The April 2022 Unannounced Roadside Inspection – Brake Safety Day Results
During an April unannounced Brake Safety Day by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), inspectors at various roadside inspections in 46 municipalities across Canada and the U.S. placed nearly 1,300 commercial motor vehicles (CMV) out-of-service (OOS) for brake violations.
That was out of 9,132 CMVs inspected, or about 14%. This inspection was only a tiny sampling of what to expect during the annual roadside inspection CVSA Brake Safety Week.
Although the unannounced inspection focused primarily on brake adjustments, brake components and systems, if other safety requirements were discovered, it could also lead to an OOS order, but those were not reported as part of the results.
Forty jurisdictions in the U.S. and six in Canada participated in the one-day roadside inspection event.
CVSA inspectors reported on four categories of brake hose and tubing chafing. Only category four chafing is an OOS violation. The largest category of violations was category two, with 37 percent.
A category two violation is when the “…wear extends through the outer protective material into the outer rubber cover.”
A category four brake violation is when “…chafing has caused any part of the fabric/steel brain reinforcement ply to be frayed, severed or cut through.”
This year’s update to the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria combines category four and five to amend it. Despite that amendment, OOS orders were up only slightly from 2021.
The CVSA Announces the Roadside Inspection Brake Safety Week
Now, the CVSA announced a Brake Safety Week for 21 through 27 August 2022. The annual CVSA Brake Safety Week is a roadside inspection to look for brake-safety issues. It is billed as an education and enforcement initiative across North America that will include not only the U.S., but Mexico and Canada as well.
The CVSA inspectors will conduct North American Standard Level I and V Inspections to capture and report the brake-related results of those to CVSA HQ, which will tabulate the results and release those in the fall.
Brake-related violations encompass the most significant percentage of OOS orders for CMV violations during recent roadside inspections. For instance, 38.9 percent of last year’s three-day International Roadcheck were related to brake adjustments and brake systems.
Therefore, this year during Brake Safety Week, the CVSA hopes to achieve the following:
- Encourage fleets and independent operators to develop an intense preventive maintenance (PM) program in the weeks before the roadside inspections.
- Find and remove unsafe CMVs from North American highways. Remember, this is a multinational joint venture.
- After a successful inspection, CVSA will acknowledge and recognize those CMVs with a CVSA sticker.
- Emphasize the importance of the daily Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (DVIR) use for pre- and post-trip use, and the vehicle’s brake maintenance overall.
- Stress the commitment and hard work of drivers, carriers, and their inspectors.
Wherever you are on brake maintenance, you still have time to check those brake adjustments and hose chafing before 21 August. Let’s breeze through this one and avoid CMV OOS orders.
The CVSA Operation Airbrake Program
The CVSA Operation Airbrake program is a partnership/joint venture with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and their National Guard, and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.
This comprehensive inspection and removal program aims to improve CMV safety across North America.
Bigger & Harman Nevada County Traffic Court
When you have a roadside inspection violation that turns into a ticket from the CVSA Brake Safety Week or the CHP at the Truckee Weigh Station, call Bigger & Harman (661) 349-9300.
Se habla Español (661) 349-9755.
Email: attorney@biggerharmanlaw.com.
References:
The DMV Portal CA Commercial Driver Handbook Copyright 2022.
The CVSA.org website article, Brake Safety Week Is Aug. 21-27.
The CVSA.org website article, Inspectors Place More Than 1,200 Commercial Motor Vehicles with Brake Violations Out of Service During CVSA’s Unannounced Brake Safety Day.