The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Brake Safety Week enforcement initiative will be held Aug. 25-31, the organization announced last week.
As with the group’s International Roadcheck enforcement blitz, CVSA also sets a focus area for inspectors during Brake Safety Week. This year, the condition of brake linings and pads is under the microscope as was the case for the 2023 initiative. CVSA pointed out the obvious: Brake lining and pad issues can result in vehicle violations that can affect a motor carrier’s safety rating.
During Brake Safety Week, CVSA-certified inspectors will conduct routine inspections throughout the week, but with a heightened focus on brake systems and components. Trucks found to have brake-related out-of-service violations will be removed from roadways until those violations are corrected.
In addition, some jurisdictions (as in Georgia, pictured) have performance-based brake testers (PBBTs), which assess the overall braking performance of a vehicle. Those jurisdictions will be using their PBBTs during Brake Safety Week.
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Brake Safety Week also brings with it educational efforts by inspectors, motor carriers and others to help ensure brakes are operating properly.
The air brake inspection procedure for inspectors can be found here. CVSA said it hopes to help prepare drivers, motor carriers, owner-operators and mechanics for this year’s Brake Safety Week by sharing these resources.
The group also shared a checklist for S-cam brake inspections and what to look for and how to measure pushrod stroke, along with a flyer with 10 brake lining and pad tips.
Brake Safety Week serves as a reminder to drivers and motor carriers of the importance of a proactive vehicle maintenance program and provides an opportunity for law enforcement to highlight the importance of brake safety, CVSA noted.
Throughout Brake Safety Week, inspectors will capture data about brake inspections and violations and report that data directly to CVSA. In addition to general inspection and violation data, CVSA will also be collecting data about brake linings and pads. PBBT jurisdictions will also submit PBBT-specific data.
[Related: Outrun the inspectors with maintenance topics in Overdrive]
Brake-related violations comprise the largest percentage of all out-of-service vehicle violations cited during roadside inspections. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s 2023 vehicle violation data, six out of the top 20 vehicle violations were brake related. And last year’s CVSA International Roadcheck results showed that brake-system violations was the top vehicle violation, comprising 25.2% of all vehicle out-of-service violations during that three-day data snapshot of roadside inspections.
Last year during Brake Safety Week, inspectors conducted 18,875 total commercial motor vehicles inspections and places 2,375 (12.6%) out of service because inspectors discovered OOS-brakes violations.
Access a variety of brake and other maintenance topics via this collection built through the years in Overdrive.
[Related: The toughest states for brakes violations]
