Nearly 600 commercial motor vehicles were placed out of service during this year’s unannounced Brake Safety Day enforcement campaign across North America.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) said inspectors conducted 4,021 inspections on April 14 and removed 574 vehicles — or 14.3% — from the road for brake-related out-of-service violations.
Canada recorded a slightly higher out-of-service rate than the U.S. Inspectors conducted 716 inspections in Canada and placed 112 vehicles out of service, for a 15.6% out-of-service rate. In the U.S., 460 of 3,301 inspected vehicles were sidelined, representing a 13.9% rate.
Brake Safety Day is part of CVSA’s Operation Airbrake program and focuses on identifying brake system defects serious enough to make continued operation unsafe.
This year’s enforcement campaign placed special emphasis on brake drums and rotors. Inspectors identified 43 drum and rotor violations, including 21 that resulted in out-of-service orders.
Among the violations found were eight broken rotors, 24 rusted rotors, nine broken brake drums, and two cases involving metal-to-metal brake contact.
Inspectors also identified 313 vehicles that met the 20% defective brake threshold for an out-of-service violation. Under CVSA rules, a vehicle is placed out of service when 20% or more of its brakes are defective.
Additional brake-related defects included 121 violations involving brake hoses or tubing, 47 steering axle brake violations, and 40 vehicles that failed air loss rate testing.
Inspectors also documented 193 other brake-related out-of-service violations, including inoperative parking brakes, defective low-air warning devices, and tractor protection system failures.
Despite the violations uncovered, CVSA noted that 3,447 vehicles — 85.7% of those inspected — did not have any brake-related out-of-service violations.
Most inspections conducted during the campaign were North American Standard Level I inspections, the industry’s most comprehensive roadside inspection procedure. The 37-step inspection covers both driver compliance and vehicle mechanical fitness.
Ten U.S. jurisdictions also used performance-based brake testers (PBBTs) during the campaign. Of the 349 vehicles tested, 26 failed to meet the minimum required braking efficiency standard of 43.5% and were placed out of service.
CVSA’s next major brake enforcement campaign is scheduled for Aug. 23-29.
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