It's Brake Safety Week (Sep 16-22)
Be Prepared to Stop the Week of September 16-22
Heads up Owner Operators: It’s that time of year. CVSA Enforcement personnel will be pulling over trucks in order to check brake violations and faulty brake systems.
Results from last year’s Brake Safety Day found that 14 percent of all inspections conducted during that one-day brake safety initiative resulted in a CMV being placed out of service for brake-related violations.
The CVSA and other law enforcement agencies, in addition to handing out violations, will make efforts to educate drivers, mechanics, owner-operators and others on the importance of proper brake maintenance, operation and performance.
According to the U.S Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Large Truck Crash Causation (LTCC) Study, 32.7 percent of large trucks with pre-crash violations had brake problems.
During Brake Safety Week, inspectors will primarily conduct the North American Standard Level I Inspection, which is a 37-step procedure that includes an examination of driver operating requirements and vehicle mechanical fitness.
Inspections conducted will include inspection of brake-system components to identify:
Loose or missing parts
Air or hydraulic fluid leaks
Defective rotor conditions
Measurement of pushrod travel
Mismatched air chamber sizes across axles
Air reservoir integrity and mounting
Worn linings, pads, drums or rotors
Required brake-system warning devices….
…And other brake-system components.
Vehicles with defective or out-of-adjustment brakes will be placed out of service.
In addition, in the 12 jurisdictions using performance-based brake testing (PBBT)equipment, vehicle braking efficiency will be measured. PBBTs measure the cumulative brake force for the entire vehicle and divide it by the total vehicle weight to determine overall vehicle braking efficiency. The minimum braking efficiency for trucks is 43.5 percent, required by 393.52 of the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and the CVSA North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria.
Brake Safety Week is part of the Operation Airbrake Program, sponsored by CVSA in partnership with the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
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