The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) announces inspectors in 52 jurisdictions throughout North America placed 2,296 vehicles out of service (OOS) due to brake-related violations during CVSA’s annual Brake Safety Week in late August.
During the week, inspectors conducted 15,175 commercial motor vehicle inspections. The majority of the commercial motor vehicles inspected (84.9%) did not have any out-of-service brake violations that deemed them unsafe to proceed on their route, leaving an out-of-service rate of 15.1% of the total number of vehicles inspected.
Every year, CVSA states approximately 4 million commercial motor vehicle inspections are conducted throughout North America at weigh/inspection stations, during roving patrols and at temporary inspection sites to ensure the commercial motor vehicles traveling on our roadways are safe and compliant with federal regulations. An inspector will place a vehicle out of service if they discover critical vehicle inspection items during an inspection. This means the driver cannot operate that vehicle until all out-of-service violations have been fixed, CVSA reports.
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Every year, CVSA devotes a week to brake-safety inspections, enforcement and education because brake-related violations continue to be the most cited out-of-service vehicle violation during roadside inspections, and properly functioning brake systems are crucial to safe commercial motor vehicle operation.
During the seven days of the brake-safety inspection and enforcement initiative, in the U.S., inspectors conducted 13,700 inspections and discovered 2,035 (14.9%) brake-related out-of-service violations. In Canada, inspectors conducted 1,459 inspections and discovered 260 (17.8%) brake-related out-of-service violations. In Mexico, inspectors conducted 16 inspections and discovered one (6.3%) brake-related out-of-service violations. Combined, 15,175 inspections were conducted, and 2,296 (15.1%) brake-related out-of-service violations were identified throughout North America.
CVSA reports the most-cited reason a vehicle was placed out of service was because 20% or more of the vehicle’s (or combination of vehicles’) service brakes had an out-of-service condition. Inspectors identified 1,199 such violations, which is a 52.2% out-of-service rate.
In addition to the other brake components that are examined as part of a routine North American Standard Inspection, inspectors provided violation data for drums and rotors, the focus for this year’s brake safety initiative. CVSA says there were 113 drum and rotor violations. Thirty-nine commercial motor vehicles were placed out of service for rotor and/or drum violations. Note: There may be more than one violation on some vehicles/combinations.
