The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CSVA) has released the 2021 results from their seven-day inspection of 35,764 commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) during Brake Safety Week August 22-28.
According to the CVSA, “Every year, for Brake Safety Week, law enforcement jurisdictions with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) conduct commercial motor vehicle and driver inspections, and removes those with dangerous brake-related issues from our roadways.” Fifty Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions as well as Mexico’s National Guard and Ministry of Communications and Transportation participated this year.
During Brake Safety Week, CVSA law enforcement jurisdictions capture and report data from CMV and driver inspections at fixed weigh stations, temporary pop-up inspection sites, and during roving roadway patrols.
As a result of 2021’s inspections, twelve percent of inspected vehicles were restricted from travel because inspectors found critical brake-related conditions. Those vehicles were placed out of service, using CVSA’s North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria.
The upside is that more than 80 percent of CMVs inspected did not have brake-related critical vehicle inspection item violations.
While these annual inspections pay special attention to brake components and systems, 2021’s focus was on brake hose chafing violations. Inspectors in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. recorded 5,667 brake hose chafing violations in five categories of increasing severity, including two which are out-of-service conditions.
CVSA President Capt. John Broers noted, “Properly-functioning brakes may mean the difference between a catastrophic collision or the ability to avoid a crash.”
This annual week of intensive inspections is a shared effort to reduce crashes by upholding the importance of properly maintaining brakes on tractor trailers, cargo tankers, vans, flatbeds, motorcoaches, straight trucks, cranes, automobile carriers, and more.
Brake Safety Week is part of CVSA’s Operation Airbrake program, in partnership with the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, and Mexico’s National Guard and Ministry of Communications and Transportation.
Much like the CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Week, the program’s goal is to improve roadway safety and to educate drivers, mechanics, and owner-operators on proper brake inspection, maintenance, and operation.
You can do your part by prioritizing stringent fleet management. Ensuring preventive maintenance and ongoing fleet safety checks is wise protocol to protect your people, our roadways, and your business.
