CVSA’s brake check blitz is coming in September

Don’t forget — the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Brake Safety Week inspection campaign is only a little over a month away.

This year, Brake Safety Week is scheduled for September 16 — 22. It will take place all throughout North America and will be conducted in partnership with the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. 

Earlier this year, the CVSA held an unannounced Brake Safety Day event on April 25. During that single day event, nearly 1600 trucks were placed out of service for brake violations.

During Brake Safety Week, commercial vehicle enforcement personnel will be working to “identify and remove CMVs with critical brake violations from our roadways and to call attention to the dangers of faulty brake systems.”

Most trucks that are checked during Brake Safety Week will undergo the North American Standard Level I Inspection, a “37-step procedure that includes an examination of driver operating requirements and vehicle mechanical fitness. Inspections conducted will include inspection of brake-system components to identify loose or missing parts; air or hydraulic fluid leaks; defective rotor conditions; measurement of pushrod travel; mismatched air chamber sizes across axles; air reservoir integrity and mounting; worn linings, pads, drums or rotors; required brake-system warning devices; and other brake-system components.”

In 2017, the CVSA replaced the standard Brake Safety Week with two Brake Safety Day. The first Brake Safety Day was a surprise inspection event that was held on May 4 and then another announced inspection day on September 7. The CVSA says that during last year’s Brake Safety Day inspection blitzes, 14% of all inspections resulted in an out of service order because of brake violations.
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