Commercial motor vehicle enforcement found more than 2,400 rigs (13.2%) with out-of-service brake violations, to go along with more than 2,700 non-brake related OOS violations (14.8%) during Brake Safety Week last September.
The enforcement push by members of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) tallied 18,385 CMV and brake-system inspections during the week-long annual safety campaign. Inspectors throughout the U.S. and Canada conducted inspections 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 (ABS) malfunction indicator lamps for compliance with jurisdictional regulations, an effort that was begun 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:
Trucks
- 93.2 percent of air-braked trucks (including tractors) inspected and 90.4 percent of hydraulic-braked trucks inspected required ABS, based on their date of manufacture.
- 89.4 percent of air-braked trailers inspected required ABS, based on their date of manufacture.
- 8.8 percent of ABS-required, air-braked trucks and 8.8 percent ABS-required, hydraulic-braked trucks were found with ABS violations.
Trailers
- 15.8 percent of trailers requiring ABS were found with ABS violations.
- 7.6 percent of trailers inspected were not air- or hydraulic-braked (i.e., electric, surge or other) and therefore not subject to ABS requirements.
Brake Safety Week serves as a reminder to motor carriers and drivers to take proactive steps to ensure their vehicle’s brakes are compliant, functioning properly and road safe, according to CVSA.
“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.”
