13.2% of Brake Week Inspections Result in Out-Of-Service Orders

Commercial motor vehicle officers reported 13.2% of inspections resulted in out-of-service orders for brake violations during a weeklong brake enforcement operation, compared with 12.3% last year and 16.2% in 2014.

The inspectors also placed 14.8% of inspected vehicles out of service with nonbrake-related violations, according to results released Nov. 14 by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.

The violations were reported during the annual Brake Safety Week from Sept. 11-17, when local, state, provincial, territorial and federal inspectors throughout the United States and Canada conducted 18,385 inspections to identify out-of-adjustment brakes and brake-system violations.

Brake Safety Week is part of the Operation Airbrake Program sponsored by CVSA in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.

The roadside checks included inspection of brake-system components to identify loose or missing parts; air or hydraulic fluid leaks; cracked, damaged or worn linings, pads, drums or rotors; and other faulty brake-system components.

Inspectors also checked anti-lock braking system malfunction indicator lamps for compliance with jurisdictional regulations, an effort that began during CVSA’s unannounced Brake Check Day in May. Participating jurisdictions reported the number of trucks and buses with anti-lock braking systems as well as ABS violations observed.

The ABS survey for 2016 Brake Safety Week found the following:

• 93.2% of air-braked trucks (including tractors) inspected and 90.4% of hydraulic-braked trucks inspected required ABS, based on their date of manufacture.

• 89.4% of air-braked trailers inspected required ABS, based on their date of manufacture.

• 8.8% of ABS-required, air-braked trucks and 8.8% ABS-required, hydraulic-braked trucks were found with ABS violations.

• 15.8% of trailers requiring ABS were found with ABS violations.

• 7.6% of trailers inspected were not air- or hydraulic-braked (i.e., electric, surge or other) and therefore not subject to ABS requirements.

“Brakes must be routinely checked and properly maintained to ensure the safety of the commercial motor vehicle, the CMV driver and everyone else on the road,” said CVSA President Julius Debuschewitz of Yukon Highways and Public Works. “Although brake inspections are a part of the Level I inspections conducted by our hard-working CMV inspectors every day, Brake Safety Week is an opportunity to remind motor carriers and drivers of the importance of brake health and safety, and it provides the opportunity for our inspectors to conduct targeted and focused inspections to identify and remove commercial motor vehicles that have brakes with critical violations from our roadways.”