Related: Brake Safety Week Puts 13.5% of Trucks Out of Service for Violations
Brake Safety Week Places More than 5,000 Trucks Out of Service
According to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, this year’s Brake Safety Week saw 12% of the 43,565 commercial motor vehicles inspected placed out of service for brake-related violations.

Source: CVSA
According to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, this year’s Brake Safety Week saw 12% of the 43,565 commercial motor vehicles inspected placed out of service for brake-related violations.
Inspectors from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico removed 5,156 commercial motor vehicles from service due to brake violations during the week-long inspection and enforcement event, which focused on reducing brake-related crashes for the 2020 event.
A total of 53 jurisdictions participated between August 23-29, 2020, conducting inspections following each agency’s health and safety protocols and precautions in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In the U.S., 35,778 inspections were conducted with 4,565 vehicles (13%) placed out of service for brake-related violations. In Mexico, the number dropped to 6% (355) of the 5,958 violations, while Canadian officials conducted 1,829 inspections with a brake-related out-of-service rate of 14% (256).
In addition to capturing brake system out-of-service violation data, inspectors also submitted data regarding brake hose chafing violations, which are separated into five categories based on the level of severity, two of which are out-of-service conditions. A total of 6,697 hose chafing violations were reported during the event.
Last year’s his year’s Brake Safety Week reported 13.5% of 34,320 vehicles placed out of service for critical brake-related violations identified during roadside inspections. Mexico was not included in last year’s results, which may account to the increase in the total number of violations during this year’s event.
More Safety & Compliance

From One Generation to the Next: How Mentorship Builds Safer Truck Drivers
After three decades in trucking, Harold Perry shares what he's learned about driver safety, mentorship, and helping the next generation build confidence behind the wheel.
Read More →
FMCSA Pauses Biennial-Update Enforcement Amid Motus Transition
Carriers whose updates were due on or after June 1 have more time, while FMCSA works to stabilize its new registration system and warns of phishing sites impersonating its new carrier registration system, Motus.
Read More →
ZF Expands Commercial Vehicle Push in North America
ZF is expanding its North American commercial-vehicle presence with new transmission applications, electrification, trailer technology and autonomous-driving systems.
Read More →
Truck Drivers Need More Than Another Alert
Fleets have more visibility into truck health, safety events, and driver activity than ever. The next challenge is turning all that information into useful guidance for the person who has to decide what to do next.
Read More →
Tesla Wants a Self-Driving Semi. Are Cameras Enough?
Could Tesla’s camera-only autonomous driving technology work on an 80,000-pound Semi? In this commentary, HDT's Deborah Lockridge takes a look at Tesla, Cybercab, and how autonomous trucks see the road.
Read More →
What DOT’s Automated Vehicle Strategy Means for Trucking
The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a new automated-vehicle strategy that outlines plans for driverless-truck regulations, cross-state freight corridors, and federal safety standards.
Read More →
NYC Expands Speed, Pedestrian Safety Tech Across Fleet
New York City is expanding intelligent speed assistance and pedestrian-alert systems across its municipal fleet, moving the technologies from pilot programs into vehicle procurement and retrofit requirements.
Read More →
FMCSA Removes 110 Truck Driver Training Schools from Certified ELDT List
Federal regulators also are targeting more than 160 additional training providers and launching a nationwide audit of third-party CDL skills testers as part of a broader crackdown on trucking fraud.
Read More →
Beyond DOT Compliance: What Makes a Trucking Fleet Truly Safe?
A trucking fleet can follow every rule and still make unsafe decisions. The real test comes when safety conflicts with freight, productivity, or cost.
Read More →
Hours of Service Pilot Programs: FMCSA Readies for 2027 Rollout
Two pilot programs could eventually reshape hours-of-service rules, giving truck drivers options to pause their 14-hour clock or use longer split sleeper rest periods.
Read More →
