The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Brake Safety Week is taking place September 15-21.
Throughout the week, enforcement officials will conduct roadside safety inspections on commercial vehicles throughout North America. Vehicles with critical brake violations, or other critical vehicle inspection item violations, will be restricted from traveling until those violations are corrected.
Vehicles without critical vehicle inspection item violations are eligible to receive a CVSA decal indicating that the vehicle passed inspection. Inspectors will be paying special attention to brake hoses/tubing.
“We all know how important a properly functioning brake system is to vehicle operation,” said CVSA President Chief Jay Thompson with the Arkansas Highway Police. “All components of the brake system must always be in proper operating condition. Brake systems and their parts and components must be routinely checked and carefully and consistently maintained to ensure the health and safety of the overall vehicle.”
The brake systems on commercial motor vehicles are made up of components that work together to slow and stop the vehicle and brake hoses/tubing are essential for the proper operation of those systems. Brake hoses/tubing must be properly attached, undamaged, without leaks and appropriately flexible.
During last year’s three-day International Roadcheck enforcement campaign, out-of-adjustment brakes and brake-system violations represented 45 percent of all out-of-service vehicle violations issued.
The goal of Brake Safety Week is to reduce the number of crashes caused or made more severe by faulty brake systems on commercial motor vehicles by conducting roadside inspections and identifying and removing unsafe commercial motor vehicles from the roadways.
Brake Safety Week is part of the Operation Airbrake Program, sponsored by CVSA in partnership with FMCSA and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.
