The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's (CVSA) Brake Safety Week is scheduled for Aug. 22-28 and will emphasize the importance of brake systems and components during roadside inspections across North America. Commercial vehicles with brake-related violations will be put out of service by enforcement officers.
To prepare, carriers are encouraged by CVSA to educate their drivers and maintenance service providers on the importance of brake system safety.
Throughout Brake Safety Week, inspectors will compile data from each inspection on brake hoses/tubing to submit to the CVSA. According to the CVSA, a report of its findings will be published later this year.
CVSA chose to focus on brake systems and components for four major reasons:
- Brake system and brake adjustment violations accounted for more vehicle violations than any other vehicle violation category, accounting for 38.6% of all vehicle out-of-service conditions, during last year’s three-day International Roadcheck inspection and enforcement initiative.
- “Brake system” was the third most cited vehicle-related factor in fatal commercial motor vehicle and passenger vehicle crashes, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) latest Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts report.
- Brake-related violations accounted for eight out of the top 20 vehicle violations in 2020, according to FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Management Information System.
- During last year’s Brake Safety Week, 12% of the 43,565 commercial motor vehicles inspected were placed out of service for brake-related violations.
Because the dates for Brake Safety Week have been shared in advance, CVSA wants to remind motor carriers, drivers and commercial motor vehicle mechanics/technicians to proactively check and service their vehicles to ensure every commercial motor vehicle traveling on our roadways is safe, mechanically fit and compliant. According to the CVSA, recent research has shown that announcing enforcement campaigns ahead of time improves overall compliance better than surprise enforcement campaigns and for longer periods after the event.
Brake Safety Week falls within the same time as Brake Safety Awareness Month, also in August. Between now and Aug. 22, law enforcement agencies will work to educate commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, mechanics, owner-operators and others on the importance of proper brake maintenance, operation and performance through outreach, education and awareness campaigns.