Brake Safety Week | Semi Truck Repair

Last year during the CVSA’s Annual Brake Safety Week, 4,344 trucks were placed out of service due to brake violations.

In the unannounced single day brake check initiative that also took place last year, another 1,667 were placed out of service for the same reason.

That’s 6,011 pieces of equipment that either required service calls ($$$) or had to be towed ($$$).

6,011 loads that were either cancelled or late. ($$$)

6,011 drivers that used up valuable hours sitting roadside waiting for a fix. ($$$)

Have we included enough dollar signs to make a point? Inspections can be expensive if you aren’t prepared.

This year’s annual brake check week is August 23-29th and ready or not, inspectors will be making the rounds to check out your fleet’s brake systems. Here’s the good news: the “primary focus” is on brake system components. The bad news is that you’re more than likely not just going to have an inspector poking around on your brakes. The most common inspection is the most thorough Level I inspection, which is detailed on their site here. And being the most thorough, it is also the most likely to result in the most violations and costs for your fleet. ($$$)

Here’s their table of the most common violations from 2019’s Pocket Guide to Large Truck & Bus Statistics:

Just taking a quick look at this list, you can see that brake related issues only account for 6 of the 20 most common violations — and the most common are the simplest to fix!! (Non-working lights, I MEAN COME ON!)

If you’ve got a solid mechanic at your yard to do a quick pre-inspection inspection, we urge you to do so. Time is running out before you won’t have any excuses to an inspector on why something isn’t right. Alternately, if you don’t have the time or the team to do so, we’d be more than happy to help. Fleets that pass inspections with flying colors make us look good too. 😉

Per our usual, we’re including some resources from CVSA’s website below to prepare your fleet, but if you’d rather let us do the heavy lifting – click here to find the service center nearest you and give us a call!

S-Cam Brake Inspection Checklist

Stroke Limits for Clamp Type Brake Chambers

Happy Prepping!