What exactly will inspectors be looking for this Sunday at the start of Brake Safety Week? Good question.
To learn more, CCJ offers another look at our brake inspection video, our most popular maintenance episode to date which, though posted in 2019, still applies today.
“Thank you [FHP] for allowing the video,” YouTube viewer Rosalie Macrae recently commented. “As a new driver it’s very helpful to know what to expect and reminders of what to look for. I won’t say I won’t be nervous when or if I get an inspection.”
[Related: Brake hose chafing focus of Brake Safety Week Aug. 21-27]
This year’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Brake Safety Week focuses on hose chafing, which the video below explores along with several other brake system components that can result in a costly out-of-service violation if not properly maintained.
During the roughly nine-minute video, Florida Highway Patrolman Bobby Simmons, a former truck mechanic, takes us into the inspection pit in Sneads, Fla. along I-10 and points out what he and other inspectors will be looking for while checking brake systems per CVSA guidelines.
“We’ll check our brake linings to make sure they’re more than a quarter-inch [thick] per CVSA,” Simmons explains at the start of the video.
From there it’s off to brake drums, chamber pushrods, clevis pins, cotter pins, slack adjusters…and the list goes on.
According to the CVSA, “Brake-related violations comprise the largest percentage of all out-of-service vehicle violations cited during roadside inspections, and according to last year’s three-day International Roadcheck data, brake systems and brake adjustment violations accounted for 38.9% of all vehicle out-of-service violations, the most of any category of vehicle violations.”
During last year’s Brake Safety Week, 12% of inspected vehicles were placed out of service due to brake-related issues. Brake Safety Week starts this Sunday, Aug. 21 and extends through Saturday, Aug. 27.
