More than 1,600 commercial vehicles were placed out of service during an unannounced brake inspection blitz in May conducted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s law enforcement members.

On May 15, 2019, law enforcement personnel from 55 jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada conducted 10,358 commercial motor vehicle inspections, focused on brake system violations. Of those inspections, 16.1% of vehicles (1,667) were found to have brake-related critical vehicle inspection items.

Inspectors paid particular attention to violations involving brake hoses and tubing. The event found 996 units with chafed rubber hoses and 185 units with chafed thermoplastic hoses. All told, there were 1,125 violations of 49 Code of Federal Regulations § 393.45 and Canadian equivalent violations that included chafed rubber hoses and 124 violations of 49 Code of Federal Regulations § 393.45 and Canadian equivalent violations that included kinked thermoplastic hoses.

"Brake hoses and tubing must be properly attached, undamaged, without leaks and appropriately flexible," said Chief Jay Thompson with the Arkansas Highway Police, CVSA president. "Because they are such an important part of the braking system, the failure of hoses or tubing can cause problems for the entire braking system."

In the U.S. 16.6% of commercial vehicles were placed out of service for brake violations compared to 14.5% in Canada.

According to FMCSA's Analysis and Information Online 2019 calendar year data snapshot as of June 28, 2019, out of 1.8 million inspections, the top five brake-related violations were:

• Clamp or roto type brake out of adjustment (86,296)

• CMV manufactured after Oct. 19, 1994, has an automatic brake adjustment system that fails to compensate for wear (45,594)

• Brake hose or tubing chafing and/or kinking (37,737)

• No or defective ABS malfunction indicator lamp for trailer manufactured after March 1, 1998 (37,343)

• Inoperative/defective brakes (32,125)

CVSA conducts brake-focused enforcement events, such as Brake Safety Day, to identify and remove commercial motor vehicles with dangerous brake issues from our roadways to reduce the number of crashes caused by or made more severe by deficient braking system performance.

CVSA is holding another brake safety enforcement event this year, Brake Safety Week, which is scheduled for Sept.15-21, at participating jurisdictions throughout North America. The week is an annual outreach and enforcement campaign designed to improve commercial motor vehicle brake safety.

Brake Safety Day and Brake Safety Week are inspection, enforcement, education and awareness initiatives that are part of the Operation Airbrake Program sponsored by CVSA in partnership with FMCSA and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.