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Safety Updates
Operation Air Brake
Source: CVSA
Forty-five states and provinces across the U.S. and Canada blitzed the continent during a 12-hour surprise inspection on May 7, 2008 focusing on commercial motor vehicle (CMV) braking systems.
Each year the unannounced brake check days that are a part of CVSA’s Operation Air Brake Campaign result in thousands of trucks and buses being pulled off the highways,
saving countless lives. Operation Air Brake is an ongoing effort of an international truck and bus brake safety dedicated to improving CMV brake safety throughout North America.
“Poorly adjusted or defective air brakes reduce the braking capacity of large vehicles and further increase their stopping distance, said CVSA’s Executive Director Stephen F. Campbell. “Even under ideal conditions, the stopping distance of commercial vehicles can be twice as far as that of cars and other
smaller vehicles. Having defective brakes increases the risk to the driver and any passenger, as well as to others traveling the roads”.
The May 7 surprise brake check day resulted in the following:
11,908 vehicles inspected
93,751 brakes inspected
9.9 % of vehicles placed out of service for brake adjustment defects
8.3 % of vehicles placed out of service for brake defects
15.8 % of vehicles placed out of service for brake related defects
9.4 % of brakes with manual brake adjusters placed out of service
3.8 % of brakes with self-adjusting brake adjusters placed out of service
4.7 % of brakes inspected placed out of service for brake adjustment defects
Since 1998, when the Operation Air Brake Campaign was launched, the cumulative effect of the 14 unannounced brake check days have resulted in a total of:
138,749 vehicle inspections
1,134,841 brakes inspected
11.4 % of vehicles placed out of service for brake adjustment defects
7.7 % of vehicles placed out of service for brake component defects
17.3 % of vehicles placed out of service for brake related defects
8.9 % of brakes with manual brake adjusters placed out of service
3.9 % of brakes with self-adjusting brake adjusters placed out of service
5.1 % of all brakes inspected placed out of service for brake adjustment defects
“A significant problem we are noticing in
recent years is the practice of manually adjusting self-adjusting brake adjusters,” said Campbell. “If you have a brake that is over-stroking and it has a self-adjusting (automatic) brake adjuster, you more than likely have a problem with the brake or the adjuster. If you readjust it, you aren’t fixing the underlying problem.”
In a recent issue of the Technology and Maintenance Council’s Fleet Adviser Newsletter, Kevin Kuhn, fleet shop maintenance manager for the TravelCenters of
America said “manually adjusting auto slack adjusters can give operators a false sense of security about the effectiveness of the brakes. Adjusted auto-slacks will likely go out of adjustment again soon after their adjustment and manually adjusting auto slacks does not fix the underlying issue with the braking system.”
With the help of industry, Operation Air Brake intends to reduce the number of highway crashes caused by faulty braking systems on commercial vehicles by conducting
roadside inspections and educating drivers, mechanics and others on the importance of proper brake inspection, maintenance and operation.
CVSA is an international not-for-profit organization comprised of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal motor carrier safety officials and industry representatives from the United States, Canada and Mexico. Our mission is to promote commercial motor vehicle safety and security by providing leadership to enforcement, industry and policy
makers. In addition, CVSA has several hundred associate members who are committed to helping the Alliance achieve its goals; uniformity, compatibility and reciprocity of commercial vehicle inspections, and enforcement activities throughout North America by individuals dedicated to highway safety and security. For more on CVSA or the brake check results visit www.cvsa.org. | 
