980’s.
Then in 1983, CVSA was formally
incorporated in Maryland. Those pioneering
States and one Province saw a
need to recognize each others’ inspections
thereby reducing duplication of
effort. In turn, that led to uniform
inspection and training standards in
order to ensure everyone was on the
same sheet of music. As the word spread
and the concept caught on, CVSA
expanded east and consequently, regional
organizing meetings were held. One of
my associations with CVSA that I’m
particularly proud of was my participation
in the first organizing meeting for
Region II in 1983. That meeting held in
Nashville, set the boundaries for Region
II as well as allowed for election of the
Region’s first officers.
As you can see, I’ve been involved in
CVSA for many years serving on several
committees, as well as serving as
Region II Vice-President and President.
I’ve seen CVSA grow and expand its
reach into Mexico. Moreover, I’ve seen
CVSA evolve into the organization that
is recognized in North America as the
expert in the field of CMV safety and
enforcement.
I want to thank the member jurisdictions
for believing in my abilities to lead
CVSA when you elected me as your secretary-treasurer
in 2005. As I’ve
advanced from being chair to president,
I’ve strived to reach out and work with
and ask for the opinion and guidance of
many CVSA stakeholders. Please, do
not hesitate to reach out to me at any
One of the first major accomplishments
of CVSA was … the “North American
Standard Inspection Course.”
time to just talk or to ask for help with an
issue. I leave you with a quote from
Foster C. McClellan regarding my philosophy
on life which I believe has driven
CVSA’s achievements: “Trust yourself.
Create the kind of self that you will
be happy to live with all your life. Make
the most of yourself by fanning the tiny,
inner sparks of possibility into flames of
achievement.”
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