Eleven days. That is how long Alabama’s professional drivers have before law enforcement shifts into coordinated high-visibility enforcement mode from one end of North America to the other.
Operation Safe Driver Week runs July 12 through 18, 2026. It is organized by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, and it puts state, provincial, and local enforcement officers on the lookout for one thing in particular this year: reckless and careless driving.
According to CVSA: The goal of this weeklong safe-driving enforcement and outreach initiative is to improve drivers’ behaviors through education, traffic-enforcement strategies and driver interactions with law enforcement. Driver-related behaviors are largely preventable; therefore, addressing these behaviors is one of the most effective ways to reduce injuries, save lives and improve overall road safety.
Both commercial and passenger vehicle operators are in scope. But professional drivers who get stopped during Safe Driver Week do not get the benefit of the doubt the way a four-wheeler might. A warning that ends a traffic stop for a sedan can turn into a CSA violation that follows a CDL holder for years.
Safety is an all day, every day, year-round focus for Alabama Trucking, and should be for any carrier on the road as well.
What Officers Will Be Watching For
CVSA has flagged reckless and careless driving as the 2026 focus, which is intentionally broad. That means speeding, following too close, improper lane changes, distracted driving, and failure to obey traffic control devices are all on the table. Running an orange light with 40 tons behind you is the kind of thing that gets written up during a week like this.
Officers will also be watching passenger vehicle behavior around commercial trucks, and when a four-wheeler does something dangerous near a CMV, the enforcement interaction does not always end with the car. If a CMV driver is cited as contributing to an unsafe situation, even as the less-at-fault party, that citation creates a record.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration uses the CSA scoring system to track a driver’s safety performance over 24 months. A moving violation during Safe Driver Week does not just cost money on the citation. It costs points that affect carrier safety ratings and individual driver records long after the fine is paid.
A Note on Pre-Trip and Condition
Safe Driver Week is not an equipment inspection blitz, but officers who stop a vehicle for a moving violation during these events are looking at the whole truck. Tires, lights, mirrors, load securement. If there is a reason to write something up beyond the original stop, it will get written up.
Alabama drivers running I-65 between Birmingham and Mobile, I-20 through the Tennessee Valley corridor, and I-10 through the Gulf Coast will be on routes that see consistent enforcement presence. The week of July 12 is not the week to be running on bald drives or with a light out.
Prepare Your Team
A short pre-shift reminder about following distance, speed management through construction zones, and keeping phones put away is low effort and high value.
Safety is an all day, every day, year-round focus for Alabama Trucking, and should be for any carrier on the road as well. As Trucking’s Senior Director for Safety Intelligence and Regulatory Affairs, I specialize in consulting member companies on improved safety program and compliance systems.
Additionally, Alabama Trucking provides unique safety education through membership in its Safety & Maintenance Management Council (SMMC), and regularly offers new resources on driver safety compliance and CSA score management. Professional drivers have enough headwinds without picking up a preventable violation during a week when the whole continent is watching. Eleven days. Use them.
