Nearly 1,300 Commercial Vehicles Put Out of Service for Brake Problems

Inspectors found 14% of the commercial motor vehicles inspected on an unannounced Brake Safety Day had critical brake-related violations that put them out of service.

On April 27, 46 jurisdictions in Canada and the U.S. put 1,290 CMVs out of service for severe brake problems — 14.1% of the 9,132 commercial motor vehicles inspected that day.

This unannounced one-day inspection and enforcement initiative, conducted by members of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, focuses specifically on the brake systems and components on commercial motor vehicles. On this day, CVSA-certified inspectors conduct their usual commercial motor vehicle inspections but also report brake-related data to CVSA.

Last year’s Brake Safety Day saw a brake-related out-of-service rate in North America of 12.6%.

Brake Hose/Tubing Chafing Violations

In addition, inspectors reported more than 1,500 brake hose/tubing violations, which was the focus area for this year’s Brake Safety Day.

CVSA asked inspectors to submit data on four categories of brake hose/tubing chafing violations. Categories 1 through 3 are not out-of-service violations, but category 4 is.

• A category 1 violation is when the wear extends into the outer protective material. 32% of the violations were identified as this category.
• Category 2 is when wear extends through the outer protective material into the outer rubber cover. This was the most common category of brake hose/tubing chafing violation at 37%.
• In category 3, wear has made the reinforcement ply visible, but the ply remains intact. 13% percent of brake hose/tubing chafing violations were identified as category 3.
• In category 4, chafing has caused any part of the fabric/steel brain reinforcement ply to be frayed, severed or cut through. This is an out-service-condition. 18% of violations were category 4.

On April 1, CVSA updated the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria to amend category 4. Any tubing/hose damage resulting in the fabric/steel braid reinforcement ply being frayed, damaged or cut, is now an out-of-service violation.

Compared to last year, the new category 4 brake hose/tubing chafing violations, as a portion of total brake hose/tubing chafing violations, increased modestly from 17% to 18%, even when accounting for what amounts to combining of categories 4 and 5 from 2021.

In addition, CVSA member jurisdictions equipped with performance-based brake testers conducted 92 inspections with PBBTs, resulting in six, or 6.5%, of commercial motor vehicles being placed out of service for insufficient overall vehicle braking efficiency.