An unannounced brake inspection blitz led to 1,667 trucks being placed out of service.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, whose members conducted the inspections May 15, said that amounts to more than 16% of the 10,358 vehicles inspected by officers in 55 jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada.
Inspectors also paid close attention to violations involving brake hoses/tubing. The CVSA said:
- 996 units had chafed rubber hose violations
- 185 had chafed thermoplastic hose violations
- there were 1,125 violations of 49 Code of Federal Regulations § 393.45 and Canadian equivalent violations that included chafed rubber hoses
- there were 124 violations of 49 Code of Federal Regulations § 393.45 and Canadian equivalent violations that included kinked thermoplastic hoses
“Brake hoses and tubing must be properly attached, undamaged, without leaks and appropriately flexible,” said CVSA President Chief Jay Thompson with the Arkansas Highway Police. “Because they are such an important part of the braking system, the failure of hoses or tubing can cause problems for the entire braking system.”
CVSA holds its annual Brake Safety Week Sept. 15-21 throughout North America.
The organization cites Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration statistics that show more than half a million commercial motor vehicle violations in 2017 were related to brakes. According to FMCSA’s Analysis and Information Online 2019 calendar year data snapshot as of June 28, out of 1.8 million inspections, the top five brake-related violations were:
- Clamp or roto type brake out of adjustment (86,296)
- CMV manufactured after Oct. 19, 1994, has an automatic brake adjustment system that fails to compensate for wear (45,594)
- Brake hose or tubing chafing and/or kinking (37,737)
- No or defective ABS malfunction indicator lamp for trailer manufactured after March 1, 1998 (37,343)
- Inoperative/defective brakes (32,125)
