Brake Safety Week returns Aug. 20-26

With the return of Brake Safety Week in August, commercial truck drivers can look forward to heightened safety inspections focused on brake lining and pad violations.

Brake Safety Week is scheduled for Sunday through Saturday, Aug. 20-26. It is coordinated by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. Commercial motor vehicle inspectors will be out in force conducting their usual inspections. In addition, they will be reporting brake-related inspection and violation data to CVSA.

Vehicles found with brake equipment violations can be put out of service.

When inspectors conduct the brake portion of a Level I (general driver and vehicle) or Level V (vehicle only) inspection, their focus will be on these criteria:

• Check for missing, nonfunctioning, loose or cracked parts.
• Check for contaminated, worn, cracked and missing linings or pads.
• Check for S-cam flipover.
• Listen for audible air leaks around brake components and lines.
• Check that slack adjusters are the same length (from center of S-cam to center of clevis pin) and the air chambers on each axle are the same size.
• Ensure the brake system maintains air pressure between 90-100 psi and measure pushrod travel.
• Inspect for non-manufactured holes (e.g., rust holes, holes created by rubbing or friction, etc.) and broken springs in the spring brake housing section of the parking brake.
• Inspect required brake system warning devices, such as anti-lock braking system malfunction lamp(s) and low air-pressure warning devices.
• Inspect the tractor protection system, including the bleed-back system on the trailer.
• Ensure the breakaway system is operable on the trailer.

CVSA offers a vehicle inspection checklist, or “cheat sheet,” with details of the brake portion of a Level I or Level V inspection.

Inspection bulletins are available. There are eight in the brakes category.

During last year’s Brake Safety Week, there were 38,117 inspections conducted, 13.3% of which were placed out of service.

Brake Safety Week is part of CVSA’s Operation Airbrake Program. In addition to the publicized brake inspection event, an unannounced brake safety inspection blitz is performed. This year, it was on April 19. There were 6,829 commercial motor vehicles inspected throughout Canada, Mexico and the United States during the unannounced inspection blitz. According to CVSA, inspectors found “brake-related critical vehicle inspection items” on just over 11% of the vehicles inspected.

CVSA organized the first Brake Safety Week in 1998. LL