The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has released the results from its unannounced Brake Safety Day, which was held on April 22. During the event, inspectors placed 398 (8.7%) of 4,569 inspected vehicles out-of-service (OOS). This OOS rate is down almost 3% from the last two years’ Brake Safety Day results.
This year’s inspection focus was drums and motors, which can hurt a truck’s brake efficiency if issues are left unchecked. Additionally, broken pieces of drums or rotors can become dislodged while on the road, damaging other vehicles and resulting in injuries or fatalities. But inspectors only found 32 (8%) vehicles with drum and/or rotor violations, which could include broken or rusted rotors, metal-to-metal contact, or a broken drum. Fourteen of those violations placed a vehicle OOS.
CVSA
However, other brake issues were more common. For instance, the top violation during Brake Safety Day was 20% brake criterion violations, which means that 20% or more of a vehicle’s brakes have an out-of-service condition. Inspectors found 237 (59.5% OOS rate) vehicles with these issues.
The second-most common OOS violation fell into the ‘Other’ category, including worn brake lines and hoses, an inoperative tractor protection system, an inoperative low-air violation warning device, air leaks, and hydraulic fluid leaks. Inspectors found 112 of these violations, with an OOS rate of 28.1%. Finally, the third top issue during Brake Safety Day was brake hoses/tubing violations, with 77 violations and an OOS rate of 19.3%, with steering axle and air loss rate violations rounding out the top five problems inspectors found.
CVSA
Additionally, nine U.S. jurisdictions used performance-based brake testers (PBBT) on Brake Safety Day for 100 PBBT Inspections. These inspections assess a vehicle’s braking performance and require a minimum braking efficiency of 43.5%, but only 8 vehicles failed the PBBT tests and were placed OOS.
While air disc brakes have many benefits to offer to fleets, maintenance departments must take care to select the best pads for their vehicles and to inspect them often.
