Certified inspectors in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. conducted 16,725 inspections on commercial motor vehicles as part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) North American Brake Safety Week, Aug. 25-31, which revealed that approximately 87% of the commercial motor vehicles inspected did not have out-of-service violations and were deemed safe and permitted to proceed on roadways.
“Out of the 16,725 commercial motor vehicle inspections conducted, 2,149 of those vehicles had brake-related out-of-service violations, which is a 12.8% out-of-service rate,” the CVSA said in a press release. “A vehicle is placed out of service when critical vehicle inspection items are identified during an inspection as conditions found in the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (OOSC). When a vehicle is placed out of service, it is restricted from further travel until all out-of-service violations have been corrected. CVSA’s out-of-service criteria identifies critical vehicle inspection items and details the criteria that prohibit a motor carrier or driver from operating a commercial motor vehicle until the violations have been addressed.”
According to the release, of the 2,149 commercial motor vehicles placed out of service, 1,355 (63.1%) had stand-alone out-of-service brake violations and 217 (10.1%) had steering axle brake out-of-service violations. Also, 1,216 (56.6%) failed the 20% defective brakes criterion, which states that a vehicle is out of service if the number of defective brakes is equal to or greater than 20% of the service brakes on the vehicle or combination. Note: a vehicle may have more than one violation type.
The focus area for this year’s Brake Safety Week was on lining/pad violations. Throughout the week, inspectors looked for loose, missing or worn brake lining/pads, as well as cracks, voids or contamination. Inspectors found 382 lining/pad violations on power (tractor) units and 272 on towed (trailer) units, for a total of 654 brake lining/pad violations.
Sixty-one jurisdictions participated in this year’s Brake Safety Week.
- In Canada, inspectors conducted 1,926 inspections and discovered 243 brake-related out-of-service violations, which is a 12.6% out-of-service rate. Forty-four power units and 49 towed units had lining/pad violations.
- In Mexico, inspectors conducted 107 inspections and discovered six brake-related out-of-service violations, which is a 5.6% out-of-service rate. One power unit and five towed units had lining/pad violations.
- In the U.S., inspectors conducted 14,692 inspections and discovered 1,900 brake-related out-of-service violations, which is a 12.9% out-of-service rate. Lining/pad violations were found on 310 power units and 172 towed units.
Eighteen states with performance-based brake testers (PBBT) participated in this year’s Brake Safety Week by conducting 452 inspections using their PBBTs. There were 26 failures, which is a 5.75% out-of-service rate.
Brake Safety Week is part of the CVSA’s Operation Airbrake Program, a comprehensive program dedicated to improving commercial motor vehicle brake safety throughout North America. The goal is to reduce the number of crashes caused by faulty braking systems on commercial motor vehicles by conducting roadside inspections and educating drivers, mechanics, owner-operators and others on the importance of proper brake inspection, maintenance and operation.
Next year’s Brake Safety Week is scheduled for Aug. 24-30, 2025.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
