Brake Safety Week enforcement blitz hits in two weeks

The Brake Safety Week enforcement blitz is coming up in two weeks

It is scheduled to start Sunday, Aug. 21, and run through Saturday, Aug. 27.

Enforcement officials will inspect commercial motor vehicles throughout the week. Vehicles found to have critical out-of-service brake violations or other critical vehicle out-of-service inspection item violations will be restricted from traveling until those violations are corrected.

Vehicles that pass eligible inspections may receive a passed inspection CVSA decal.

Inspectors will be paying special attention to brake hoses and tubing during this year’s Brake Safety Week to highlight the importance of those components to vehicle mechanical fitness and safety, according to a CVSA news release.

Inspectors will look for missing, nonfunctioning, loose, contaminated or cracked parts on the brake system, and nonmanufactured holes (such as rust holes and holes created by rubbing or friction), and broken springs in the spring brake housing section of the parking brake. They will listen for audible air leaks around brake components and lines, and ensure the air system maintains air pressure between 90-100 psi.

During last year’s Brake Safety Week, more than 35,764 commercial motor vehicles were inspected. Nearly 90% of the vehicles inspected throughout North America did not have brake-related critical vehicle inspection item violations.

However, 12% of the inspected vehicles were placed out of service because of critical brake-related violations.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance organizes Brake Safety Week.

Brake Safety Week is part of CVSA’s Operation Airbrake program, in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.

Brake tips on Land Line Now

Land Line Now recently discussed some relatively simple things a driver can do to make sure they don’t get dinged by inspectors during Brake Safety Week.

Andy Malion, president of Toronto-based brake and maintenance product company Spectra Products and member of the CVSA Operation Airbrake Committee, joined the program to offer some helpful advice. The point of the program isn’t to hand out violation notices, he said, but to educate drivers to protect them from inspection problems and ensure their safety on the road.

Brake violations make up the largest chunk of all out-of-service violations. Brake adjustment violations in the more recent International Roadcheck inspection blitz accounted for 38.9% of all out-of-service violations. That is more than any other category, he said.

“Brake adjustment is really what we want to concentrate on in the long run, because if your brakes aren’t adjusted properly, you’re not going to stop properly,” Malion said.

He recommends regularly checking the automatic air brake slack adjusters.

Brake Safety Week inspectors look for worn hoses and missing or broken parts, he said. They also listen for air leaks around the brakes to indicate if there might be problems with brake line air pressure. Brake S cams, device warning lights and other details are checked also. LL