The North American Brake Safety Conference to be held September 15-16 in Toronto will be directed primarily at finding new brake safety strategies for motor carriers.
"Our goal is to help carriers achieve better brake safety on a daily basis. It's not a meeting of brake experts just to develop new rules and regulations," says Stephen Campbell, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, which is sponsoring the conference with the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.

"While renowned experts from enforcement, state, provincial and federal government will present their latest research findings, without carrier attendance and feedback, the conference mission cannot be fully achieved," Campbell says. This mission is, he says, to find ways to improve brake safety, reduce crashes and prevent loss of life.
The conference's starting point will be to look at data received so far from Operation Air Brake 2000, a specifically targeted brake inspection program in Canada and the U.S. The data collected so far indicate 13.7 percent of trucks inspected in Canada and 20.2 percent of trucks inspected in the U.S. were placed out of service because of brake defects.
These statistics are a cause for concern, according to John Meed, who coordinates Operation Air brake in Canada. He says, "During this conference, we want to develop a side series of options to address the problem that all participants, including motor carriers, agree will reduce the incidents of brake-related defects. These options will be based on the recommendations of all disciplines represented by the presenters and the carriers and will consider cost estimates and practical timelines."
The conference will be held in conjunction with Truck World 2000, a major Canadian Truck Show sponsored by the Ontario Trucking Association. The conference is open to anyone who has an interest in brake safety. Motor carriers are especially encouraged to attend. The registration fee is $200 for U.S. residents and $250 for Canadian residents. Contact Larry Stern at (301) 564-1623 or LarryS@cvsa.org, or visit CVSA's website at www.cvsa.org.