1,680 trucks placed out of service during Brake Safety Day blitz

Updated Nov 12, 2017
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A one-day North American inspection blitz of brakes on commercial motor vehicles resulted in almost 1,700 out-of-service orders.

A total of 7,698 inspections were conducted during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Brake Safety Day Sept. 7. Some 1,680 vehicles — or 22 percent — were placed out of service for some sort of violation. Fourteen percent, 1,064, of all inspections conducted resulted in a vehicle being placed out of service for brake-related violations.

Brake Safety Day also revealed data about antilock braking systems. ABS violations were counted when the malfunction lamp did not work or the malfunction lamp stayed on, indicating a fault of some kind, according to the CVSA. The findings included:

  • 5,456 air-braked power units required ABS; 11 percent (610) had ABS violations
  • 3,749 trailers required ABS; 14 percent (540) had ABS violations
  • 821 hydraulic-braked trucks required ABS; 5 percent (45) had ABS violations
  • 49 buses required ABS; 10 percent (five) had ABS violations

“Brake-related violations are the largest percentage of all out-of-service violations cited during roadside inspections. CVSA’s Brake Safety Day provides an opportunity enhance brake safety,” said CVSA President Capt. Christopher Turner with the Kansas Highway Patrol. “Our goal is to reduce the number of crashes caused by faulty braking systems, by conducting roadside inspections, educating drivers, mechanics, owner-operators and others on the importance of proper brake inspection and maintenance.”

This year was the first year CVSA held its annual brake inspection blitz in just one day. Previously, it was a week-long event. Last year, more than 18,000 trucks were inspected during the blitz; 3,900 trucks were placed out-of-service for brake-related and other violations.

Forty jurisdictions participated in Brake Safety Day; 31 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces/territories. There were 6,361 commercial motor vehicle inspections made in the U.S. and 1,337 in Canada.